With more skillful writing and editing, this could have been an engrossing tale.
Fourteen-year-old Emily, a Jewish American girl, is pushed through time to meet her ancestors in their youth.
In the prologue, the married adult Emily travels to Australia to visit her sickly grandmother, who mentions the summer years ago “when we were both fourteen.” From Chapter 1, Emily narrates the strange events of that summer: how a family trip got cut short by her mother’s cancer diagnosis and treatment and she and her 5-year-old brother, Billy, were sent to Australia to stay with their grandmother. During a midnight storm, Emily was transported back in time: first to her mother’s childhood in Australia, where she met the grandfather she never knew, then to her grandmother’s childhood in South Africa, the Lithuania of her great-grandmother, and, finally, ancient Babylon. In each region and era, Emily finds herself able to speak the language and pretend to be a local despite her need to ask questions whose answers she should know. She traces a history of anti-Semitism and varying injustices against Indigenous peoples while also reciting cultural and historical facts for readers’ edification. While the story’s concept is intriguing, its execution is lacking. The characters feel like place holders serving the plot, which itself lacks direction and momentum. Indigenous and black characters appear to explain or demonstrate their peoples’ plights to white main characters in strange, inauthentic ways.
With more skillful writing and editing, this could have been an engrossing tale. (notes) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77183-457-5
Page Count: 285
Publisher: Guernica Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
A lushly written story with an intriguing heart.
After praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic.
When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol. Despite inheriting a steady trust in magic, belief in her late mother’s homeland of the mystical North (where fantastical creatures live), and philosophy of hope for the future, her dreams are dashed when Luc, her love, pledges to marry Marisol instead. Evangeline desperately prays to the Prince of Hearts, a dangerous and fickle Fate famed for his heart that is waiting to be revived by his one true love—and his potentially lethal kisses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. While the pervasive magic and concept of the Fates as a religious system add interest, other fantasy elements are haphazardly incorporated without enough time devoted to building a cohesive world. However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. The plot contains welcome surprises, and the large cast piques curiosity; readers will wish more time was spent getting to know them. Evangeline has rose-gold hair and, like other main characters, reads as White; there is diversity among the fantasy races in this world.
A lushly written story with an intriguing heart. (map) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26839-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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