RaveBooklistBarnhill’s gift for storytelling immediately draws readers into this character-driven tale where dragons lurk, crows prove great friends, and an unusual narrator relays events with a unique perspective. These fairy-tale trappings cloak modern lessons and timeless ideals that readers will do well to take to heart, no matter their age.
Safia Elhillo
RaveBooklist... sophisticated ... will entrance readers with its deft use of language and blurred divide between reality and possibility ... These revelations act as a much-needed awakening for Nima, who is able to make slight changes to the past that lead to a happier present, though none more than the metamorphosis she herself undergoes in this surreal crash-course in perspective, agency, and self-love.
Jeff VanderMeer
RaveBooklist... will enamor adult readers as much as teens. Taking the peculiar darkness of Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine series and the absurd humor and wit of Terry Pratchett, VanderMeer dreams up a wholly original tale, filled with complexity, imagination, and talking marmots ... a wild ride that requires a few leaps of faith from readers, but they’re in good hands with VanderMeer, who has a sequel in the works for those who emerge victorious from Aurora.
A J Jacobs
PositiveBooklist[A. J. Jacob\'s] candid tone and genuine curiosity lead to fascinating conversations and establish human connections that deliver satisfying jolts of perspective ... [a] slim offering.
Eleanor Herman
RaveBooklistThis three-part, Eurocentric history opens with an eye-opening look at once-common precautions taken to protect royal families, which run the gamut from food tasters to unicorn horn poison detectors, though their horrendous hygiene didn’t do them any favors ... She concludes each profile with a contemporary postmortem and modern analysis of the death. A final section on modern-day poisonings shows this deadly tradition is alive and well. A pernicious history that will make jaws drop and pages fly.
Tessa Fontaine
RaveBooklist\"Fascinating and heartfelt, Fontaine’s memoir brushes with death but, more important, finds life and light in unexpected places, giving value to otherness in an unpredictable world.\
