Thursday, February 23, 2023

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu - HIGH

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu
, 336 pages. Roaring Brook Press(Macmillan), 2023. $18

Language: R (49 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (bisexual relationships mentioned, off-page sex; drinking, transporting drugs); Violence: PG (kidnapping, killing mentioned, death by choking on a chemical weapon, hand to hand combat, shot in the chest. Sydney’s mother killed by father in domestic abuse rage)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Present time in America, 19yo Winter is a famous performer who is being recruited by the Panacea Agency to help take down a dangerous criminal, Eli Morrison. Eli has invited Winter to perform at his daughter Penelope’s birthday celebration in London. This is why Panacea wants Winter’s help, because he can infiltrate Eli’s life with little suspicion. Sydney Cosette works for Panacea and poses as Winter’s bodyguard. The two seem to come from very different backgrounds but they discover they have commonalities. Winter and Sydney get hit with a few surprises on their mission and they’ll have to rely on their wits and trust each other to make it through alive.

Winter and Sydney are interesting characters with unspoken depth. I like the mystery, action and setting of the story. I love the ending. The ethnicity of the main character is Chinese American, other characters are Black, white, brown-skinned, mixed.

LynnDell Watson, Delta High School Librarian

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