The Catalyst

Gr 9 Up—A cataclysmic event called the Veilbreak split humanity into green-eyed Magical Gifted and black-eyed nonmagicals, called Ashkind, and triggered the long and bloody War of the Angels. Now, 12 years after the end of the war, the Gifted and Ashkind live in relative harmony, albeit under a Gifted-ruled government. Rose Elmsworth is a 15-year-old training under her adopted father, David, who heads the government's brutal law enforcement agency. However, they share a terrible secret that they have tenuously hidden from the government their whole lives. When a murderer escapes from prison and reveals that he knows what the Elmsworths are hiding, Rose's life—and her trust in her father—hang in the balance. Nuanced characters share the page with shallow secondary characters, but that doesn't detract from the story, which is thrilling and intriguing, leaving readers wanting more. Coggan writes adeptly for her age, 15, and explores dark themes (death, suicide, revolution) in mature prose; there are some minor missteps, such as unclear perspective and uneven world-building, but overall, this is a well-executed debut.