Folk horror at its finest.
This dark and deep tale of a river and the villagers who will do anything for it introduces North American readers to acclaimed British author Simpson.
Gorse has only ever known Maimsbury, which lies near the River Yeelde. In a symbiotic relationship, the river, with its healing waters that cure afflictions, nourish crops, and yield nets full of fish, has always been good to the villagers. To appease it, the locals in turn make offerings to the Yeelde during Yeldthanc, on the spring equinox. Gorse, who has long, curly blond hair and inhabits a setting that evokes a preindustrial England, soon discovers there’s much more to the Yeelde than the annual animal sacrifice. Sometimes the river demands more—during a Brim Year, it wants a human sacrifice. Simpson’s writing evokes that of Stephen King with the creepiness surrounding the Yeelde and the focus on a small community that distrusts outsiders. But this is a wholly original novel, enthralling in its descriptive writing style and character development. Supporting characters are as well drawn as the lead, pulling readers into their arcs (particularly wiry, rust-haired Larch, one of the villains). The book contains nursery rhymes that allude to the history of the Yeelde, adding yet another creative (and sometimes chilling) element: “Ring a ring o’ myrtle / The blood like whey does curdle / On water and ground / Around the babe drowned / Five hag-stones in a circle.”
Folk horror at its finest. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781782695721
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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
Lush, angsty, queer horror.
When the monsters they imagine come to life, two boys fight for their lives—and each other.
Andrew Perrault, who’s from Australia, writes beautiful, macabre fairy tales. His roommate at his American boarding school, Wickwood Academy, is talented artist Thomas Rye, who brings his stories to vivid life in paint and charcoal. Andrew’s twin sister, Dove, is all but ignoring him, so he has plenty of time to focus on Thomas’ increasingly odd behavior. Thomas’ parents disappeared just before the new school year started, and Andrew noticed blood on his roommate’s sleeve on their first day back. When he follows Thomas into the forest one night, Andrew discovers him fighting one of the monsters that Thomas has drawn from these stories. The boys soon find themselves coping with vicious bullies by day and fighting monsters by night. At the same time, Andrew struggles to reconcile his feelings for Thomas with his growing awareness of his own asexuality. But when the sinister Antler King breaches Wickwood’s walls, Andrew realizes that he and Thomas may not survive their own creations. This novel, written in rich, extravagant prose, features frank portrayals of disordered eating, self-harm, bullying, and mental illness. Andrew grapples realistically with his sexual identity, and the story has ample genuinely creepy moments with the monsters. Andrew, Thomas, and Dove are white.
Lush, angsty, queer horror. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250895660
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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