A visually arresting account of a Fury’s promising beginning.
Six young warrior women are led by the brave Barda in this story from the world of DC Comics.
The Furies—sent by Lord Darkseid to find variables to fuel his war against all things light—have been trained to be disposable tools of destruction. They fight under the threat of torture by Granny Goodness, a sadistic elder who celebrates them for their brutality and punishes them for any perceived weaknesses. The Furies reside on the planet Apokolips and carry out missions against their foes on New Genesis, a planet that is the antithesis of everything they know. Barda is the brawniest and most ruthless of the Furies, but when she finds a book lying on the ground during a battle, it changes everything by showing her love’s possibilities, interrupting the book’s repeated refrain, “We do not speak of love on Apokolips.” When Barda is ordered to torture a man who tried to escape the X-Pit, Granny Goodness’ prison, Granny’s cruelty pushes her to see whether love can be more than just a possibility. Although the storyline is simple, and experienced readers may find few surprises, Barda’s vulnerability during her quiet moments creates a fantastic balance between action and introspection. Bursts of blues, greens, and golds flash across the mainly terracotta palette, which highlights the barrenness of Apokolips and sets a striking scene. The Furies all appear to be white, with the exception of Lashina, who’s coded as Black.
A visually arresting account of a Fury’s promising beginning. (Graphic fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9781779511133
Page Count: 208
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
A dark and gripping feminist tale.
A young woman faces her past to discover the truth about one of her nation’s heroes.
When Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at her university in Llyr, wins the competition to design Hiraeth Manor for the estate of the late Emrys Myrddin, national literary figure and her favorite author, it is the perfect opportunity to leave behind a recent trauma. She arrives to find the cliffside estate is literally crumbling into the ocean, and she quickly realizes things may not be as they seem. Preston, an arrogant literature student, is also working at the estate, gathering materials for the university’s archives and questioning everything Effy knows about Myrddin. When Preston offers to include her name on his thesis—which may allow her to pursue the dream of studying literature that was frustrated by the university’s refusal to admit women literature students—Effy agrees to help him. He’s on a quest for answers about the source of Myrddin’s most famous work, Angharad, a romance about a cruel Fairy King who marries a mortal woman. Meanwhile, Myrddin’s son has secrets of his own. Preston and Effy start to suspect that Myrddin’s fairy tales may hold more truth than they realize. The Welsh-inspired setting is impressively atmospheric, and while some of the mythology ends up feeling extraneous, the worldbuilding is immersive and thoughtfully addresses misogyny and its effects on how history is written. Main characters are cued white.
A dark and gripping feminist tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780063211506
Page Count: 384
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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