Starred Review Roundup (12/7/2023)

Stars all around! These titles all received multiple starred reviews:

PUNISHED FOR DREAMING: HOW SCHOOL REFORM HARMS BLACK CHILDREN AND HOW WE HEAL by Bettina L. Love
9781250280381 | 9/12/23

 “Impactful educator Love (WE WANT TO DO MORE THAN SURVIVE) asserts that educational policies punish children of color, especially Black ones, by denying them an equitable public education. Love says that unless society strongly and persistently demands a large and effective structural change to the educational system, students of color will remain undereducated for the foreseeable future. Yet her book serves as an exceptional roadmap to healing and transformation. For general readers who want to learn about and possibly improve racial problems within the education system.”—Library Journal, starred review

 “Love, professor of education at Columbia University, presents an in-depth history of the U.S. education system that highlights the anti-Black nature of school reform since the 1980s. Love concludes with a chapter arguing that Black Americans are owed $56 billion for the harm done by the past 40 years of school reform, a bold assertion that will no doubt make waves in education advocacy circles. Detailed and persuasive, this is a must-read for educators.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

INHERITANCE: THE LOST BRIDE TRILOGY, BOOK 1 by Nora Roberts
9781250288325 | 11/21/23

 “A woman inherits a haunted seaside mansion in Maine from a long-lost relative. Her lush, ethereal world of ghosts and spirits is the perfect foil for Sonya’s down-to-earth, almost spartan manner. Another Roberts hallmark is on display: her continuing thematic exploration of how an individual defeats evil—not by acting alone, but by forming a community and harnessing its members’ strength and power for the coming battle. Exciting launch for Roberts’ new trilogy, which promises to explore the mystical power of women to do both good and evil.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

 “Romance queen Roberts takes all of the beloved elements of classic gothic romances, including a marvelously atmospheric old mansion as well as a spunky heroine starting over in life, then puts her own inventive spin on things. The first book in the Lost Bride trilogy, this features an incisively etched cast of characters and a spooktacular plot that will keep readers up long past their regular bedtimes. A multiplatform, multimedia advertising campaign and a one-day million-copy laydown ensure a hot start for Roberts’ latest.”—Booklist, starred review

SERPENT & THE WINGS OF NIGHT: THE NIGHTBORN DUET BOOK ONE by Carissa Broadbent
9781250343185 | 5/14/24

 “The book focuses on the tournament and inserts worldbuilding naturally, maintaining a quick pace while drawing readers in further. Emotional intimacy develops slowly and romance even longer. Traumas are handled tenderly, making the violence and betrayal of the tournament hit harder. Motives are multi-pronged, morally gray, and complex, leaving no easy resolution to the ongoing plot. A self-published hit picked up by a big publisher, this series launch is a haunting, action-packed political fantasy with a doomed romance at its center, full of heartbreak and intrigue.”—Library Journal, starred review

 “Broadbent keeps the emotional stakes high as the personal butts up against the political and practicality dances with desire. Readers will find the tournament satisfying in itself, while also gaining a huge amount of information about the world’s supernatural structure, complex vampire politics, and elaborate pantheon, setting up the sequel nicely. Fans of dark romantasy won’t want to miss this.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

BEAUTYLAND by Marie-Helene Bertino
9780374109288 | 1/16/24

 “With so much humor and heart, Bertino balances fantasy and hyperrealism, metaphor and fact. For whom is the act of belonging not, to some degree, an exhausting, lifelong quest? It’s like fiction was invented for Adina and her tale, which unspools so assuredly readers might mistake it for their own.”—Booklist, starred review

 “In the final section, Adina drops out of college and moves to New York City to be closer to Toni, who works in publishing, and whose support leads Adina to share her writing with a human audience. Bertino nimbly portrays her protagonist’s alienhood as both metaphor and reality. The results are divine.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review