Jude-broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness-has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.īlack is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character.
But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than 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 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.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Lukens stays true to the conventions of the royal fantasy genre while avoiding the sexism and heteronormativity often baked into those worlds, with a depiction of romantic and sexual tension reminiscent of fan fiction.įor readers with a penchant for pirates, princes, and pining. Elements of the story bring to mind “The Little Mermaid.” Tal’s pansexuality is a non-issue, structural misogyny seems to only exist in some kingdoms, and while imperialism and people of different skin tones exist, there don’t seem to be racialized categories attached to power (dark-haired Tal is described as having tanned skin while Athlen is pale). Tal is drawn to the enigmatic lad’s company and is swept up in a machination involving his great-grandfather’s legacy, royal marriages and alliances, an assassination plot, and the reality of merfolk. While he and his siblings are on his traditional coming-of-age tour, they come across a burning ship, a mysterious trunk of golden coins, and Athlen, a handsome young man in fetters. Sixteen-year-old Prince Taliesin of Harth is fourth in line for the crown, and he also has a closely guarded secret: Like his denounced great-grandfather, he has the rare magical ability to conjure fire.
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