An unnerving but uneven thriller.
Cass is obsessed with figuring out who murdered her worst bully—because they followed her very own plan.
Cass is known for having survived a fire as a child. Her brother pulled her out—but her friend Sara wasn’t so lucky. Now, she’s tormented by Melody, Sara’s cousin. Cass is called “Fire Girl” and treated as a loose cannon; only her best friend, Gideon, views her without stigma. One night at a party, Cass gets drunk and details how she’d kill Melody, outlining the perfect murder plot. When Melody and the notebook containing Cass’ plans are missing, Cass becomes paranoid and frantic. She receives threatening texts but daren’t tell the police in case they find out about her notebook. Her need to find the murderer distances her from Gideon as she hides information from him, too afraid he’ll start seeing her like everyone else does. She careens into her own reckless investigation, no longer able to draw a clear line between the girl she once knew herself to be and the vengeful Fire Girl she’s perhaps been all along. Cass’ feverish journey becomes repetitive as she hammers on the same suspects with little success. Rather than being led along a tightly drawn line of suspense, it feels like running full force into walls. However, the reveal on the other side is both well earned and eerie. All major characters are white.
An unnerving but uneven thriller. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-72821-052-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A thrilling, high-tech page-turner with deep roots.
A teen navigates different worlds: real and virtual, colonized and Indigenous.
In the near-future real world, Bugz’s family has clout in the community—her mom is their first modern-day woman chief, her father’s a highly admired man, and her older brother is handsome and accomplished. Socially awkward Bugz, by contrast, feels more successful in the virtual gaming world of the Floraverse, where she has amassed tremendous power. Yes, her ’Versona has a slimmed-down figure—but Bugz harnesses her passion for the natural world and her Anishinaabe heritage to build seemingly unbeatable defenses, especially her devoted, lovingly crafted Thunderbird and snake/panther Mishi-pizhiw. Cheered on by legions of fans, she battles against Clan:LESS, a group of angry, misogynistic male gamers. One of them, Feng, ends up leaving China under a cloud of government suspicion and moving to her reservation to live with his aunt, the new doctor; they are Muslim Uighurs who have their own history of forced reeducation and cultural erasure. Feng and Bugz experience mutual attraction—and mistrust—and their relationship in and out of the Floraverse develops hesitantly under a shadow of suspected betrayal. Kinew (Anishinaabe) has crafted a story that balances heart-pounding action scenes with textured family and community relationships, all seamlessly undergirded by storytelling that conveys an Indigenous community’s past—and the vibrant future that follows from young people’s active, creative engagement with their culture.
A thrilling, high-tech page-turner with deep roots. (glossary, resources) (Science fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6900-2
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
A chilling and engaging thriller.
A gamer is forced into the deadliest challenge she will ever engage in.
When the first anonymous message comes through her phone, Crystal thinks she is being trolled again, but she soon realizes that her sister has indeed been kidnapped and is being held hostage, while the person who took her forces Crystal into playing a game of increasingly bizarre and violent tasks with a 24-hour time limit. Even though she and her sister seem to be at the center of it all, Crystal’s best friends and esports teammates start to fall victim when her tormentor makes her choose between their lives and her sister’s. As the hours pass, Crystal uses her gaming instincts to discover who is behind it all and why she and her friends are being targeted. She must succeed before her sister dies—and her own secret is unveiled. Urban’s novel doesn’t pull punches as readers follow a thrilling cat-and-mouse game between Crystal and an anonymous figure. A few predictable twists don’t ruin the overall experience, as its strongest feature is Crystal’s rich and complex relationships with her violent, alcoholic father; her friends; and her sister and the ways they intertwine with her own past mistakes and the secrets she and her friends are keeping. Crystal is assumed White; there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
A chilling and engaging thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-79719-3
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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