Confusion reigns in this quasi-supernatural tale of drugs, death, and despair. Still grieving the loss of his older brother, Daniel blames himself for Timon’s killing. Was his failure to carry out a drug drop the cause of the murder? Living in a newly blended family, Daniel struggles to find his place in a dysfunctional household consisting of an aging and senile aunt, an embittered mother, a frustrated stepsister, and a friendly but distant stepfather. Longing to overcome the stigma of living forever in Timon’s shadow, Daniel grapples with his attraction to Jane and his need to fit in with his new family. Suddenly, Timon, or what passes for Timon, reappears and along with him a multitude of questions about what really happened on the night of his “death.” Butler (The Darkling, 1998) creates a compelling portrait of evil in the character of Timon, a boy whose self-centeredness is almost sociopathic in its intensity. But the suspense that makes the early part of the story so intriguing loses momentum as it proceeds. The sheer number of characters, each unappealing in some way, overwhelms the reader. And the conversations between Daniel and Timon are not credible, never addressing any of Daniel’s real questions. English phrases and expressions are apt to seem stilted and confusing to American readers. Worst of all, Butler tries to incorporate too many subplots (Lisa’s pregnancy, Ruby’s affair with Lisa’s first husband, Max’s drinking, and Aunt Jenkin’s psychological decline), most of which are inadequately addressed, leaving the reader frustrated and puzzled. All in all, this is an oddly disquieting mixture of the mundane and the supernatural that never quite rings true. (Fiction. 12-16)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-82593-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end.
Riggs spins a gothic tale of strangely gifted children and the monsters that pursue them from a set of eerie, old trick photographs.
The brutal murder of his grandfather and a glimpse of a man with a mouth full of tentacles prompts months of nightmares and psychotherapy for 15-year-old Jacob, followed by a visit to a remote Welsh island where, his grandfather had always claimed, there lived children who could fly, lift boulders and display like weird abilities. The stories turn out to be true—but Jacob discovers that he has unwittingly exposed the sheltered “peculiar spirits” (of which he turns out to be one) and their werefalcon protector to a murderous hollowgast and its shape-changing servant wight. The interspersed photographs—gathered at flea markets and from collectors—nearly all seem to have been created in the late 19th or early 20th centuries and generally feature stone-faced figures, mostly children, in inscrutable costumes and situations. They are seen floating in the air, posing with a disreputable-looking Santa, covered in bees, dressed in rags and kneeling on a bomb, among other surreal images. Though Jacob’s overdeveloped back story gives the tale a slow start, the pictures add an eldritch element from the early going, and along with creepy bad guys, the author tucks in suspenseful chases and splashes of gore as he goes. He also whirls a major storm, flying bullets and a time loop into a wild climax that leaves Jacob poised for the sequel.
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end. (Horror/fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59474-476-1
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a...
Han’s leisurely paced, somewhat somber narrative revisits several beach-house summers in flashback through the eyes of now 15-year-old Isabel, known to all as Belly.
Belly measures her growing self by these summers and by her lifelong relationship with the older boys, her brother and her mother’s best friend’s two sons. Belly’s dawning awareness of her sexuality and that of the boys is a strong theme, as is the sense of summer as a separate and reflective time and place: Readers get glimpses of kisses on the beach, her best friend’s flirtations during one summer’s visit, a first date. In the background the two mothers renew their friendship each year, and Lauren, Belly’s mother, provides support for her friend—if not, unfortunately, for the children—in Susannah’s losing battle with breast cancer. Besides the mostly off-stage issue of a parent’s severe illness there’s not much here to challenge most readers—driving, beer-drinking, divorce, a moment of surprise at the mothers smoking medicinal pot together.
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a diversion. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4169-6823-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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