Norah Sullivan gains the power to manipulate probability—also called “navigation”—the same day she and her father are attacked by flickerbeasts, whose bites increase their likelihood of dying a horrifying death. Because Norah was only bitten once, she is able to manage the slow mystical effect of the attack; however, her father quickly becomes ill after suffering from multiple bites. Determined to save them both, Norah keeps her bite hidden and transfers to the Academy of Navigation in her senior year, hoping to search their archives for a cure. But the only way to gain archive access is to become a senior research assistant through a series of team trials, each testing their navigation skills as a group. To save herself and her father, Norah must navigate tension, drama, romance and her new powers to work with her teammates, all while keeping her bite a secret from everyone.
Flickerstate (Sourcebooks Fire, $18.99, 9781464266195) introduces readers to a unique magic system: In a mental space called the flickerstate, navigators can see many possible futures and push reality toward a desired outcome. Navigation is a fairly new discovery, but it already has an impact on culture, politics and everyday life, especially as flickerbeasts, whose bites have no known cure, are attracted to navigation. In the flickerstate, powers manifest into different elements—fire, trees, even yarn—and the powers’ manifestation depends largely on the navigator themselves. This personalization makes the powers feel incredibly intimate to each character.
Norah Sullivan sees herself as fire; she’s sassy, strong and very sympathetic. She’s plagued by typical senior year troubles like making friends, fitting in and dealing with romance, but everything is colored by the dread of her own and her father’s impending deaths. Yet Norah never gives up, moving forward no matter the cost. And while she does face many challenges—some of them self-imposed—she learns not only how to use her powers, but also how to build real, open relationships with other people.
With a plot full of mysteries and a fascinating magic system, Flickerstate is an exciting ride from beginning to end, and its realistic characters make it a heartfelt and refreshing take on YA fantasy.