by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2000
Full of atmospherics, but weak on style, this novel pits a feisty teenaged novelist against a community of vampires in the next town over. Jessica is a high school senior who has always felt like an outsider in her town—she lives with an adoptive mother (no one is sure who her biological parents are), and even more unusually, she’s had a horror novel published under the pen name “Ash Night.” Jessica’s life is thrown into even more than its usual turmoil when a new boy, Alex Remington, shows up at school, a boy so like Jessica’s fictional vampire character Aubrey that Jessica begins to be unsure whether she is living in the real world or in the world of her novels. Throw in a good witch determined to save Jessica from the hunky teenager who may or may not be a danger to Jessica and you have a novel full of vampires, witches, vampire hunters, and (perhaps most evil of all) ordinary suburban adolescents. This should be more fun to read than it actually is. Atwater-Rhodes (In the Forests of the Night, 1999) wrote this at age 15, a fact the publishers are clearly planning to exploit. Not surprisingly, it reads like a work written by an inexperienced, novice writer—clichés abound and many passages are tedious or pretentious. Not bad for a 15-year-old, but not a well-written, fully realized novel either. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32720-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
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by Natalie Lund ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2022
An affecting supernatural mystery with a pair of brave protagonists.
The disappearance of a child unveils what lies hiding in the woods at the edge of a small town.
There are all sorts of stories about Picnic, Illinois, but it’s not until her toddler cousin, Madison, goes missing from her crib one night that 15-year-old Luce starts to believe them—and especially when she notices a pair of glowing, wolflike eyes through the windows of her house. To everybody’s relief, Madison is returned to her crib, seemingly safe and sound, soon after she vanished, but Luce and the child’s mother notice discomfiting differences in the 2-year-old. And yet, no one else seems to give credence to their concerns. Luce, prompted by a teacher, starts to research Picnic’s history and the many disappearances—and sudden reappearances—of baby girls, going back decades. Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Fanya, who narrates alternating chapters, tends to the baby girl and prepares for the ritual to welcome her as part of her pack when the full moon comes. As Luce’s and Fanya’s stories converge, so do past and present in Lund’s atmospheric novel. The story borrows elements from South Slavic lore about women who turn into animals to tell an affecting tale about small-town secrets, wronged people, and the bravery of two girls bent on getting to the truth in order to save lives. All characters are assumed White.
An affecting supernatural mystery with a pair of brave protagonists. (Paranormal thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35109-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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by Katherine Quinn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 28, 2023
An atmospheric and promising first installment.
A series opener blending fantasy and horror with an undercurrent of romance.
The sudden disappearance 50 years ago of the Sun Goddess, Raina, left the realm of Asidia awash in moonlight and misery. The annual Calling drafts boys, such as 18-year-old Kiara’s sickly brother, Liam, into the Knights of Eternal Star, who then venture into the accursed land of the Mist in search of answers. But Kiara’s brazenness captures the attention of the Hand of Death, the Commander of the Knights, and she’s recruited in her brother’s stead. Years of rigorous combat training have prepared Kiara well for the Knights—but not for the growing attraction between her and the Hand of Death himself, enigmatic Commander Jude Maddox. As they journey into the Mist, they must trust each other in order to survive and untangle the legends that just might save the realm. In a crowded fantasy field, the novel distinguishes itself by leaning into the macabre nature of its literally dark world, complete with shadow beasts, flesh-eating spiders, and the mercurial Mist itself. The unrelenting action sequences are not for the squeamish, and the dead (and undead) body count piles up. Cutscenes provide necessary narrative magic, reviving Kiara and Jude’s romance and buttressing the worldbuilding lore that opens many of the chapters. Main characters are cued white.
An atmospheric and promising first installment. (map) (Fantasy/horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374318
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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by Ana Gallo ; illustrated by Katherine Quinn
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