Young Adult – Page 15 – MSL Book Review

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
on October 17, 2023
ISBN: 0063115964
Pages: 416
Genres: Horror, Romance, Supernatural
Format: Fiction, Young Adult
Goodreads
four-stars

Erica Water’s new gothic, dark academia novel, All That Consumes Us, is at times confined by genre tropes, but slowly it becomes its own contemporary hybrid. Tara Boone, a struggling 17 year old freshman at a private southern college, is accepted into an elite and secretive society, Magni Viri, after the tragic death of one of its members. Tara is in the Jane Eyre mold: a penniless, functionally orphaned girl with big dreams who is held back by self-doubt. At first it is difficult for Tara to fit in with the seemingly privileged and supernaturally talented Magni Viri students, but she will do anything for the guaranteed success promised to all its graduates – or will she?

The combination of Tara’s insecurities and the obfuscations of everyone around her make the middle of the book drag, but fortunately, genuinely surprising plot twists emerge. In true gothic fashion, Tara believes she is being haunted and her increasingly restless nights cause the atmosphere of dread to swell like a cicada’s whine. Unlike its genre’s predecessors, All That Consumes Us is refreshingly diverse. Though underdeveloped, the main lovestory is queer and there is purposeful diversity in the side character’s race, gender, class, and ability. This book will be appreciated more by future English majors who have read the heavily referenced The Secret History & Jane Eyre, but at its core this is an atmospheric ghost story lush with spooky, autumn vibes that many readers will enjoy.

Reviewed by Ivy Burns, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

Sinner's Isle by Angela Montoya
on October 31, 2023
ISBN: 059364333X
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Format: Chapter Book Fiction, Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
two-stars

A mysterious isle, a powerful witch, and a clever pirate. These are the ingredients that make up this romantic fantasy. Women gifted with powers by the goddess Xiomara, known as majestics, are labeled evil by the church and are exiled to Sinner’s Isle. Once the women come of age, they are subjected to a bonding ritual in which they are linked with a nobleman of the kingdom and become controlled by them. Rosalind, the most powerfully gifted amongst them, is expected to bond with the young newly crowned king. Her domineering mistress, Doña Lucía, has other plans. Trying to take her freewill back, while also stopping an unjust system, she and her best friend attempt to escape. In a twist of fate (or magic), Mariano, the son of the most notorious pirate of the kingdom washes up on the isle. Mariano’s mother was killed by a majestic, and wants nothing more than to get off the isle. When he meets Rosa, an immediate love connection known as a “heartsong” pulls them together and he becomes determined to escape by her side.

All the ingredients of this novel suggest an epic romantic adventure: magic, pirates, princes, kings, good versus evil. The two “lovers” only have a few scenes together. The novel remains set on the isle for the entire book, even with the idea of piracy being quickly introduced. The reader must experience Rosa’s inability to have any control over her own fate and constantly being viewed as an object of men’s longing and desires (possibly the author’s reaction to political issues, as she alludes to in her author’s note). The idea of a heartsong makes one think of the imprinting phenomenon portrayed in the Twilight novels or mating bond in A Court of Thorns and Roses. One must question if that is actual love. This novel may provide adolescent readers with unhealthy models of relationships.

The book is appropriate for ages 14 to 18. The intended audience is those who enjoy fantastical or supernatural romances. Mostly Latino and many LGBTQ+ characters make up the cast.

Reviewed by Heidi Kopishke, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, ME.