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Patterson, Kaitlyn Sage

WORK TITLE: The Diminished
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.kaitlynsagepatterson.com/
CITY: Memphis
STATE: TN
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:

RESEARCHER NOTES:

PERSONAL

Married.

EDUCATION:

M.F.A.

ADDRESS

  • Home - Memphis, TN.

CAREER

Writer. Worked formerly as an English teacher in South Korea.

AVOCATIONS:

Baking. Riding horses.

WRITINGS

  • The Diminished (novel), Harlequin Teen (New York, NY), 2018

SIDELIGHTS

Kaitlyn Sage Patterson is a Memphis-based writer. She grew up near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in. As a child, Patterson was an avid reader. Patterson received a college degree as well as a masters in fine arts degree. Following graduate school graduation, she moved to South Korea. While there, she taught English to South Korean students and began writing her debut novel.

Patterson writes whenever she has free time. While she has a day job, she writes in the morning before work, in the evenings after work, and during her lunch break. On the weekends, she often writes from 9:30 in the morning until six or seven in the evening. When beginning a novel, Patterson spends a significant amount of time on research. In her free time, Patterson enjoys baking, cooking, and riding and training dressage horses. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee with her husband and their rescue dogs.

Aimed at ages nine and older, The Diminished is the first in a duology set in the fictional Alskad Empire. The land is ruled by Queen Runa, who lives a life of luxury and excess. Countering Queen Runa’s rule is the Suzerain religious order, an underground organization set on overthrowing the government. In this world, most people are born twins, and the two members of the twinship split a conscience. Protagonists Vi and Bo are two anomalies; neither has a twin sibling. This is about the extent of their similarities.

Vi has lived a life of hard work and poverty. Known as a ‘dimmy,’ Vi lacks a twin because her sibling died in infancy. In Alskad Empire, when one member of a twin relationship perishes, most often the remaining twin succumbs to grief, lose their mind, and take their own lives. Worse yet, in their suicidal demise these individuals often explode in violence, taking innocent lives with them. It is for this reason that Vi is feared and has been excluded from a normal life. Vi is a a ward of the Suzerain temple in the city of Penby. She was raised by the Suzerain, but has been essentially treated as a slave her whole life. 

Bo, a single child, known in Alskad Empire as a ‘singleborn,’ is the favorite nephew of Queen Runa and has been selected to be her heir. Bo has lived his life as royalty and is happy to accept his destiny. When hidden family secrets surface, the entire empire, and Bo’s place within it, are threatened. Vi is implicated in this potentially catastrophic news, and thus she is banished from the Suzerain religious order. She is sent to the foreign land of Ilor, a land of notoriously wild and mysterious peoples. Bo sets out to find Vi, and to uncover the truth about his lineage.

When the two meet, they are surprised to discover they have more in common than one might think. As they travel around the land, they encounter various factions of the empire, some of whom support Queen Runa, and others who despise her. Through their journey they discovery the power of friendship and begin to understand their world, their identities, and the future of Alskad Empire together.

Describing the book, a contributor to Kirkus Reviews called it “an intriguing premise and well-constructed setting anchor this fantasy debut.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly penned, “after a slow start dense with world-building, Patterson settles into a character-driven narrative that champions self-determination and condemns xenophobia.” Abby Hargreaves in School Library Journal wrote: “Lovers of romance will find enough to satisfy in this epic, while those who enjoy political intrigue will similarly get their fill of it,” adding: “a strong choice for YA collections.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

  • Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2018, review of The Diminished.

  • Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2018, review of The Diminished, p. 77.

  • School Library Journal, March, 2018, Abby Hargreaves, review of The Diminished, p. 121.

  • The Diminished - 2018 Harlequin Teen, New York, NY
  • Kaitlyn Sage Patterson Home Page - http://www.kaitlynsagepatterson.com/

    HI, I'M KAITLYN
    Kaitlyn Sage Patterson grew up with her nose in a book outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After completing her M.F.A., she moved to South Korea, where she taught English and started writing her debut novel. THE DIMINISHED will be published by HarlequinTEEN on April 10, 2018, followed by its sequel in 2019.

    When she's not staring off into space and trying to untangle some particularly troublesome plot point, she can be found in her kitchen, perfecting the art of the macaron; or at the barn, where she rides and trains dressage horses; or with her husband, spoiling their sweet rescue dogs.

    Kaitlyn is represented by Brent Taylor of Triada US Literary Agency.

  • Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Kaitlyn-Sage-Patterson/e/B072C7ZR9D/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

    Kaitlyn Sage Patterson grew up with her nose in a book outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After completing her M.F.A., she moved to South Korea, where she taught English and started writing her debut novel. THE DIMINISHED will be published by HarlequinTEEN in April 2018, followed by its sequel in 2019.

    When she's not staring off into space and trying to untangle some particularly troublesome plot point, she can be found in her kitchen, perfecting the art of the macaron; or at the barn, where she rides and trains dressage horses; or with her husband, spoiling their sweet rescue dogs.

  • Pop! Goes the Reader - http://www.popgoesthereader.com/between-the-lines/between-the-lines-with-kaitlyn-sage-patterson/

    BETWEEN THE LINES WITH KAITLYN SAGE PATTERSON
    Wednesday, August 16th, 2017 at 12:00 AM | filed under Between The Lines

    BETWEEN THE LINES is a sporadic feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which authors and other industry professionals provide further insight into the writing and publishing process in the form of interviews, guest posts, etc. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy as we read BETWEEN THE LINES.

    Hi everyone! We’re doing something a little different for today’s Between The Lines feature here on Pop! Goes The Reader and I couldn’t be more excited! A couple of weeks ago, HarlequinTEEN revealed the cover of the first book in debut author Kaitlyn Sage Patterson’s untitled duology, The Diminished. To celebrate this exciting milestone and the book’s upcoming publication on April 10th 2018, Kaitlyn approached me with a fun idea for a guest post and I’m so thrilled I finally have an opportunity to share it with you. The Diminished is set in a world where nearly everyone is born with a twin and few are forced to navigate the world alone. With this in mind, Kaitlyn recently sat down with her best friend, Thalia Beaty, who is both a journalist and a twin, for a fascinating interview about The Diminished, dinner parties and much, much more!

    ABOUT KAITLYN SAGE PATTERSON

    Kaitlyn Sage Patterson grew up with her nose in a book outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After completing her M.F.A., she moved to South Korea, where she taught English and started writing her debut novel. The Diminished will be published by HarlequinTEEN in February 2018, followed by its sequel in 2019.

    When she’s not staring off into space and trying to untangle some particularly troublesome plot point, she can be found in her kitchen, perfecting the art of the macaron; or at the barn, where she rides and trains dressage horses; or with her husband, spoiling their sweet rescue dogs.

    Find Kaitlyn On… Website ● Twitter ● Facebook ● Instagram ● Goodreads
    ABOUT THALIA BEATY

    Brooklyn-based journalist for Storyful, Thalia Beaty was a Fulbright journalism fellow in Berlin, Germany in 2016-2017 and has published with outlets like Quartz, Coda., the BBC, Al Jazeera America, and OZY. Previously, she worked as a part-time producer for The Takeaway, a daily national public radio program based at WNYC in New York. An Arabic speaker, Thalia has reported for print and radio from Morocco, Tunisia, Germany, Poland, and Egypt.

    Find Thalia on… Website ● Twitter

    THALIA:
    You’re having your two main characters Vi and Bo over for dinner. What do you make and why?

    KAITLYN:
    I love this question!

    THALIA:
    (Haha I know)

    KAITLYN:
    Food and the way we use it in both gathering people we love together and performing wealth fascinates me. I tend to use food and meals a lot in my worldbuilding. Bo and Vi together are a tricky case because they come from such different backgrounds.

    Bo grew up with royalty, so he’s used to dinners with five different glasses and six forks, and complicated food and manners. He also loves trying new recipes and foods. Vi, on the other hand, grew up as a temple and has never learned the etiquette around food in Alskad. But she loves good food and will try anything once.

    So, I’d do away with the fancy place settings and any menu item that might make Vi feel out of place. I think I’d start the meal off with dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon. Then an arugula and pear salad with pickled mustard seeds. The main course would be fettuccine with beet pesto and seared duck breast. Then a cheese board. And finally, Baked Alaska with cardamom and coffee ice cream.

    THALIA:
    You know everything that I love. I can see that beet pesto now, and smell the duck.

    Okay. Second question: I am a twin. And I am dying to read your rendering of twindom in this book. Is this a classic opposites of some kind like Artemis and Apollo, or more like two peas in a pod, or what are the ways you play with this relationship?

    KAITLYN:
    Your relationship with your twin and several other twin pairs I talked to was really inspiring to me while I was working on The Diminished. So much of literature has twins falling into one of those two patterns, but what I see in reality is something much more complicated. Each relationship in the book is unique, and each pair has its own bond that presents challenges and has the potential to make each person in the world better.

    That said, I did play with the idea of that twin bond a bit. There’s a subtle suggestion throughout that some twins share a kind of low-key psychic bond and that the further they are from one another geographically, the more their judgement is clouded.

    THALIA:
    That is really interesting. from my perspective, being a twin for a long time in my life, gave me a very clear sense of what was most important to me, my twin. And then as we started to live farther and farther apart, that clarity diminished.

    Another question I wanted to ask you was about how you deal with the uncertainty that young people face. this last year I spent a lot of time with 17, 18 and 19 year olds in Germany. I loved being with them for their energy and sweetness, but I was struck also by the deep uncertainty that hangs over their lives – they were asking themselves, will I be okay? will I live a life that I want? I was moved obviously to reassure them, but also to recognize that their anxiety had a basis in reality. Does that resonate with your work and how do you walk that line with your characters?

    KAITLYN:
    Absolutely. A lot of what I write about is, at its core, about grief and uncertainty and feeling like you’re outside a group, looking in. I’ve never wanted to sugarcoat what it was and is to be a teen. They deal with so much, and I feel like the books I connected with when I was a teen were the ones that were honest about the world we face, even if it was done through a fantasy lens. I try to write characters that teens in the real world can relate to, and I think that young people today are facing a far bleaker future than we imagined when we were in high school.

    Vi’s whole journey revolves around the fact that she’s known, her whole life, that she will eventually be overwhelmed by grief and lose herself. She has the knowledge of her own violence and loss of self hanging over her head all the time, and she has to cope with the uncertainty of not knowing how much time she has left. She knows that she’s NOT going to be okay, and a lot of her choices reflect that.

    Bo, on the other hand, doesn’t get a choice. He’s the heir to the throne of Alskad, and everything in his life is working to prepare him for that future. His life was laid out before him when he was a baby, and he’s not sure that he’s up to the task, or that he really wants it. At his core, Bo is extraordinarily sweet and trusting, and he has to develop a pretty tough exterior to cope with the life that’s been set before him.

    THALIA:
    Without giving away the ending, can you say if Vi’s conviction that she will lose herself is born out?

    KAITLYN:
    I’ll say that both characters think of themselves really differently at the end of the book than they do at the beginning.

    THALIA:
    That is, of course, good news.

    Okay, for me as a high school student, I read Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, just every imagining of humanity’s twisted future that I could get my hands on. What is the best case you can make for why American publishers and editors today should publish dystopias for young adults?

    KAITLYN:
    I love dystopias too! And I HATE seeing people say that they are dead. I think that teens crave stories that show them hope, especially in the worst case scenario. Dystopias take a logical path to a future that seems really possible (if horrifying). Often, these stories center teens who are able to make their world better, giving them agency. I would love to see more dystopias that break away from the traps we got stuck in during the early aughts (love triangles, societies splintered into groups, etc.), and do something really inventive and new with the genre.

    THALIA:
    If you could be reborn, in which time period would you choose and why?

    KAITLYN:
    Ooooh. Because I’m a huge history nerd, I’m going to choose a time period that’s always fascinated me, but we know very little about: 7th Century Scotland among the Celts.

    But, the height of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt is a CLOSE SECOND.

    THALIA:
    I was putting my money on Scotland but yes, that is earlier than I expected. And yes – I would probably end up in the Mediterranean, early Byzantine / late Roman empire – though I assume life would be short and harsh, so many of our current imaginings come from around then.

    Do you remember your dreams? if so, would you share a recent one?

    KAITLYN:
    Yes! I took a poetry workshop in college that forced us to write down every single dream, every day, and I’ve remembered them ever since. My hair is really long right now, and I keep having dreams that my hair is choking me and force-feeding me beans. (Beans and I do not get along.)

    THALIA:
    Oh no! What a specific Kaitlyn horror – bad food nightmares.

    Should popcorn ever be sweet? or should it always be savory?

    KAITLYN:
    HA! I make popcorn almost every night with butter, honey, hot sauce, salt, and nutritional yeast. I want everything to be spicy/savory/sweet/cheesy.

    Okay. YOUR TURN.

    How do you think it would be to live in a world where everyone is a twin? How would day to day lives be affected? Would it change the way you think about yourself?

    THALIA:
    Yes, I think it would profoundly challenge networks of loyalty and our family arrangements. Your work and your friends and your parents would have to allow you time to spend with this other person (your twin), who is not your primary love relationship. And then may be also it would impact what that love relationship means in your life, can you drop everything for one person? Would you want to? Would we see people as more than the commitment they have made to one person? Instead, they are more in a network of commitments and maybe we see them weirdly more as themselves that way.

  • What She's Read - https://www.whatshesread.com/single-post/2017/08/05/Interview-with-The-Diminished-author-Kaitlyn-Sage-Patterson-an-ARC-Giveaway

    Author Interview
    Interview with author Kaitlyn Sage Patterson & an ARC Giveaway!
    August 5, 2017

    |

    Ashley

    Hey y'all! In case you missed it, I hosted a cover reveal post for Kaitlyn Sage Patterson's The Diminished on Thursday. I was super honored and excited to host it. I love both Kaitlyn and her book so much, and it was my first ever cover reveal.

    And today's post is just as exciting, imo. Check out my interview with Kaitlyn and then register in all the ways for your chance to win an ARC of The Diminished (plus some bookish goodies).

    A little bit about The Diminished:

    In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves to form one whole…yet some face the world alone.

    The singleborn

    A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. Though he has been chosen to succeed his great-aunt, Queen Runa, as the leader of the Alskad Empire, Bo has never felt equal to the grand future before him.

    The diminished

    When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. Raised by the anchorites of the temple after her family cast her off, Vi has spent her whole life scheming for a way to escape and live out what's left of her life in peace.

    As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.

    The Diminished will be published by HarlequinTEEN, expected April 10, 2018.

    [I love love this aesthetic of Ilor, one of the major settings of the novel.]

    What She's Read: I know you had to have done a lot of research for this novel! What did you have to learn about to bring this world to life?

    KSP: TONS! I learned a lot of science stuff that I needed to make the world of The Diminished make sense. Because the events in the book take place about 500 years after their moon is split, I had to figure out A: how that could happen, B: what it would do to the tides/climate/environment, and C: how a split moon would look as it travels through the lunar cycle. To do that, I ended up having a long and fascinating conversation with an astrophysicist who helped me understand way more about the moon than I ever thought I’d need to know.

    I also learned a lot about pearl farming, freediving, and solar technology. Did you know that the oysters used for pearl farming are entirely different than the ones we eat?

    WSR: What was the hardest scene to write?

    KSP: ALL OF THE KISSING SCENES. I hate writing kissing scenes so much. I have to get into a kind of thoughtless freewriting zone to make it work. I’m finishing up my revisions right now, and I came across a scene that my editor totally loved, like no notes at all, and I straight up do not remember writing it. It’s good too! I just have no recollection of putting those words on the page.

    WSR: What did you listen to while you wrote this novel? Can you share a playlist?

    KSP: When I’m drafting I tend to listen to a lot of movie soundtracks because lyrics can be really distracting for me. I listened to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I score by James Newton Howard A LOT, and I kept the Gone Girl score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on loop while I was writing the conclusion.

    But, while I’m revising, I kind of like to have songs with lyrics, and I made a playlist that evokes, for me, the feeling of the book. [Check it out here.]

    WSR: How much time do you set aside for writing?

    KSP: Too much? I treat writing like a busy fully time job. Instead of taking lunch breaks most days, I write through my lunch at my day job. I sometimes write in the evenings or mornings, and I write every weekend, usually from around 9:30 to 6:00 or 7:00 at night. It’s a brutal schedule, and I definitely won’t always do this, but it’s also allowed me to draft 3 books in 2 years.

    WSR: What do you do when writing gets hard?

    KSP: I try to remember what I love about the story, and why I’m writing it. I recently got really stuck while I was drafting a project that I started out totally in love with. I was freaked out by the story, and I managed to convince myself that I wasn’t the right person to tell it, that my writing was terrible, the characters didn’t make sense… the whole miserable loop of self-loathing.

    So I sent a couple of chapters to a friend of mine just to get her to take the temperature of the work. She read them and helped me remember all the reasons I had started writing that project in the first place. She also reminded me that first drafts are allowed to suck. They’re supposed to suck! And if I could manage to get to the end, I could fix the book. That pep talk helped me back into it, and I finished the draft a couple of weeks ago. Critique partners are literal gold y’all.

    WSR: What's the best writerly thing you've ever spent money on?

    KSP: Hands down, Scrivener. I love that program SOOOOO much. It’s made everything about writing novels easier for me.

    WSR: What was the last book you couldn't put down?

    KSP: I was just raving to you about this one, but I absolutely adored THE SCORPION RULES and THE SWAN RIDERS by Erin Bow. I think I read both books in one day. I also really loved Ashley Poston’s GEEKERELLA, and FALSE HEARTS by Laura Lam.

    WSR: What are 5 books on your TBR you can't wait to get to?

    KSP: A.M. Dellamonica’s THE NATURE OF A PIRATE is at the top of my TBR right now. It’s the third book in her Stormwrack series, and I LOVED the other two.

    COURT OF FIVES by Kate Elliot keeps being recommended to me by people I really respect, so I’m planning on reading that soon.

    I’m also really looking forward to reading THE LOST SUN by Tessa Gratton. I think she’s a complete genius, and the premise of this book is fascinating.

    I also can’t wait to read Karuna Riazi’s THE GAUNTLET, but I keep giving my copies away to friends!! I need to hold onto one long enough to read it!

    Finally, I’m on a real Roxane Gay kick, so I’m going to dig into DIFFICULT WOMEN just as soon as I finish reading HUNGER.

    BONUS QUESTION AND SURPRISING FRUIT RANT: If you were a fruit, what would you be, and why?

    A fig. No questions asked. They're one of the most delicious fruits available, but what's so cool about figs is that no single fig would exist if not for the death of a wasp. Figs are entirely pollinated with the help of wasps. The wasps need a place to lay their eggs, so female fig wasps crawl into figs, all covered in fig pollen, through a hole so narrow they lose their wings in the process, trapping them inside. If the wasp is lucky enough to crawl into a male fig, they lay their eggs, the eggs hatch and burrow out, covered in more fig pollen to make more figs. But if the fig wasp climbs into a female fig, she's unable to lay her eggs, and she dies alone in the fig, pollinating it in the process. The figs produce an enzyme that totally digests the fig corpses, so no worries about eating wasps with your figs, but what a complex and interesting story for a single piece of fruit, right? Science is cool.

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Print Marked Items
Patterson, Kaitlyn Sage: THE
DIMINISHED
Kirkus Reviews.
(Feb. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Patterson, Kaitlyn Sage THE DIMINISHED Harlequin Teen (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 4, 10 ISBN:
978-1-335-01641-6
Most are born twins in the Alskad Empire--anything else can be dangerous.
Since her twin died, Vi has been a ward of the temple in the city of Penby. Raised by the Suzerain, the
religious order that rivals Queen Runa's power, Vi is also a diminished. More commonly known as
"dimmys," these twins who have lost their siblings eventually become so grief-stricken that they lose their
minds, behaving so violently that they are imprisoned or even executed. Elsewhere in Penby resides Bo, a
singleborn boy who's lived a life of luxury as Runa's heir to the throne--until family secrets threaten to
destroy the empire. After Vi is banished to the foreign, wild colonies of Ilor, Bo, traveling in disguise, sets
out to locate her and solve the mystery of his lineage. Rival factions across the empire create more intrigue
that envelops the teens. As the duo learn they may have more in common than they ever thought possible,
they also discover their own strengths, loves, and sexuality. Vi and Bo are both white, and both are attracted
to men. Other characters contribute to the diversity of ethnicity and sexuality in this story. Rich
worldbuilding helps balance the slow, predictable narration told in Bo's and Vi's alternating voices.
An intriguing premise and well-constructed setting anchor this fantasy debut. (Fantasy. 14-adult)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Patterson, Kaitlyn Sage: THE DIMINISHED." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527248139/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8a91287f.
Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A527248139
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The Diminished
Publishers Weekly.
265.8 (Feb. 19, 2018): p77+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Diminished
Kaitlyn Sage Patterson. Harlequin Teen,
$18.99 (464p) ISBN 978-1-335-01641-6
First in a duology, Patterson's sprawling debut follows two teenagers living very different lives. As Queen
Runa's favorite nephew, Ambrose "Bo" Trousillion is likely to succeed her as ruler of the Alskad Empire.
Obedience "Vi" Abernathy is a foundling who is feared by the public and treated like a slave. In their
society, twins who split a conscience are standard, so both Bo and Vi are considered oddities: Bo because he
is an only child, and Vi because her twin perished in infancy and, unusually, she has yet to succumb to grief
or lose her mind. The two seem fated to remain strangers until a shocking revelation places them both in the
crosshairs of the Suzerain religious order and its assassins. After a slow start dense with world-building,
Patterson settles into a character-driven narrative that champions self-determination and condemns
xenophobia. The key twist connecting the two main characters is obvious, but the story is no less
entertaining for it, and it's easy to root for the couples Patterson has crafted. Ages 12up. Agent: Brent
Taylor, Triada US (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Diminished." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 77+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357599/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f0ddeea8.
Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357599
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PATTERSON, Kaitlyn Sage. The
Diminished
Abby Hargreaves
School Library Journal.
64.3 (Mar. 2018): p121.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
PATTERSON, Kaitlyn Sage. The Diminished. 384p. Harlequin Teen. Apr. 2018. Tr $18.99. ISBN
9781335016416.
Gr 9 Up--For Vi, life in the city is one of hard work and little to show for it; for Bo, life's a breeze and he
has wealth and luxury galore. Each has their destiny because of the circumstances of their births: while Vi
was born as a twin, Bo is a singleborn, and therefore selected as the inheritor of the Alskad Empire throne.
The death of Vi's twin as a baby, however, makes her a potential threat. Known as the diminished, surviving
twins don't often last long without their other half and when they die, they often take others with them in a
swell of violence. As the two face very different futures, there are some who could destroy the empire with
old secrets. This fantasy puts a significant amount of work into unfurling Vi and Bo's world with plenty of
exposition and setup. However, once the action really kicks in, readers are in for a wild ride as the two
encounter some of their worst fears. Patterson serves up an adventurous story with plenty of opulence in a
richly designed world that fans of Melina Marchetta's Finnikin of the Rock will appreciate. Surprising
alliances paired with themes that reflect modern struggles will remind readers of The Handmaid's Tale
while remaining accessible, enjoyable, and relevant for teens. VERDICT Lovers of romance will find
enough to satisfy in this epic, while those who enjoy political intrigue will similarly get their fill of it. A
strong choice for YA collections.--Abby Hargreaves, District of Columbia Public Library
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Hargreaves, Abby. "PATTERSON, Kaitlyn Sage. The Diminished." School Library Journal, Mar. 2018, p.
121. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529863628/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=634905f7. Accessed 4 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529863628

"Patterson, Kaitlyn Sage: THE DIMINISHED." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A527248139/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 4 June 2018. "The Diminished." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 77+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357599/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 4 June 2018. Hargreaves, Abby. "PATTERSON, Kaitlyn Sage. The Diminished." School Library Journal, Mar. 2018, p. 121. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529863628/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 4 June 2018.