Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Eighteen-year-old Vanity Adams lives in the Museum, a curated attraction meant to showcase the power of witches to the public. It also functions as her prison. Vanity will one day become the necromantic Spectacle, one of the adult performers who spend their time resurrecting the dead for paying customers. Until then, she and all the other witches are kept separate and sedated, and their magic is locked away, as witches who connect with each other often react violently, something that Museum curator Monroe Athalia refuses to risk. Soon, however, Vanity's preoccupation with two other Museum inhabitants--witches Clover Rao and Ellis Kim--comes to a head, resulting in the death and subsequent resurrection of Ellis. Suddenly capable of accessing her magic and having gained mental clarity for what seems like the first time, Vanity becomes entangled with the duo, and her tenuous grip on her powers--and reality--grows increasingly unstable. Using surreal prose, Mikuta (Off with Their Heads) effectively captures Vanity's often alien-feeling perception of reality and intense longing for connection. This is a stunningly original tale, and a mind-bending escapist read that's not to be missed. Ages 12--up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 10 Up--Vanity Adams, 18, is a witch, part of a small group privileged enough to live outside the Sanitorium at the Museum, an exhibition of magic for the ultra-elite. Always observed, Vanity is kept away from other witches, even other performers, everyone but her mother and her twin sister, Arrogance. But the desire to interact with fellow witches, especially ones her own age, like Ellis and Clover, comes to a head when tragedy strikes and Vanity's hidden powers are revealed, binding all four teenagers together in an obsessive and dark relationship. Readers will want to check the content warnings at the beginning of Mikuta's latest title as the story includes self-harm, substance abuse, and other more mature topics. A non-chronological stream-of-consciousness story from multiple unreliable points of view, this is profoundly character-driven, at times to the plot's detriment. Still, it captures a dreamlike look into what addiction can do to relationships, memory, and identity in a dark romanticization of the magic-and-madness trope that disturbs as much as it endears. VERDICT A surreal fantasy like this will do well in collections for teens who enjoy reading about serious themes in magical settings.--Jolie Hanlon
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A lonely teen witch longs for true connection. For the witches kept like zoo animals in the Museum, on display for the City tourists who can afford entry to the lavish weekly Parties, life feels hopeless. Monroe Athalia, the Museum's Curator, owns three witch families--the Adamses, the Kims, and the Raos. The adults are Spectacles, performing rites for patrons. Meanwhile, their children's magical powers are stripped away by the Machine to avoid any dangerous mishaps due to their unbalanced teenage natures. Other witches are taken to the Sanatorium, where they're kept comatose--their magic harvested to make the drug World, which is popular in the City, a setting with a European feeling. Despite a ban on fraternizing, Vanity Adams spends her days seeking Ellis Kim and Clover Rao, the other young witches, commiserating over each failure with her vicious twin sister, Ro. When Vanity and Ellis finally do connect, Vanity's reality spirals in terrifying ways. The story's time skips and Vanity's rambling narration make for a difficult reading experience that requires readers to suspend disbelief; however, Vanity's sense of self and her dramatic depiction of love and toxic relationships are multifaceted and grounding. Similarly, the discussions of drugs, addiction, death, and generational cycles of violence add a grim reality to the fantastical plot. Monroe and Vanity are from the country of Miyeon, which reads fantasy--East Asian; biracial Vanity is half Clara (fantasy-white). Ellis and Clover are cued fantasy-Asian. A disturbingly compelling fever dream. (content warning)(Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
