Despite interpersonal storylines stuck in ruts and an underwhelming ending, the creepy house moments land well.
Mysterious letters torment the new inhabitants of a house.
The gorgeous, stately Langsom house is among the finest residences of Glennon Heights. After the Langsoms move out—mysteriously—the Donahues move in from out of state. Olivia Danvers becomes fast friends with the new family’s youngest daughter, Janie, and gets drawn into the Donahue family dramas. These dramas include something unspoken about Janie’s brother, Ben (whom Olivia rapidly develops a crush on), that prompted the move, and Mr. and Mrs. Donahue’s volatile relationship. By far, the most interesting oddity at the Donahue house are creepy letters from the self-proclaimed Sentry, warning the family of secrets inside the house and the gruesome fate that awaits them if they stay. While the teens investigate possible suspects and uncover the history of the house (including hidden passages and a secret room with peepholes), Mr. Donahue jumps on the knowledge that the Langsoms also received some letters as a nondisclosure that justifies a lawsuit against multiple parties, including the real estate agent and the Langsoms—a move that doesn’t make his new-to-town kids popular. After a very slow-burning plot, when the pieces come together they come hard and fast, overly explaining the mystery and leading to an abrupt climax. All characters seem to default to white.
Despite interpersonal storylines stuck in ruts and an underwhelming ending, the creepy house moments land well. (Horror/thriller. 12-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-09508-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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