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SUMMONED

Name: SUMMONED
Author: Anne M. Pillsworth
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3589-0

From the Redemption’s Heir series , Vol. 2

by Anne M. Pillsworth ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 24, 2014

When teenage Lovecraft aficionado Sean stumbles across a guide to the classic author’s magic in an old Rhode Island...

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For the love of Lovecraft.

When teenage Lovecraft aficionado Sean stumbles across a guide to the classic author’s magic in an old Rhode Island bookshop, he finds an email contact for a 17th-century wizard inside. Sean eventually makes the connection, resulting in a series of magical misfires in which he conjures the dark lord himself, creating a murderous, demonic Servitor that could drive him into madness. Pillsworth’s first novel takes a while to hit its stride: The first 70-plus pages are steeped in heaps of Lovecraft-ian lore, which will test even the most patient teen readers. Characterizations and plot all take second place to page upon page of exhaustive Lovecraft history, tales and characters (readers don’t get a sense of what Sean looks like until they’re well into the story, for instance). She also builds an odd supporting cast: Sean’s teen friend disappears from the text only to be replaced by his dad and a 25-year-old student, who take on more than adults usually do in the genre. All this said, the plot does take off once the spells have been cast and the damage is done, and readers—if they can weather the exposition—will find themselves plunged in a race against time as Sean works to uncover how to put an end to the demon he created. A stop-and-go tribute to a classic horror author. (Horror. 12-18) .

A stop-and-go tribute to a classic horror author(Horror. 12-18)

Pub Date: June 24, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7653-3589-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

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THE CHANGING MAN

by Tomi Oyemakinde ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023

A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.

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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

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

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DON'T LET THE FOREST IN

by CG Drews ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2024

Lush, angsty, queer horror.

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When the monsters they imagine come to life, two boys fight for their lives—and each other.

Andrew Perrault, who’s from Australia, writes beautiful, macabre fairy tales. His roommate at his American boarding school, Wickwood Academy, is talented artist Thomas Rye, who brings his stories to vivid life in paint and charcoal. Andrew’s twin sister, Dove, is all but ignoring him, so he has plenty of time to focus on Thomas’ increasingly odd behavior. Thomas’ parents disappeared just before the new school year started, and Andrew noticed blood on his roommate’s sleeve on their first day back. When he follows Thomas into the forest one night, Andrew discovers him fighting one of the monsters that Thomas has drawn from these stories. The boys soon find themselves coping with vicious bullies by day and fighting monsters by night. At the same time, Andrew struggles to reconcile his feelings for Thomas with his growing awareness of his own asexuality. But when the sinister Antler King breaches Wickwood’s walls, Andrew realizes that he and Thomas may not survive their own creations. This novel, written in rich, extravagant prose, features frank portrayals of disordered eating, self-harm, bullying, and mental illness. Andrew grapples realistically with his sexual identity, and the story has ample genuinely creepy moments with the monsters. Andrew, Thomas, and Dove are white.

Lush, angsty, queer horror. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)