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THE SECOND DEATH OF EDIE AND VIOLET BOND

An impressive and eerie debut that will keep readers looking over their shoulders.

It’s 1885, and runaway twins join a traveling group of mediums after fleeing their extremist minister father to avoid being placed in an asylum.

Seventeen-year-old Edie and Violet Bond were born identical with green eyes and auburn hair, but over time, Edie’s hair has become nearly white. Their mother died under mysterious circumstances a year ago, and each sister has some of her innate spiritual abilities: Edie is able to cross the Veil between life and death, while Violet channels spirits. Mr. Huddle, the head of their traveling group of Spiritualists, has them performing in Sacramento, California, where the woman who organized the Women’s Suffrage Association is causing a stir by fighting for equality. Misogyny abounds as women are being locked up in asylums for baseless reasons by their “male guardians”—fathers, husbands, or brothers. Edie displays delightful moxie, performing trance lectures on stage and using this platform to preach equality under the guise of channeling Benjamin Franklin and other male thinkers. When the father they escaped turns up in an unexpected place, the sisters uncover horrible truths. The atmospheric and haunting tone feels ominous as the twins encounter things they can’t quite explain, while the plot intensifies as Edie holds back secrets from Violet that could have devastating consequences. The timely, gripping themes of sisterhood and fighting misogyny will resonate. Characters default to White.

An impressive and eerie debut that will keep readers looking over their shoulders. (author’s note) (Paranormal thriller. 12-18)

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-4549-4678-6

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022

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THE CHANGING MAN

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

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A STEEPING OF BLOOD

From the Blood and Tea series , Vol. 2

An exciting and bittersweet ending to a compelling duology.

The gang gets back together after the catastrophic events of A Tempest of Tea (2024).

Arthie Casimir and her brother, Jin, managed to uncover the real identity of—and steal a ledger with incriminating evidence about—the Ram, monarch of Ettenia, but their crew, a mix of vampires and humans, is irrevocably changed. The revelation of a secret leads to a rift between the siblings, the Ram is still in power, and now humans are going missing, with blame unjustly falling on the vampires. To take down the colonizer of her birth country, Arthie must get everyone to work together again, travel back to her homeland of Ceylan, and pull off her most daring heists yet. With chapters alternating among the perspectives of Arthie, Jin, and Felicity “Flick” Linden—a skilled forger and Jin’s love interest—this genre mashup set in an intricate fantasy world combines exciting action and adventure, heartfelt romance, and complex paranormal beings, all while feeling relevant to real-world issues. The trio of non-white leads face racial prejudice among other hardships in a society that constantly underestimates them. The plot takes a little while to really get started, but once the action amps up, there are plenty of tense and impassioned moments. The ending satisfyingly wraps up the main conflicts and is sure to evoke a strong emotional response from invested readers.

An exciting and bittersweet ending to a compelling duology. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025

ISBN: 9780374389420

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025

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