By turns brooding and ghoulish, this old-fashioned gothic horror story is one lively read.
Looking younger than his 15 years but hardened by a life on the streets of 19th-century London, Billy accidentally befriends a monstrous man in this electrifying story set against the events of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Struggling to survive in Dickensian squalor, Billy—orphan, thief and former chimney sweep—has resorted to picking corpses’ pockets. No one is as surprised as Billy when his newest target wakes and saves Billy from vicious attackers. The rescuer’s frightful appearance masks an Austen-loving, French-speaking and vegetarian soul. Though perpetually repulsed by “Mister Creecher,” Billy agrees to spy upon Victor Frankenstein in exchange for protection. Pursuing Frankenstein and the promise of a female companion for Creecher, the unlikely duo follows the doctor out of London and into the untamed countryside, where they encounter grave robbers, circus sideshow performers and love. Creecher is often a more sympathetic character than Billy, but both figures evolve appreciably during their journey. Priestly combines a coming-of-age story with the gloomy atmosphere, moral dilemmas and slow pacing of Shelly’s classic and the grime and casual cruelty of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Observant readers may also notice allusions to monster movies and Romantic poets.
By turns brooding and ghoulish, this old-fashioned gothic horror story is one lively read. (author’s note) (Fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59990-703-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
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
This high-suspense thriller hits all the marks with its slow reveal and cross-genre appeal.
Creepy supernatural executioners roam the woods at night in Dennard’s latest.
On the cusp of the year 2000, Freddie Gellar, a high school senior and self-proclaimed Answer Finder, untangles a plot worthy of a professional detective. After she reports hearing screaming in the woods and accidentally gets students from rival school Fortin Prep arrested, Freddie becomes a member of the Berm High Prank Squad. Suddenly, popular classmates—like the attractive Kyle Friedman and class president Laina Steward—notice her. With her best friend, Divya Srivastava, by her side, Freddie navigates teen life and her unexpected physical attraction to Theo Porter, who’s Fortin’s prank master. Meanwhile, grisly goings-on ensue as murdered bodies with deep ties to village lore appear in the woods. Freddie, a fan of The X-Files, channels her inner Scully and Mulder to solve the mystery—but as she seeks answers, she finds more than she bargained for. Allusions to the ’90s, including Nokia phones and boy bands, realistically frame the gory content within the setting. Sensual scenes add romantic appeal, and Freddie’s narrative voice echoes the emotionally intense refrains of adolescence as she navigates coming-of-age themes. Freddie and Theo are cued white, and the supporting cast contains broad ethnic diversity as well as queer representation.
This high-suspense thriller hits all the marks with its slow reveal and cross-genre appeal. (map) (Supernatural thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781250334664
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Tor Teen
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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