Effervescent characters, human or otherwise, fuel this collection of absorbing short stories.
Characters in this fantasy anthology wield magic, traverse otherworldly realms, and brave mythological creatures.
The 20 stories in this collection are an entertaining mix of traditional and urban fantasies. In K.A. Last’s opening story, “A Feather for a Kingdom,” a king sends his three sons on a quest to find three items. This mission will decide a successor, though Abner, the least popular son, discovers something beyond the items he’s searching for. Ora, a village woman in Rebecca Fittery’s delightful “Threads of Gold,” inadvertently vexes a fae, who curses her to speak nothing but lies for three days. (Now Ora can’t simply tell the king that she doesn’t want to be his queen.) Donna White’s “Some Gnarly Sea Monsters” is set in sunny California, where sisters looking for their missing triplet brother unravel startling ties to tentacled beings. Connecting these tales is a discernible theme of threes, found in the sisters who form the three Fates, an evil sorceress with a trio of names, and a woman who proves herself worthy of a magical realm by undergoing three mental and physical trials. A wonderful array of fantasy signposts pop up, from dragons, spirits, and unicorns to an elf and humanoid animals (such as the charismatic Pantherim in Ashley Steffenson’s “Amira and the Healing Flower”). Some tales feel like snapshots of more expansive lands; in “The Guardian of the Falling Rains,” B. Luna Covello describes a clearing “where a structure unlike any in my world stands—a tower crafted from intertwining vines and blossoms, pulsating with a life of its own. It sways gently as if caught in a breeze I cannot feel, dancing to a tune I cannot hear.” Stories belonging to this genre often unfold in abstruse worlds, but these authors excel at drawing readers in as efficiently as possible.
Effervescent characters, human or otherwise, fuel this collection of absorbing short stories.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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