Review by Booklist Review
In this series starter, Phoenix (aka Nix) and Lark are twin sisters who once shared everything, including the loss of their parents on Halloween. After Lark dies, also on Halloween, Nix dreams of a faerie world filled with steampunk goblins and becomes determined to resurrect her sister in the dream world, called Mystiquiel. A trip through a Halloween carnival's haunted house catapults Nix and friends into her fictional world, and she finds herself equally thrilled and terrified by the concept. Here, the Goblin King she's written about exists, and he seems to be the cause of the Halloween death curse from which she's sure her family suffers. Can she solve his riddles and get herself and her friends out before she becomes the next one dead? The basic story line is reminiscent of Howard's better-known, best-selling Splintered series, which is based on the classic Alice in Wonderland; here, however, the feel is a little more Labyrinth.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Draping fae mythology in steampunk trappings, Howard (the Splintered series) launches a moody dark fantasy series opener that recalls Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market. On Halloween night three years ago, then-14-year-old Nix Loring, who is white with partial albinism, discovered her twin sister, Lark, dead in their shared bunk bed. Out of grief and guilt, she abandoned the imaginary steampunk fae world, Mystiquel, that the twins created together, which Nix developed through her art. Now 17, Nix's life is thrown into further turmoil when her legal guardian, Uncle Thatch, goes missing. Joined by Lark's brown-skinned ex-boyfriend Clarey Darden, a talented special effects makeup artist who has Waardenburg syndrome and experiences panic attacks, Nix manages guilt over her growing feelings for Clarey while following clues that transport the duo to Mystiquel. There she meets Perish, the goblin king, who offers her a deal: heal the realm, which has decayed since she abandoned it, and he'll set her, Clarey, and Thatch free. Employing deliberate plotting, intricate worldbuilding, and a plethora of mystical creatures, such as cyborg faeries, Howard keenly examines themes of grief and guilt against an eerie backdrop. Ages 13--up. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Seventeen-year-old Nix, a "partial albino," dreads Halloween. Her parents died on a long-ago Halloween, and more recently, her identical twin died on that day. To keep Lark's memory alive and cope with her overwhelming guilt, Nix threw herself into creating a steampunk world called Mystiquiel. It combined her artistry, Lark's mechanical skills, and backstory from an old picture book: The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. But this October 31st, Nix discovers that Mystiquiel and its inhabitants have taken on a life of their own. To lure Nix in--along with her best friend and crush Clarey (Lark's ex)--the king of Mystiquiel kidnaps Nix's one remaining relative. Trying to rescue Uncle Thatch turns into a nightmare game for Nix, scrambling to survive in an incomprehensibly complex world, where nothing is as it seems--not even Nix herself. Readers who persist through a slow and somewhat confusing start will be rewarded by a horror-tinged quest in a crumbling world, filled with evocative, poetic descriptions and complex vocabulary ("phantosmia," "calcimining," "voltaic"). Nix is a sympathetic, layered character, as is Clarey, who has "deep brown" skin and Waardburg Syndrome, causing deafness and partial albinism. Their slow-burn romance never goes beyond a single kiss. VERDICT This fantasy-horror-steampunk quest will please readers who love complex language, lush descriptions, and plots as twisty and deceptive as Celtic knots. Hand it to fans of the movie Labyrinth who are ready for a grittier, but equally labyrinthine matching of wits with the devious fae.--Rebecca Moore
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Steampunk goblins, family secrets, and the lure of forbidden fruit. This modern (think: a vinyl dress, facial piercings, and Astoria, Oregon, of The Goonies fame) fairy tale straddles a line somewhere between Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market (which is cited throughout) and Jim Henson's Labyrinth (never explicitly mentioned but visual and linguistic homages abound). Seventeen-year-old Phoenix "Nix" Loring, a White girl with partial albinism, has tortured herself ever since Lark, her identical twin, died three years ago. She's been filled with guilt at having been a bad sister--and now feels even more guilt due to her growing feelings for Clarey, Lark's brown-skinned boyfriend who has Waardenburg syndrome and suffers from panic attacks. This is enough material for a book all by itself but is mostly background for a Halloween adventure into Mystiquiel, a magical world Nix has drawn since Lark's death, where cyborg faeries and goblins are ruled by the Goblin King, who is locked in a power struggle with an entity known as the Motherboard. The drawn-out adventure takes only a day in the protagonist's world, with plenty of lush description and endless overthinking surrounding some whimsical set pieces as Nix navigates riddles and mind games. Nix holds her grief and guilt tightly until her magical adventure gives her perspective; a final twist changes the stakes and sets up at least one sequel. Fairy fruit this ain't. (Fantasy. 12-16) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
