Psychologically and emotionally stirring.
Urban’s latest is a semester at sea–turned–murder mystery.
It has been two months since Jade, a scholarship student at Stanford University, had her heart broken by Silas, who dumped her via text message for her best friend, Lainey. Their betrayal hurts Jade especially deeply since she had pleaded with Lainey to help Silas get a paid internship at her father’s pharmaceutical company after he injured his throwing elbow and lost his baseball scholarship. Jade looks forward to Campus on Board, a semesterlong study program on a cruise ship, to further distance herself from them—only to learn that they both signed up for the program too. Jade takes this opportunity to confront Lainey and Silas, but she is bewildered when they avoid her, claiming she’s done terrible things to them. Jade’s rage grows as the traitorous pair continue to push her away, but the trip takes a deadly turn when Lainey disappears, her cabin is found to be covered in blood, and Jade is a suspect. Readers will sympathize with Jade, who has experienced abandonment by neglectful parents and who struggles to suppress her anger at Lainey, whose friendship she misses. Jade’s budding romance with Felix, a broody psych major, keeps her afloat as her heart sinks, but her trust in him and everyone around her is tested as they hunt the killer onboard. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast.
Psychologically and emotionally stirring. (Mystery. 13-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780593527603
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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
A gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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