Gateway Reviews

THESE FEATHERED FLAMES It has been seven years since fate separated Asya and Izaveta. At ten years old, the twins were set on opposite paths: one destined to be the legendary Firebird, one to be the queen. Seven years, and the girls have changed irrevocably. Asya is a reluctant Firebird, training in the shadow of her aunt to exact the prices magic demands by its users, brutal and deadly. Izaveta has followed in her mother's footsteps, learning the best ways to manipulate and scheme to grasp utmost power in court. Before the princesses can complete their training, tragedy strikes. With the death of their mother, the girls are brought together again to assume their roles at last: Firebird and Queen. But the realm is unsteady. The eternal source of magic in Tourin is Fading. Enemies external and internal threaten to overwhelm the court, and not even the Firebird and her sister are safe while their mother's killer remains free. ...

SIXTEEN SCANDALS Primrose Ainsworth has been patiently awaiting her sixteenth birthday and her introduction into society. With three older sisters before her, she has grown antsy at home, longing for her debut into the world. She wants to attend parties, dance at balls, have a chance to fall in love... But her plans are dashed on her sixteenth birthday when her mother declares she will have to wait even longer--wait until her shy older sister Aster is successfully married, whenever that might be. Without a clear path forward, Prim decides to take matters into her own hands. She might not get to officially enter society on her birthday, but she can still see it on her own. With her best friend Olympia in tow, Prim sneaks out to visit Vauxhall and all of its nightly wonders. She wants to see the lights, the acrobats, the crowds. She wants to dance. But when a pub brawl breaks out and separates the two girls, the night takes a turn for the wors...

ACE OF SPADES Devon Richards might be surprised to be named a senior prefect, but Chiamaka Adebayo has been working toward this all along. As the two Black kids in their class, they've both had to put in the work to keep their heads up at the elite Niveus Academy, and that work seems to be paying off, even for a scholarship kid like Devon. Chiamaka might be skeptical about Devon, but she knows she was meant to be head prefect--and in the running for valedictorian--after all of her hard work. But shortly after the prefect appointments are made, everything starts to go wrong. An anonymous source called Aces sends out a text, a very incriminating text, and suddenly, both Devon and Chiamaka find themselves at the center of school speculation. As popular as she is, Chiamaka is not afraid of some gossip, but being in the limelight is new for Devon. And as the texts continue, the messages grow more and more incriminating, turning their plans an...

SING ME FORGOTTEN Isda has spent all her life hidden in the catacombs beneath Channe Opera House. Born a gravoir, Isda is cursed with an illegal magic that allows her to alter the memories of those around her--a magic so strong that those like her have been condemned to die. Only Cyril, owner of the opera house, knows about her. He is the one who spared her life and brought her to live at the opera house, sequestered as she is. Isda shouldn't exist, and she knows it, relegated to the life of a ghost, wandering the halls after hours and helping Cyril to keep the opera house alive. She is content in the life--content as she can be, knowing the other option. Until the night she hears him sing. Isda has heard many singers in her years at the opera house, but none with a voice like Emeric's--none with a voice that stirs up memories as vibrant and alive as his, memories that contain something illegal: the face of a little gravoir girl, the...

THAT WEEKEND It was supposed to the perfect weekend. Ditching prom, sneaking out with her best friend to lake house, time alone with her boyfriend: what could go wrong? Something clearly did. Waking up alone and bloodied on the side of a hiking trail, Claire doesn't know what day it is. She doesn't know where she is, and she doesn't know where Kat and Jesse have gone. Thirty-six hours of her life, missing. Claire is whisked off to the ER while search parties sweep the area, looking for her best friends, but as the hours turn to days, the questions turn on Claire, the only witness to what exactly happened that weekend. PROS Fractured Timeline A lot of thrillers employ a fractured timeline, so this book is by no means unique. However, though this technique is common, it is employed for good reason, and Kara Thomas wields it well. Without a fractured and disjointed timeline, this story...