Aims for thrilling; reaches trite.
A teenage thespian battles ubiquitous paparazzi and parasitic producers.
Seth Crane immerses himself in his acting career in order to escape his troubled home life. His deceased mom and stroke-disabled dad hang heavy on his shoulders, and this angst helps him perform admirably in the role of Romeo in his local theater’s production. A Hollywood director sees his performance and signs Seth up to play the lead in an independent feature the likes of which the world has never seen. Joining him are fellow newcomer Annaleigh and the beautiful teen starlet Sabrina Layton. As love triangles develop and the line between reality and fiction blurs, Seth is nearly consumed by the trappings of celebrity. There’s a half-decent thriller here, but it never emerges. Every character has something to hide and speaks with half-truths and double meanings, leaving readers with very little to work with. Seth is a dolt, but he’s not the fun or endearing kind. Readers’ sympathies for Seth will disappear as they watch him play his female co-leads against each other. The film at the center of it all is such a clear red herring that readers will roll their eyes as Seth continues to ignore the obvious warning signs. The eventual reveal of who’s evil and who’s good and what the point of all this secrecy was falls flat on both narrative and emotional levels.
Aims for thrilling; reaches trite. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4124-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills.
A group of teens stranded in a snowstorm discovers a murderer in their midst.
While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills. (Mystery. 12-16)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-32333-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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