Review: The Darkness Dwellers

Book Three of the Kiki Strike series
By Kirsten Miller
Available now from Bloomsbury
Review copy

I absolutely adore the Kiki Strike series.  They're complex, intelligent stories featuring a cast of talented and ambitious young women.  The books are framed as Ananka Fishbein's records of her adventures with Kiki Strike and the other Irregulars.  Ananka has come a long way from the first book, but she's put in charge for the first time when Kiki goes to Paris alone.  She struggles to maintain control of the Irregulars in addition to preventing her classmates from becoming etiquette zombies and her friend Oona's reputation from being smeared by her long lost evil twin.

Kirsten Miller keeps control of multiple plotlines spread across two countries that end up intersecting in quite unexpected ways.  THE DARKNESS DWELLERS is a marvel of tight plotting and careful pacing.  There's hardly a lull as she switches between storylines, yet it's surprisingly easy to keep track of what's going on.  I do not, however, recommend THE DARKNESS DWELLERS to readers who haven't read the first two Kiki Strike books.  There's a quick explanation of who everyone is and what they do, but you might not care as much about each girl's story if you aren't already invested in the character.  There's too much plot here to waste too many pages on introductions.

I must also commend Miller for how she concludes Kiki's struggle to prove her aunt murdered her parents and that she is the rightful princess of Pokrovia.  It's been the overarching plot of the series and it isn't given short shrift in THE DARKNESS DWELLERS despite everything else going on.  And every time I thought Ananka was given the B story despite being the narrator, she'd do something rather important.

I also love that the Irregulars are all flawed despite their great talents.  Ananka can be petty.  Kiki isn't the most compassionate.  Oona has a temper.  But they find ways to overcome and get the job done.  Betty even proves that what everyone assumes is her weakness can be a strength.  (And let me tell you Betty fans, she has a great storyline in THE DARKNESS DWELLERS.)

Readers looking for books with action, puzzles, espionage, and teenage masterminds would do well giving Kiki Strike a try.  All three books are just plain fun.

Review: The Eternal Ones

By (the mysterious) Kirsten Miller
Available now from Razorbill
Review copy
The Eternal Ones site



Years ago, when I was still in high school, I took a trip with the book club down to San Antonio for the American Library Association conference. We saw the exhibits and spoke in defense of our choices for the Best Books for Young Adults award. While there, I picked up an ARC from a very excited woman. It was INSIDE THE SHADOW CITY, the first book in the Kiki Strike series.

It was, in a word, amazing. Kirsten Miller brought New York City to life, complete with an extra crime-laden city of tunnels beneath. She also created a cast of strong, but flawed, girls and filled the novel with all sorts of useful tips. THE EMPRESS'S TOMB was just as good, and I'm sure THE DARKNESS DWELLERS will fight the good fight as well.

Thus, I was excited for Miller's paranormal debut. She was not content to do another vampire story. No, her romance is one of reincarnation. Two lovers who find each other again and again. But in the life Haven can remember, she might've died due to Ethan's lover getting jealous of his wife.  When Haven Moore first sees bad boy Iain Morrow on the television, she knows he's Ethan. But she's stuck in Snope City, Tennessee, and he's in New York.

THE ETERNAL ONES is a fascinating blend of good and bad. The opening in Snope City seems cartoonish. Life in Appalachia is one where your entire community can be convinced that you've been possessed by a demon. Still, Haven's story is absorbing. She runs her own business, in order to get out, even before she sees Iain. She's passionate and clever and surprisingly not a nervous wreck due to her shrew of a grandmother.

Then she actually meets Iain. As more fantastical elements enter the scene, the tone and setting become more realistic. It's an odd effect. Here's where Haven started to annoy me a little. She doesn't know whether to trust Iain or not. There are good reasons in the not column, but she trusts Ethan to her marrow. Or should she not have trusted Ethan either? Haven switches her mind about her lover almost every chapter. For such a clever girl, she's easily swayed by any and all evidence.

I loved Beau, wonderful Beau, even more when he called her out on her wishy-washiness. Beau is merely a standout in a detailed supporting cast. He could just be the gay* best friend - he's sassy enough for it - but he's got more meat on his bones than that. He's an athlete and a fashion designer and he may be in denial about some things but he's not about to take crap from anyone, not even his bestie Haven. That is why Beau rocks. That and the fact that he annoys the bad guy with his awesomeness, which is always a plus.

So on the good column: characters, atmosphere, pace. On the bad column: oh-my-word-will-she-make-up-her-mind, Haven's crazy hometown. Half of THE ETERNAL ONES's love story makes me swoon. The other half makes me wonder why I'm supposed to believe in this eternal love when Haven doesn't seem to be giving it much of a chance. But on the whole, I devoured THE ETERNAL ONES. Miller's writing is compelling.

THE ETERNAL ONES is better than many of the paranormal romances lining the shelves of the book store. It's certainly more entertaining and funny and romantic than a lot of them. (But I like Kiki Strike better.)

*check out The Story Siren's LGBT Lit. Days