Meanwhile, Michael Warner, who lives in the same Brooklyn housing projects as the Wrights, is rejected from the football team for being too small. When the officer slams her brother to the ground, Lolo’s powers manifest for the first time. Smart, quiet 14-year-old Loretta “Lolo” Wright struggles to stand up for herself until, on what should be a routine trip to a convenience store, her 16-year-old brother, James, is mistakenly accused of stealing by the police. Grammy Award–winning artist Keys co-authors a YA superhero graphic novel bearing the title of her hit song. However, both read as much older than teenagers.įull and detailed worldbuilding, but the characters and plot struggle to compete with it. Layered and authentic in her trauma, anger, and strength, she far outshines Damian.

This fantasy murder mystery, set in an alternate Italy and laced with romance, is slow to start and sometimes hard to follow, but queer Roz is the saving grace. They rekindle their romance and uncover a web of politics, lies, and power that is anything but holy. Roz confronts him, and Damian agrees to work with her he, too, suspects all the murders are connected. Then two unfavored children are murdered, and the Palazzo ignores their deaths-yet a disciple’s murder requires Damian’s investigation. Now 18, his father makes him head of Palazzo security. Two years on, Damian has returned from the war.

She became a disciple and a rebel, pledging to use her power to bring about justice.

Shortly after, when she was 16, Roz’s magic revealed itself. Instead, they live in poverty and are drafted into war, like Roz’s father, whom Damian’s general father, a disciple of the saint Strength, killed for deserting. They can’t attend the magical Mercato night market or reside in the opulent Palazzo. In Ombrazia, all disciples descend from the seven faceless saints, but descendants like Damian who do not possess magic are the unfavored. Ex-sweethearts–turned-enemies Rossana Lacertosa and Damian Venturi work together to find a killer.

Seven faceless saints