Newly minted spook Tom Ward takes on a surprising new apprentice and investigates a gathering storm in the first installment in this Last Apprentice sequel series.
A mysterious evil is abducting and slaughtering residents of Chipenden. Tom is joined by Jenny, a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter who dreams of becoming a spook and wields some unique powers of her own. The witch assassin Grimalkin returns, and the trio investigates the assailant and the dark purpose it serves. Filling his tale to the brim with creepy creatures and cultural exposition, Delaney does his best to establish this new series as a newb-friendly continuation of the Last Apprentice universe. He succeeds, but the deep dive into back story gets in the way of the action at times. The narrative moves forward in fits and starts, constantly interrupted by awkward paragraphs explaining who relates to whom and what the history between them is. Fans may enjoy the shoutouts, but new readers will just want to get on with the exploits at hand. The adventure itself is serviceable, but it feels like a long preamble for bigger things to come. To make matters worse, a smart, shocking narrative decision late in the book is undercut by the novel’s final sentence, a pivot that may well provoke groans rather than curiosity.
Promising but questionably formed. (Grimalkin’s notes, glossary) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-233453-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
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In honor of its 25th anniversary, a Disney Halloween horror/comedy film gets a sequel to go with its original novelization.
Three Salem witches hanged in 1693 for stealing a child’s life force are revived in 1993 when 16-year-old new kid Max completes a spell by lighting a magical candle (which has to be kindled by a virgin to work). Max and dazzling, popular classmate Allison have to keep said witches at bay until dawn to save all of the local children from a similar fate. Fast-forward to 2018: Poppy, daughter of Max and Allison, inadvertently works a spell that sends her parents and an aunt to hell in exchange for the gleeful witches. With help from her best friend, Travis, and classmate Isabella, on whom she has a major crush, Poppy has only hours to keep the weird sisters from working more evil. The witches, each daffier than the last, supply most of the comedy as well as plenty of menace but end up back in the infernal regions. There’s also a talking cat, a talking dog, a gaggle of costumed heroines, and an oblique reference to a certain beloved Halloween movie. Traditional Disney wholesomeness is spiced, not soured, by occasional innuendo and a big twist in the sequel. Poppy and her family are white, while Travis and Isabella are both African-American.
A bit of envelope-pushing freshens up the formula. (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-368-02003-9
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Freeform/Disney
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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