Only for readers desperately waiting for this trilogy closer
Abbie, William and Simon return to face off against Max, the sole surviving member of the immortality-obsessed Conclave—or so they think….
Now a medical student as well as an aide in an East End hospital, Abbie works hard to put the dreadful events on Orkney behind her (Renegade, 2013). As always, the saintly Simon is by her side, but she remains deeply, contrarily in love with the sullen, churlish William. One night, her dead friend, Mariah, comes to her, eviscerating the maid and terrifying Abbie. Could Mariah be connected to a recent string of grisly murders? And what is Max’s role? Abbie, William and Simon bicker endlessly about strategy as they race to solve the mystery and put the Conclave to rest. Readers will find it baffling that Abbie clings to her animal attraction to William in the face of his childish choler, but cling she does (though she occasionally doubts…). Her stiff, melodramatic narration tells rather than shows as encounters and pseudoscience pile up. Abbie uses her awesome knife-fighting skills against all manner of opponents living and dead with remarkable ease despite extraordinary sleep deprivation and her usually traditional feminine attire. The bizarre, new twist Reeve introduces to the Conclave’s complicated history may well thrill scholars of 19th-century England, but it will also probably leave teen readers underwhelmed.
Only for readers desperately waiting for this trilogy closer . (Paranormal historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7387-3877-2
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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
A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights.
Spooky stories covering multiple subgenres, plus some added attractions.
Few horrific tropes or creepy conventions are overlooked in Duplessie’s debut. The stories are arranged into six sections: “Short Frights for Dark Nights,” “Anatomical Anomalies,” “Five Minutes in the Future,” “Be Careful Who You Trust,” “The Dark Web,” and “The Unearthly, the Ghoulish, and the Downright Monstrous.” Some of the best entries are grounded in familiar setups, but Duplessie is careful to avoid repetition. The stories’ relatively short lengths and the crisp, direct writing style make this volume inviting for even reluctant readers, but it doesn’t shy away from the truly terrifying and grotesque. That said, the grisliest events are often described with poetic elegance rather than gratuitous violence: “His face collapsed like an empty paper bag.” The stories frequently conclude with the suggestion of frights to come rather than graphic depictions. One ends with an overly curious girl getting sealed up in a brick wall. Another foreshadows the murderous power of a cellphone. Highlights include the eerie “The Reaping,” in which the prick of a rose’s thorn triggers a spate of bloodlust, and “Chamber of Horrors,” which features a murderous iron maiden. Each story ends with a bonus in the form of a QR code and instructions to “scan the code for a scare”—if readers dare. Short, eerie poems are peppered throughout; there are even a handful of riddles. Most characters read white; names cue some ethnic diversity.
A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights. (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780063266483
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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