Diamond & Dawn

October 1, 2019
Mirage, now dauphine, is back in this sequel to Amber & Dusk (2018). Mirage has succeeded in dethroning her half sister, Severine, but ruling isn't easy, and the tension of the transition is worsened by the rise of a religious zealot and his followers who incite citizens against Mirage and wreak havoc in the Amber City. Though Mirage is a sympathetic character, readers may wonder if she's actually fit to rule: She's learned to read but doesn't understand much about the kingdom she's ruling and makes impetuous choices, sometimes ignoring feedback from advisers and other times following said advisers' plans seemingly without thinking things through. When her charming, handsome, distant cousin Gavin--the only other person with a legitimate claim to the throne--arrives, Mirage must battle both Gavin's machinations and her peoples' perception that he's the true Sun Heir. A mysterious, ancient, magical test to determine succession surfaces, and it's clear that Mirage has grown: She no longer believes she's owed the throne by virtue of her birth but instead chooses to fight for it. Secondary characters are better fleshed out than in the first book, though the penchant for excessive metaphors and similes remains and is distracting. Most significant characters are described as white. There's enough here to please fans of the first novel. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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November 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 After overthrowing the cruel Queen Severine (Amber & Dusk, 2018), Mirage prepares to claim the throne as ruler of the Amber Empire. With the coronation around the corner, her dreams of a brighter future for her people should be falling into place?but things are far from perfect. The people don't trust Mirage's legitimacy as heir or her murky background, a religious fanatic is recruiting followers and turning them against her before she's had a chance to prove herself, and a distant cousin surprises her at court, threatening her claim to the throne. What's most troubling, however, is that Queen Severine still lives, stuck in a coma and haunting Mirage's thoughts. Mirage fears she won't survive the revolution she started, destined for the same bloody fate as her predecessor. The conclusion to Selene's duology grapples with strength, hope, and righting old wrongs, and while shock value drives much of the plot, complex characters and edge-of-your-seat action carry the series to a tantalizing yet gratifying end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)