Made Glorious

January 15, 2024
A teen thespian launches a Machiavellian campaign to land a starring role in this fiendish Richard III homage from Eagar (The Family Fortuna). After years of fervent devotion to the Bosworth Academy drama club, which included buying her own costumes when the club’s closet couldn’t accommodate her full figure’s “sizing needs,” senior Rory King is sick of being relegated to the ensemble. With only one semester remaining before graduation, Rory takes matters into her own hands, hatching a diabolical plot to secure the female lead in the spring musical. Never mind that she’ll have to ruin some lives to make her plan work, or that these machinations might distract from her schoolwork, thus jeopardizing her chances at a much-needed scholarship. Rory has paid her dues; now it’s her time to shine. With myriad metafictional flourishes, the tale unfolds in five acts in third-person-present narration, which Eagar intercuts with scenes written like script excerpts, fourth-wall-breaking monologues from Rory, and even a musical score. An intersectionally diverse cast of nuanced characters adds depth; Rory, in particular, is a sympathetic antihero whose pain, desperation, and loneliness color every deed. Ages 14–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

March 15, 2024
Grades 10-12 *Starred Review* Above all else, Rory is a theater kid. The drama department--and its director--at her private school are legendary, and for years, Rory has waited patiently in the ensemble for her senior year, when she'll finally have a shot at a lead role, to come. Even in drama, Rory is something of an outcast; a scholarship student and mocked for her weight, she also lacks the talent that would make her peers respect her. Still, she's fixated on a particular role in the spring musical, and there is no price she won't pay--not even her own life--to achieve it. If this sounds dramatic, it's because it is: this is an ambitious reimagining of Shakespeare's Richard III that succeeds in large part because of the way Eagar (The Family Fortuna, 2023) handles Rory's narration. It slips between her first- and third-person perspectives sometimes within paragraphs; beyond Rory's ruthless, imperious voice, Eagar paints a portrait of a girl in dire crisis, slowly revealing the depth of Rory's mental illnesses, particularly her depression. It's a volatile reading experience that certainly won't be for everyone. Eager takes big swings that, though they sometimes miss their mark (original sheet music is impressively crafted but ultimately adds little), are often astonishing. A troubling, unforgettable read.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 15, 2024
A misunderstood thespian stops at nothing to obtain a lead role in this modern retelling of Shakespeare's Richard III. At Bosworth Academy, theater is a battlefield, and scholarship student and senior Rory King is sick of rotting in the trenches. She's a loyal member of the Princely Players, her school's esteemed theater troupe, but she's been relegated to lowly ensemble parts for years. Now she's ready to claim her spotlight. There's just one problem: Pam Hanson, the iron-fisted director, repeatedly fails to see Rory's potential. Luckily, Rory's engineered a diabolical scheme to take what she's earned, and she invites readers to witness it unfolding just as she planned. Like Shakespeare's hunchbacked Richard III, Rory, who's fat, is scorned for her body--but like him, she's also clever, ruthless, and singularly focused. She has no qualms about exploiting anyone in pursuit of her goals, including her castmates, caring teacher Miss Keating, and even her closest friends. Through a narrative format that shifts between the first and third person, moves forward and backward in time, and incorporates prose, play scripts, and even a musical score, Rory's numerous misdeeds are revealed: spying, forgery, blackmail, sexual manipulation, and more. Reimagining Richard III as a toxic theater kid rather than a crown-hungry noble is thought provoking. Her skulking and plotting make for quite the spectacle, propelling readers to the bitter, catastrophic end. Save for Miss Keating, who's Black, all named characters are white. Sensationally tragic. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2024

Gr 10 Up-Rory's last semester at Bosworth Academy is where all her plans finally come to fruition. Her scheming and trickery have no bounds, and she's willing to do anything to be chosen as the lead in her school's spring musical. In fact, she feels, it's practically owed to her after years of being the scholarship kid bullied for her weight. Eagar delivers a reimagining of Shakespeare's Richard III where the main character is an antagonist few will root for, although they will follow her every move. Told in five acts, the novel includes a mix of viewpoints, script snippets, and a song that builds a story of Rory the antihero, surrounded by her own lies and manipulation. Rory often speaks directly to the audience, heartily unfolding an unhealthy obsession with getting her due. Embedded in Rory's schemes is an unsparingly candid look at mental health, failure in the school system, and the reality of the disconnect some feel from the world. Rory's dark tale of mind games continually intrigues readers, even if it doesn't always nail the delivery. Trigger warning for characters discussing suicide (including ideation), mental health, and fatphobia. Rory is cued white. Original musical score not seen. VERDICT An ominous homage with a morally corrupt lead who puts her own desires above all others. Give to readers who enjoy dark atmospheric works, such as Liselle Sambury's Delicious Monsters and Rory Power's Burn Our Bodies Down.-Emily Walker

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.