A sumptuously written examination of sibling rivalry and socioeconomic class.
Two sisters painfully discover that money can’t buy happiness in this provocative family drama.
When Alex and Thea’s struggling single mom marries a Greenwich, Conn., millionaire, the girls’ responses to their elevated lifestyle demonstrate the differences in their personalities. Older sister Alex tries to ignore the new wealth by restricting her enjoyment of it, including the food she allows in her body. Thea, though, sees the money as an opportunity to reinvent herself, even if it means telling elaborate lies to gain entrance to the in crowd. Both girls miss the bond they shared with their mother during the lean times, but that doesn’t keep them from throwing a party at the mansion they call Camelot while the ’rents are away. Their self-destructive behaviors come to a head during the bash, and one finds unexpected redemption, while the other discovers just how low she will sink to get her sister’s attention. National Book Award finalist Griffin repeatedly nails the details of this tony community and its 1-percent residents with perfectly turned phrases that are just right. A high-end handbag is “plopped like an overfed tabby cat on the seat,” while a financially struggling classmate owns a wallet “as ancient as the Dead Sea Scrolls and always flat as a pita besides.”
A sumptuously written examination of sibling rivalry and socioeconomic class. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-87082-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
A meditation and adventure quest offering solace to anyone bearing an unfair burden.
What does it mean to come into your own power by letting go of it?
The villagers of Empalme devoutly pray to Solís, the feared higher power who unleashed La Quema, or fire, on humanity for its ills of greed, war, and jealousy. As the village cuentista, Xochitl listens to and receives the villagers’ stories into her body, clearing their consciences, preventing the manifestation of their nightmares, and releasing them to Solís in the desert. Having diligently played this role since childhood, she is now a deeply lonesome 16-year-old whose only comfort comes from cherished poems. Worn weary by her role, she leaves on an odyssey in search of another way to exist. In their sophomore novel, Oshiro deftly weaves an intricate, allegorical, and often gory tale within a post-apocalyptic desert setting that readers will feel so viscerally they may very well need to reach for a glass of water. It is a world parallel to ours, rife with Biblical references and the horrific traps that Latinx immigrants face while seeking better lives. Xochitl’s first-person, questioning narration—interlaced with terrifying cuentos that she receives on her journey—is the strongest voice, although secondary and tertiary characters, both human and mythical, are given a tenderness and humanity. All main characters are Latinx, and queer relationships are integrated with refreshing normality.
A meditation and adventure quest offering solace to anyone bearing an unfair burden. (Fantasy/horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-16921-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Tor Teen
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Lackluster.
Lizzie Borden’s story gets a contemporary reimagining.
Sisters Charlotte and Maddi grieve for their deceased mother. They were told her heart stopped, but they find that suspicious. To make matters worse, Amber, their mother’s young personal assistant, is now dating their dad and wearing their mother’s jewelry. When Maddi uncovers poison in their house, the siblings start to question whether their dad and Amber had something to do with their mother’s death. They share their worries with Uncle Jake, their mom’s brother, and new student Lana seeks Charlotte’s friendship and offers to help as well. However, Charlotte and Maddi soon learn the only ones they can truly trust and rely on are each other, and drastic measures may be warranted. Readers familiar with the true Borden story will know that murder is coming, but this novel’s focus is on the mindsets and emotions of the sisters as their grief turns to anger and rage. Short chapters shift between Charlotte’s and Maddi’s narratives. Charlotte in particular feels like an unreliable narrator, as she constantly questions and contradicts herself, which will make readers question her mental state. The story has all the trimmings of a slow-burn psychological thriller, but the straightforward, repetitive text is dull while the twists and turns are obvious and lack shock value or are simply not believable. Main characters are assumed White.
Lackluster. (author’s note, resources) (Psychological thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37552-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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