A disturbing, morally gray, intense page-turner.
Four friends cement their bond with a secret society that gets beyond out of hand.
Opening with the arrival of the police and the statement that “First we were four. Now we are three,” the story then jumps back to relate how the four became friends, leaving the mystery of what happens to one of them (and to which one) to tantalize and pull readers through the story. The complicated bond among the four is born when they discover a dead body—it’s a teenage girl, a written-off runaway, a murder never really investigated. Years later, now seniors in high school and wanting permanence for their friendship, the four invent a secret society, IV, to rebel against authority with meaningful pranks. Turned toward justice when they take down a pervy educator, they step things up by prodding at the long-buried murder. The destruction and cultlike mythos continue to escalate (brutally, for some animals), as popular kids—some their tormentors—want in on the action. The intoxicating power morphs justice to vengeance as the secrets unravel. Of the four, two are white and two are people of color; class tensions play the primary role in the conflicts, from the dead girl to school bullying. Sirowy’s emphasis is on moral complexity, nailing the way good intentions can have catastrophic unintended consequences
A disturbing, morally gray, intense page-turner. (Thriller. 16-adult)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7842-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A psychological portrait of a family torn apart by grief and mental illness that is, at times, overly dramatic.
Seventeen-year-old Konrad “Rad” Schoe’s mentally ill father is dead, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it.
When Rad’s twin brother, Key, claims he might be responsible for the fact that their father’s body is lying dead at the bottom of a ravine, Rad doesn’t know whether to believe him. Key has always been calm and loving while Rad is haunted by intense emotions that often manifest in fits of rage, much like their father’s. As Rad tries to understand what happened—and to protect his brother from the police—he tells the story of how their family fell apart, including his father’s first mental breakdown and his mother’s sudden death. Throughout, Rad struggles to keep his hold on reality—and to fight his fear that he may suffer from the same mental illness that runs in his family. Rad’s erratic voice, which includes truncated sentences and quick changes in perspective, is darkly poetic but often reads much older than his age. Furthermore, the unresolved plot points make the novel feel more like literary fiction than young adult. The island metaphor that runs throughout sometimes feels forced, as do the romantic relationships. Rad and his family are white and working class, Key is queer, and two secondary characters are implied biracial (Korean/white).
A psychological portrait of a family torn apart by grief and mental illness that is, at times, overly dramatic. (Fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77306-192-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
A fresh take on gentrification and the impact it has on both individuals and community.
A college freshman reunites with an old crush and battles family obligations.
Torrence McKenzie is poor, black, and gay, and he has not had it easy; his father abandoned him as a baby, his mom is in a medically induced coma, the uncle who raised him was shot by police, and with no other family available, he has been living with his homophobic grandad. Torrey hopes San Francisco State University will be a fresh start—a true escape miles away from Baldwin Hills. But Torrey is barely moved into his dorm when his aunt calls to tell him that the beloved apiary his uncle left him is being seized by the city due to a failure to pay taxes. With developers pressuring him to abandon the bee farm and the deadline to drop classes looming, Torrey has to decide—this new beginning for himself or his uncle’s dream. The author breaks the fourth wall with quippy asides and shade as Torrey struggles to figure out what to do; sometimes it works and other times it’s distracting and feels more suited to formats such as social media or TV. At times the sequence of past events is confusing, but a diverse cast of supporting characters, including a biracial (black and Brazilian) love interest, is a strength of the book.
A fresh take on gentrification and the impact it has on both individuals and community. (Fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62414-799-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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