A Stage Set for Villains

Gr 9 Up–The idea from Shakespeare that “All the world’s a stage” comes to life in the land known as Theatron, where people are plagued by godlike creatures known as the Players. They are nasty and, for anyone who gets in their way, deadly. Story, music, and more have been stolen from the citizens, and only the Players put on performances, which often turn out to be fatal for viewers. Riven has lived her entire life hating the Players for killing her father, cursing her, and keeping her people in fear. To survive the curse, she must gain access to the Player’s Playhouse and find a cure before her time runs out. Riven feels like an outcast, and there are some family issues she must deal with throughout. By going off on her own and realizing that family can be friends that you choose, her walls start to come down, and she starts to let others in. She is a very naïve character, and readers will want to shake her throughout the first part of the book, but her questionable choices make sense as the story progresses. Numerous twists are integral to the flow of the storyline, keep the pace going, and leave readers wanting more. Characters have a wide range of descriptions, but ethnicities are not mentioned, though Players have a gold appearance that sets them apart.