A quirky, fast-paced, and engaging mystery.
An adventure story about missing items and mysterious people.
Trudi de la Rosa and her friends, brothers J.J. and Valentine Watts, comprise the Ghost Hunters Adventure Club, whose purpose is to fight crime and solve mysteries as a team. This entry, a follow-up to Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau (2020), begins with a ride on the Harborville Express. Little do they know what an adventure it will be when they jump onboard this historic diesel electric train. When ruby jewelry belonging to the duchess of Cordelia goes missing, it’s up to Trudi, J.J., and Valentine to find the stolen treasure. Whether encountering Siobhan Sweeney, the brothers’ archenemy, or working alongside Inspector Horvath, the trio must determine who is telling the truth and weed out the liars. However, they are stumped many times along the journey and encounter obstacles and challenges, including suspicious characters, the train’s suddenly coming to a stop, and the engineer’s missing tools. This fun mystery will keep readers laughing and guessing until the end. Mills breaks the fourth wall to address readers directly and converse with characters from the book in a way that is entertaining and memorable. Characters are minimally described and seem to follow a White default.
A quirky, fast-paced, and engaging mystery. (Mystery. 13-16)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63758-184-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Permuted Press
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
An overall entertaining read.
In this sequel to The Similars (2018), tensions rise as the villains reveal a ploy to exact revenge on the Ten and their families and ultimately take over the world.
When Emma Chance returns to her elite boarding school, Darkwood Academy, for her senior year, things are different: Her best friend, Ollie Ward, is back while Levi Gravelle, Ollie’s clone and Emma’s love interest, has been imprisoned on Castor Island. More importantly, Emma is coming to terms with the contents of a letter from Gravelle which states that she is Eden, a Similar created to replace the original Emma, who died as a child. To complicate matters further, other clones—who are not Similars—infiltrate Darkwood, and Emma and her friends uncover a plot that threatens not only the lives of everyone they care about, but also the world as they know it. Hanover wastes no time delving right into the action; readers unfamiliar with the first book may get lost. This duology closer is largely predictable and often filled with loopholes, but the fast-paced narrative and one unexpected plot twist make for an engaging ride. As before, most of the primary characters read as white, and supporting characters remain underdeveloped. Despite its flaws and often implausible turns of events, the novel calls attention to larger questions of identity, selfhood, and what it means to be human.
An overall entertaining read. (Dystopia. 13-16)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6513-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bloody? Yes. Scary? No.
Someone is murdering high school students. Most freeze in fear, but a brave few try to stop the killings.
Senior Makani Young has been living in corn-obsessed Nebraska for just a little over a year. She has developed a crush and made some friends, but a dark secret keeps her from truly opening up to those around her. As the only half–African-American and half–Native Hawaiian student in her school, she already stands out, but as the killing spree continues, the press descends, and rumors fly, Makani is increasingly nervous that her past will be exposed. However, the charming and incredibly shy Ollie, a white boy with hot-pink hair, a lip ring, and wanderlust, provides an excellent distraction from the horror and fear. Graphic violence and bloody mayhem saturate this high-speed slasher story. And while Makani’s secret and the killer’s hidden identity might keep the pages turning, this is less a psychological thriller and more a study in gore. The intimacy and precision of the killer’s machinations hint at some grand psychological reveal, but lacking even basic jump-scares, this tale is high in yuck and low in fright. The tendency of the characters toward preachy inner monologues feels false.
Bloody? Yes. Scary? No. (Horror. 14-16)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42601-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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