In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. Evangeline has rose-gold hair and, like other main characters, reads as White there is diversity among the fantasy races in this world.Ī lushly written story with an intriguing heart.Ī gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.įifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. The plot contains welcome surprises, and the large cast piques curiosity readers will wish more time was spent getting to know them.
However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. 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.
The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. 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. 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. When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.Īfter praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “ partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman ( Solitaire, 2015).įrances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork.
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