Atmospheric and chilling.
Three girls find themselves stranded in a strange house that seems like a punishment of sorts for their wrongdoings.
Sixteen-year-old Willa Childs awakens to find herself in a car with a silent driver who takes her to Dorsey House, a decrepit Victorian on a sea cliff. Deposited there, she meets two other teens, Caroline and Ivy, who were sent away after getting into trouble at home. Willa has a hazy memory of having caused a fire, and she assumes that Margaret Dorsey and her husband, Hal, run what must be some kind of reform school. Margaret has Willa write in a notebook to “exorcise [her] demons” and attend mandatory discussion sessions. Willa is plagued by the Drowned Lady, a troubling, faceless figure that appears to her, waterlogged, wrapped in kelp, and smelling of decaying fish, and she begins to suspect that Dorsey House might not be what she at first thought. Her unclear memory of the events at home and her terror about what’s happening create a deeply eerie, dreamlike tone that allows the story to spin out gradually, hooking readers. Bullied by the other two girls, whom she sneeringly dubs “Carolivy,” Willa struggles to understand more about her odd predicament and how she might escape. The vivid gothic creepiness of Dorsey House and melancholic memories from Willa’s past will propel readers on to the satisfying conclusion. Main characters present white.
Atmospheric and chilling. (content warnings) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
ISBN: 9798217027897
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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