Readers with weak stomachs need not apply, but those who love cinematic, thrill-a-minute apocalyptic horror will be riveted.
Two years after a sweeping pandemic decimates the world’s population, two teens hope their nightmare has come to an end—but the virus has evolved.
In England, Leon Friedmann and Freya Hart, both presumably white, have been struggling to survive for two years since a gruesome virus killed off or scared off most of the populace. Leon, whose father was in New York City when it struck, lost his 12-year-old sister, Grace, in a horrific fire. Meanwhile, Freya’s multiple sclerosis gets more painful by the day. During a supply run, they discover a radio transmission promising that help can be found in Southampton. On their way to the port city, they’re taken in by a well-meaning man and his army of Knights. When a young girl claiming to be Leon’s sister, Grace, is rescued, Leon is initially thrilled, but all is not as it seems. The virus, thought to have been killed by two extreme winters, has evolved in terrifying ways. Meanwhile, Leon’s father, Tom, has spent the past two years trying to find his family. Scarrow’s thrilling follow-up to Plague Land (2017) effortlessly welcomes new readers into his vividly rendered wasteland populated with an otherworldly and terrifyingly intelligent organism bent on remaking humanity. He even throws in an homage to the film The Thing.
Readers with weak stomachs need not apply, but those who love cinematic, thrill-a-minute apocalyptic horror will be riveted. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6023-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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