Revitalizing and exciting, Brown’s debut breathes life into ancient but still relevant folk stories.
Two teens, destined to destroy each other, are caught up in romance, palace intrigue, and magic.
Seventeen-year-old, silver-haired, dark brown–skinned Karina is the reluctant crown princess of Ziran. After losing her sister and father to a mysterious fire, then her mother to an assassin, Karina is desperate to resurrect a suitable ruler for Ziran—even if that means taking a dark path into necromancy. Brooding, light brown–skinned Malik is a refugee from the mountain territories of Eshra, where his family is oppressed by Zirani occupation. He travels with his two sisters seeking work during the festival of Solstasia, a celebration that happens every 50 years and ushers in a new age of leadership under one of the patron deities. After tangling with a malevolent spirit, Malik finds himself promising to kill Karina in order to save the life of his little sister. There’s no time for readers to catch their breath as Brown’s complex plot winds and races from beginning to end. Still, the story never feels rushed or underdeveloped, and her exceptionally well-built world is infused with North and West African tricksters, naming conventions, and religious traditions. Matrilineal heritage dictates who rules in Ziran, a place where peripheral queer representation is accepted and celebrated.
Revitalizing and exciting, Brown’s debut breathes life into ancient but still relevant folk stories. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-289149-5
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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