Toxic Heart

Gr 9 Up—Aria Rose is still on the run. Considered a fugitive by her immediate family and her ex-fiancé, Thomas Foster, she has been taken in by a group of mystics loyal to her boyfriend Hunter. She has also become a figurehead to the poor and disenfranchised trapped in the Depths of what used to be Manhattan. Meanwhile, Hunter has been broadcasting edited footage of their intimate, private conversations. As he continually becomes distant and harder to reach, Aria grows closer to his best friend, the lithe, motorcycle riding Turk, who is charged with keeping her safe. Despite the threats to her safety and well-being, Aria learns that her former servant and best friend Davida may hold the key to end the war, even in death. Davida's mystic heart has lived on, brimming with power, and promising untold majesty to the one that is able to locate and harness its energies. As Aria and a reluctant Turk seek the heart, Hunter engages in peace talks with respectable, powerful families of the Aeries. In this sequel to Mystic City (Delacorte, 2012), the protagonist is continuously fighting, often in nonphysical ways. She attempts to combat the growing perception that those in the Depths have of her as a savior, struggles to hang on to her feelings for Hunter despite his behavior, and tries to resist her burgeoning attraction for Turk. While Aria's romantic conflicts take up a good portion of the narrative, there's enough here to push the story's momentum. Recommended for dystopian fans.—Ryan P. Donovan, New York Public Library