A gloriously ferocious and scorching blaze.
In the aftermath of a plague, a furious transgender boy seeks to end the movement that plans to wield him for their genocide in the name of salvation.
On Judgment Day, the Angels, a cult of White, Evangelical Christian eco-fascists, released the Flood upon the world—a plague to purge the unfaithful—but their work remains unfinished until they unleash their final weapon. Benji, a White trans boy, couldn’t escape the Angels before they injected him with Seraph, a plague mutation engineered to transform him into an abomination in control of the Flood and all its monstrous creations. However, when he’s ambushed by nonbelievers who present him with an opportunity, Benji joins forces with their resistance, determined to fight the Angels with whatever time he has left. This cinematically gory apocalyptic horror not only delivers high stakes, fast-paced action, and fraught romantic drama, it engages critically with the intertwining impacts of colonialism, capitalism, and White supremacy. The resistance truthfully depicts diversity within queerness while also holding White queer people accountable for gatekeeping and upholding White supremacy. The narrative focuses primarily on Benji’s point of view but shifts strategically with shorter sections showing the perspectives of his two romantic interests, including Nick, a White, cisgender autistic boy who plays a significant role in the resistance. A restorative, hopeful resolution brings the story to a satisfying close without turning Benji into a savior.
A gloriously ferocious and scorching blaze. (Dystopian/horror. 15-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68263-324-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Peachtree Teen
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced supernatural mystery ideal for fans of horror games.
The game knows her darkest secret—and it might be trying to kill her.
Wracked with guilt over her little sister’s recent death, 17-year-old Vivian Reynolds leaps at the opportunity to play an online escape room horror game called Locked In that was anonymously emailed to her. In hopes that her return to streaming will help financially support her parents, Viv starts a practice playthrough by herself to test the waters. When the game asks her to confess a secret, Viv admits that she killed her sister. Uncanny events follow in the aftermath of her surreptitious confession, resulting in her parents and peers losing trust in her. With the help of Ash, a fellow social outcast, Viv becomes sure that a demonic clone is trying to ruin her life by committing heinous acts in her name. Told in Viv’s first-person perspective, the story has an eeriness that’s complemented by quippy jokes and gaming references. The plot twists are numerous and satisfying, helping to build suspense as readers try to figure out the mystery. Classic horror imagery is paired with a flawed protagonist who reckons with the guilt and grief caused by her habit of lying and her obsession with streaming. Viv’s mom is white, and her dad is Japanese American; Ash reads white.
A fast-paced supernatural mystery ideal for fans of horror games. (content warning) (Horror. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9798890030764
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
An intense gorefest that will please series fans.
Star-crossed teenaged girlfriends crank up the steam as gangsters, vampires, and drug-spawned monsters leave the streets of Jazz Age Harlem awash in gore in this duology closer.
While blood flows, spurts, or sprays on nearly every page amid a rising tide of gruesomely explicit dismemberments, sundered best friends Layla Quinn, a fanged reaper, who’s struggling to control her blood fury, and Elise Saint, the mortal scion of harsh antireaper regulators, slowly circle back toward one another. But as Layla puts it with both literal and metaphorical accuracy, “There is something rotting underneath Harlem.” Indeed, hardly have the two reunited at last in a passionate whirl of shuddering embraces, than an army of ravening evolved reapers arises. They’re made from human corpses and are dedicated to the forceful assertion of equal rights and housing opportunities for vampires of both the dead and undead sort. Can the smoldering duo form an alliance of regular reapers, gangsters, and ordinary humans to counter the threat and take out its sinister instigator? When it comes to Shakespearean references, Hamlet is just the beginning, and an opening chapter sentence declaring “this ends in blood” applies to far more than just the tragically romantic close. Most cast members are Black.
An intense gorefest that will please series fans. (Fantasy. 15-18)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781728297903
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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