A reflective, time-bending look at power and young love.
When 17-year-old Kady Dixon wins time-traveling candies at her tiny town’s Halloween festival, her whole world is upended.
Kady wanders away from her friends at Streetlight’s carnival and winds up at an old-school gaming booth, where the Timekeeper (“TK for short”) promises her his biggest prize if she wins. When she does so, he gives her magic candies that will allow her to relive episodes from her past—as long as she follows the rules. Kady uses the candies to re-experience some of the sweetest moments of her life with her boyfriend, Nik, and her best friends. She also goes back to change sour moments that threaten to upset the balance of her relationships. But things get complicated when her time travel starts to attract unwanted attention, and TK reveals to Kady that someone has broken the rules—and it’s now up to her to rectify the situation. The narration alternates between Kady and Aaron, who’s part of Nik’s friend group. Both teens are Black; a multiethnic cast of characters rounds out the book. Streetlight is divided socially into the wealthy Have-Lots and the Have-Nots. This hierarchy highlights the sharp socio-economic divide that drives much of the drama. The novel is filled with numerous surprises, and even though the lead-up to the main story is slow, once the twists start, they don’t stop, keeping readers engaged.
A reflective, time-bending look at power and young love. (Science fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593618868
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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