Lush, imaginative, and emotionally insightful.
Six months after Dad’s fatal heart attack, his grieving family moves to his hometown.
Lonely Savi is just shy of 14. Her older sister escapes into social media. Mom is withdrawn, cleaning obsessively. Leaving polluted Delhi, the Kumars settle in Shajarpur, renowned for its perfect climate and clean air, along with Dad’s 42 houseplants, withering without his care. Savi is determined to save them, and soon something strange happens: Whenever she touches a plant, she has visions, glimpses into her father’s youth, Shajarpur’s history, and threats to its future. At her new school, Savi meets Tree, an enormous Ficus mysorensis, or fig tree, who communicates especially powerfully with her. She joins the school ecology club but is also approached by the uber-wealthy Very Cool and Hip People, who make her feel insecure. Hiding her new powers, Savi is torn between the two groups until the shocking announcement that Tree, who seems to be dying, will be cut down. Tree’s decline also mirrors a negative shift in Shajarpur’s weather. The growing urgency forces Savi outside her comfort zone as the story builds to a climax that exposes a shadowy group of conspirators. Narrated in Savi’s fresh, humorous voice, this dreamy, atmospheric story skillfully explores the dynamics of grief. The nuanced conclusion reinforces central themes of interconnection between people and environment and the joyful, healing properties of nature. The often playful tone helps soften the serious subject matter, and Eipe’s spot art whimsically references the environmental content.
Lush, imaginative, and emotionally insightful. (Eco-fantasy. 10-16)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9798212181747
Page Count: 205
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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
A grand finale, presented with a touch light enough to buoy all the self-actualization. Also: giant space worms!
Hotshot pilot Spensa Nightshade completes her apotheosis in this series closer, as human rebels and their alien allies mount a climactic assault on the galactic empire.
Having progressed from eating rats to being a cytonic superwarrior, Spensa is bonded by ties of loyalty and lust to former Skyward Flight leader, now Defiant Defense Force admiral, Jorgen—and also to a traumatized, planet-killing, interdimensional delver named Chet. Spensa would be well on her way to full-blown pacifism if the Superiority’s war of extermination against humans were not ramping up to a newly active phase. Nothing for it but a massive space battle, complete with dogfights, huge explosions, feints, betrayals, and tragic sacrifices…not to mention a swarm of ravenous, vacuum-dwelling vastworms eager to chow down on both sides. Though slowed by Spensa’s and others’ wrestling with conflicting impulses and weighing moral imperatives, the plot features more than enough large- and small-scale action set pieces to please space-opera fans. Better yet, the deliciously expansive cast includes not only humans and AIs but a broad array of aliens and semi-aliens from blue-skinned humanoids and a furry, haiku-reciting, fox-gerbil samurai with a (wait for it) laser sword to sentient crystals and empathic slugs. “The more different types of people we got into the flight, the stronger it would be,” Spensa reflects, and indeed, it’s collective action that proves decisive in the end.
A grand finale, presented with a touch light enough to buoy all the self-actualization. Also: giant space worms! (Science fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9780593309711
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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