Tahir’s follow-up to An Ember in the Ashes (2015) picks up right where Volume 1 left off, ratcheting up the tension (military and sexual) as well as the magic, the violence, and the stakes.
Laia (golden-eyed, dark-haired, magically gifted) and Elias (gray-eyed, “golden-brown”–skinned soldier extraordinaire) have fled Blackcliff, determined to rescue Laia’s imprisoned brother and potentially spur a Scholar rebellion, while icy, Aryan Helene, now Blood Shrike and second in power only to sadistic Emperor Marcus, must determine where her loyalty lies. Complex plots and counterplots exist in every corner, and all three main characters, but especially Helene and Elias, must constantly grapple with the cost of power and the price of victory. Powerful females in charge of their lives and their bodies abound, even if their boy-laden conversations rarely pass the Bechdel test. Tahir pulls few punches: brutal deaths occur and characters make choices that cause pain and suffering. But hope exists, and readers will be torn between the vivid, oppositional characters. Laia, shaping up to be a chosen one, ironically has the least compelling arc, but there are hints that her future will change that. Diversity exists in this Roman-Arabian fantasy world, but racial categories do not have one-to-one correspondence with our own.
An excellent continuation of a series seemingly designed for readers of the political, bloody fantasy style du jour, set apart by an uncommon world. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-99887-8
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An Irish teen grapples with past misdeeds and newfound ties to magic.
When 16-year-old Maeve discovers a deck of tarot cards stashed with a mixtape of moody indie music from 1990, she starts giving readings for her classmates at her all-girls private school. Though her shame over dumping her strange friend Lily during an attempt to climb the social ladder at St. Bernadette’s is still palpable, it doesn’t stop her from trying to use the tarot in her favor to further this goal. However, after speaking harsh words to Lily during a reading, Maeve is horrified when her former friend later disappears. As she struggles to understand the forces at play within her, classmate Fiona proves to be just the friend Maeve needs. Detailed, interesting characters carry this contemporary story of competing energy and curses. Woven delicately throughout are chillingly eerie depictions of the Housekeeper, a figure who shows up on an extra card in the deck, echoing the White Lady legend from Irish folklore. Even more disturbing is an organization of young people led by a homophobic but charismatic figurehead intent on provoking backlash against Ireland’s recent civil rights victories. Most characters are White; Fiona is biracial, with a Filipina mother and White Irish father. Roe, Maeve’s love interest and Lily’s sibling, is a bisexual, genderqueer person who is a target for intolerance in their small city of Kilbeg.
An immersive tale of brave, vulnerable teens facing threats both real and fantastic. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1394-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
17
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After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES
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