Review by Booklist Review
Teodora understands what it takes to protect her family. Powerful people have powerful enemies, and she will do anything to keep her family safe, even using her strega magic to transform those enemies into decorative objects. Even keeping that magic a secret from everyone, including her dearest siblings. But when the ruler of Vinalia poisons Teodora's father, along with the heads of the other four most powerful families, and demands that each family sends a son to the capital, Teodora uses her magic to take her brother's place as her family's representative. On her journey, she meets Cielo, another strega capable of transformative magic. Cielo can become man or woman, human or animal and as the two grow closer, they learn more about the depths of their powers, the secrets of their country, and the truth of their feelings for each other. This first in a duology is a luminously imagined, Italian-inspired fantasy that thoughtfully speaks to ideas of gender perception and identity. A rich world, with much left to be explored in the next volume.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 UP-Teodora "Teo" di Sangro is a young woman whose magical power is only increasing as she moves from her initial crude attempts to enforce her father's control of their fiefdom. Her family loyalty is tested when her father is poisoned by the Capo, a new ruler who is attempting to consolidate the country of Vinalia by ruthlessly assassinating the heads of the five families who rule it. In a country that hunts and eliminates the magic-wielding strega, Teo has little hope of developing her skill until she encounters Cielo, a powerful strega. Under Cielo's tutelage, Teo is able to become male, and using his dead brother's name, present himself to the Capo as the di Sangro heir. Teo uncovers the Capo's plot to unite the kingdom using nefarious means. Capetta takes every opportunity to explore power, gender identity, and sexuality in this Italian-inspired fantasy. Narrator Carlotta Brentan brings Capetta's characters vividly to life. VERDICT This will find an audience with fans of Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller or Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler.-Jodeana Kruse, R.A. Long High School, Longview, WA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In a magical, Italy-inspired setting, the Capo takes over Vinalia and poisons Teodora di Sangro's powerful father. Teo hatches a plan: with the help of a genderfluid strega named Cielo, Teo will shape-shift into a boy, impersonate her brother, travel to the Capo's Palazza, and find the antidote. Told in rich metaphorical language, this high fantasy offers a compelling interrogation of gender, power, and familial duty. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In the face of war and family destruction, a young strega fights to claim her power.For olive-skinned Teo di Sangro, daughter of a high lord of Vinalia, "family is fate." As a girl, she stands no chance at inheriting her father's title, but she protects her family from the shadows in a way neither of her brothers can. No one knows about Teo's magic, which she unleashes on anyone who dares to challenge di Sangro power. Teo longs for her father's acknowledgment, but she also yearns to control her secret abilities. When a pale-skinned, black-haired, genderfluid shape-shifter named Cielo appears in the mountains on the same day as an assassination attempt on Teo's father, she gets swept up in a dangerous plot of murder and politics. Capetta (Echo After Echo, 2017, etc.) captures readers' attention with alluring first-person prose and a protagonist who does not shy away from ruthlessness to achieve her goals. As Teo struggles with her place in her family and society, she also explores her sexuality and gender identity. Her interaction with Cielo, who contains a shifting balance of both boy and girl, helps her realize that she too may not always "fit inside the boundaries of the word girl." Through shape-shifting and in her romance with Cielo, Teo discovers the meaning of wholeness and ownership over her body.A delicious and magical intrigue too tempting not to devour. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
