An action-packed, magic-filled exploration of natural resource abuse.
A coven of problem-solving witches takes on a mission that tests their friendship and bonds.
Witches Anadil, Hester, and Dot are summoned to Red Isle when the animals of the Dark Lands are found starving after sludge kills all the vegetation. Mother Sorastra, the leader of the Dark Lands, confronts Prince Lexius of the neighboring Light Lands, arguing that he’s abusing nature’s gift of raaka, a resource used to power clever inventions. But Prince Lexius blames Mother Sorastra for breaking a truce and causing the pollution. The conflict escalates when citizens of the Light Lands are murdered, and their facial features are erased. Pale, white-haired Anadil, brown-skinned, black-haired Hester, and Dot, who has brown skin and Afro-textured hair, arrive in time to stop the outbreak of war and attempt to solve the mystery of the face-stealing killer. When a coven of witches impersonating the trio appears, Anadil, Hester, and Dot must overcome their bickering and work through hurt feelings in order to band together and bring peace and balance to Red Isle. This graphic novel features cleverly realized characters: Anadil with her team of magical rats, Hester with her pet demon, and Dot with her ability to summon confectionary are memorable leads. The relationship between Anadil and Hester adds a hint of romance to the story, and the environmental themes add real-world relevance. Vivid illustrations with saturated colors create a fantastical backdrop for the fast-paced storyline.
An action-packed, magic-filled exploration of natural resource abuse. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780062979681
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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