Of Curses and Kisses

December 16, 2019
In this uneven “Beauty and the Beast” retelling from Menon (When Dimple Met Rishi), Princess Jaya Rao is the heiress to an old Indian kingdom, and though India is now a democracy, she still has to act the part. This means doing her duty (acting “benevolent, firm, and fair”), aspiring to perfection, and looking after her free-spirited younger sister, Isha. Isha’s appearance in the tabloids is why, in Jaya’s senior year, they’ve been sent to St. Rosetta’s International Academy, a fancy boarding school in the Colorado mountains where the rich stash children who they want out of the public eye. Jaya has reconciled herself to it, though: Grey Emerson, scion of the English family that her own has feuded with over a cursed ruby for generations, also attends there. The plan is to break his heart as payback for his allegedly leaking a photo of Isha to the press. Seventeen-year-old Beast stand-in Grey is lonely, brooding, and, “tainted” by the curse, sure he can’t be with people. As if their family connection isn’t enough, Grey and Jaya’s tempestuous relationship becomes entangled with other school dramas. En route to the inevitable happy ending, readers may tire of repeated descriptions that underline not only the characters’ wealth and family connections but also their emotional states, which are often described, and then announced, within the protagonists’ alternating first-person narratives. Ages 12–up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

December 15, 2019
Rajkumari Jaya Rao has one goal during her time at St. Rosetta's International Academy: to take revenge by breaking the heart of English aristocrat Grey Emerson. Indian princesses Jaya Rao and her sister, Isha, begin their senior and sophomore years, respectively, at St. Rosetta's near Aspen, Colorado, a school that has a reputation for well-kept secrets. The Emersons and Raos have had a feud for generations over a ruby that once belonged to the Raos and was stolen by the Emersons in the days of British colonialism. Now Jaya has discovered that the Emersons have dragged her little sister into the feud, and she will not rest until she has gotten her revenge. On a mission to break Grey's heart, Jaya finds to her surprise that there is more to him than she thought. Grey, on the other hand, has lived as a recluse thanks to Jaya's great-great-grandmother's curse that makes his family fear he will die at age 18. Seeing Jaya at St. Rosetta's wearing a shining ruby pendant fills him with terror. The story is told from the perspectives of both Jaya and Grey. Readers will empathize with both of them, although their long internal monologues may cause their attention to waver at times. Grey is white, and there is diversity among the secondary characters. A lukewarm retelling of "Beauty and the Beast." (map) (Romance. 12-16)

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January 10, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Princess Jaya Rao and her younger sister Isha are sent to St. Rosetta's International Academy to get away from the tabloids and reports of Isha's missteps. At the heart of it all is Grey, the heir to the Emerson family, who has been taking pictures of Isha and selling them to the papers. When Jaya finds out Grey attends the same school, she plots her revenge. As the school year starts, Jaya is in every class with Grey and flirts with him to gain his trust, then break his heart. He's often confused by her actions and things don't go as planned. Jaya and Grey must find out what makes them each unique while also figuring out what it means to be part of a family. The stars align to make mischief in this story of loyalty, family honor, first love, and a generations-old feud. Told alternately by Jaya and Grey, readers learn about the history of each family and a curse that has carried on for generations. The story is well paced with enough action to balance the dialogue and character thoughts. The characters are well developed, the dialogue is current and believable, and the ongoing mystery combined with almost comic intrigue makes a solid YA romance. VERDICT Fans of Colleen Houck's A Tiger's Curse will enjoy this star-crossed tale; think Romeo and Juliet meets Sherlock Holmes. Recommended for teen libraries.-Cathleen Ash, Manor High School Library, TX

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January 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 Though India is a democracy now, Jaya Rao of the Imperial House of Mysuru is still a princess, and she understands the expectations. At the top of the list is upholding her family's honor, which is why she's starting at St. Rosetta's International Academy, an elite boarding school, alongside her little sister, Isha. Also at the academy is Grey Emerson, a British aristocrat from the family of the Raos' biggest rivals. It's a deep rivalry: in fact, Grey believes he was cursed by Jaya's ancestor to die before his eighteenth birthday. As a result, he's angry, isolating himself from his classmates. But Jaya is determined to get her revenge on the Emersons, who recently targeted Isha in a public attack: she plans to make Grey fall in love with her, then break his heart. This lightly fantastical spin on Beauty and the Beast works in plenty of crowd-pleasing elements?an enemies-to-lovers romance, a boarding-school setting, an ebullient supporting cast. Fans of Menon's frothy, contemporary rom-coms will be excited for this venture into new territory. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Menon's debut, When Dimple Met Rishi (2017), was a New York Times best-seller, and its companion novels have been hotly anticipated. A national media campaign will get her newest into eager hands.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)