A satisfying fulfillment of classic creepy tropes.
Troubled teens fight monsters.
Riley Kowalski is a classic “final girl”: She’s picked up by a helicopter amid the burning wreckage of an Antarctic research station, the lone survivor among her group of young data collectors. Interrogated by a private security force, she reports a gruesome tale. After applying for this gig via a targeted ad and hoping to break free from her debilitating anxiety, Riley finds herself working with four other teenagers who are also trying to get away from their pasts. The expedition, supposedly designed to collect icebound microplastics, is funded by amoral automotive tech multimillionaire Anton Rusk (any similarities to a real billionaire with a rhyming name are obviously intentional). After strange visions worm their way into the corner of Riley’s vision, one of their adult chaperones becomes infected by a virus, her body elongating and morphing into an eldritch horror, and the fight for their lives begin. The unforgiving setting is automatically fascinating, and the monster is a good, gory, bone-cracking invention. Most characters default to White; one boy is from South Korea, another has brown skin and is gay, and Riley is asexual, but these identities are not developed beyond passing mention. True terror is hamstrung by the often clunky prose, told in a limiting present tense despite most scenes being related after the fact, and hard-to-follow action scenes. Nevertheless, fans of horror will find a lot to enjoy.
A satisfying fulfillment of classic creepy tropes. (Horror. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64567-618-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced, attention-grabbing boarding school murder mystery.
Two high school seniors with very different motives reluctantly join forces when two of their classmates are murdered.
Amy Alterman considers herself lucky to have had Sarah Oliver in her life. Since they were in their first year at Meadowbrook Academy—a prestigious institution for the children of the extremely wealthy—the soccer besties have been inseparable. Liz Charles, who attends Meadowbrook on scholarship, doesn’t have any close friends on campus, but she does have the Meadowbrook Gazette, the school’s online newspaper. Liz is determined to make a name for herself in journalism no matter the cost. So, when Sarah and her boyfriend, Ryan Pelham, are found brutally murdered in Sarah and Amy’s dorm room, Liz excitedly breaks the story without considering the consequences. Amy, who soon becomes her classmates’ prime suspect, desperately tries to clear her name while also protecting her “townie” boyfriend, Joseph Stone. In this plot-driven page-turner, Liz and Amy are thrown together despite their mutual distrust as they try to figure out who really committed the heinous double murder. The unlikely companions discover that the truth isn’t easy to find and that even the people they trust the most are likely hiding something. This compelling novel will keep readers guessing, as the narrative moves steadily toward its satisfying conclusion. Central characters are cued white; Amy’s Jewish identity is skillfully and naturally woven into the story.
A fast-paced, attention-grabbing boarding school murder mystery. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593698716
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Unsuccessfully tries to be too many things at once: thriller, psychological drama, and romance.
Is it the town of Wolf Ridge or Wyatt Green who is cursed?
November is always a deadly month in the small town of Wolf Ridge, Vermont—a month when, for decades, murders, suicides, and accidental deaths have taken place. Which leads to the (unanswered) questions: Why does anyone stay, and why are so many residents in denial that there is even a problem? Wyatt believes it is the so-called November Sickness that caused someone to murder her mother last year, and she tries to convince others, including her emotionally absent father, that the sickness is behind November’s high mortality rate. While working on an AP literature project (culminating in a Great Gatsby–style party), Wyatt finds herself in a love triangle she views as Gatsby-esque, between possibly dangerous childhood friend Cash and popular Porter. Wyatt also continues to seek validation that the curse is real. She even reaches out to a Midwestern reporter who wrote an article on Wolf Ridge’s mysterious fatalities. Although initially encouraging, the reporter, who is seeking real-world explanations, later dismisses the November Sickness as an urban legend. Wyatt ultimately must face hard truths if she hopes for real answers. The book sometimes veers into melodrama, and inconsistencies in characters’ motivations and a lack of focus undermine attempts to build tension and may diminish readers’ interest. Main characters default to White.
Unsuccessfully tries to be too many things at once: thriller, psychological drama, and romance. (Thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72823-410-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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