A satisfying tale of bloodlust, revenge, and fashion.
In an alternate 1850 Paris, a young woman retaliates against cruel, wealthy industrialists in this YA debut by Ridley, a bestselling author for adults.
Eighteen-year-old Angélique Genêt is determined to make a better life for herself and her family. Ever since the “last revolution,” wealth and connections, not skin color, determine your value in society. Of Angélique’s fellow seamstresses at the boutique, “half are Black, half are white,” and she’s “the only one who’s a combination of both.” Madame Violette, the Black owner, gave Angélique a probationary seamstress role, allowing her to escape the dangerous Fournier Fabrics factory, where her father died. When Angélique is two weeks away from securing a living wage and rescuing her family, her mother and sister are gruesomely killed while working at the Fournier factory. Alone except for her 12-year-old sister, Elodie (a precociously gifted perfumier), and her romantic interest, Spanish-born Domingo Salazar, a suave apprentice cobbler, Angelique vows revenge against Monsieur Fournier and all the other callous and greedy capitalists—and being named Madame Violette’s protégée will give her access to the elite. But Angélique faces competition; the other seamstresses hate her for her lower social station and resent her talent. The comically evil rivals make Angélique’s revenge all the more delightful. Elodie and Domingo’s relationship brings a softer side to Angélique’s morally gray character without dulling the narrative or taking away from the gory fun.
A satisfying tale of bloodlust, revenge, and fashion. (author’s note, discussion questions) (Historical horror. 14-18)Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9780593897669
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Exhilarating, nonstop fun.
A murder on The Escape Game, a popular reality TV show, puts the next round of contestants at risk—can they all get out alive?
The previous season of the show, in which groups of teens race to get through escape rooms, ended in disaster when Sierra Angelos and her team discovered another player lying dead in a coffin—her older sister, Alicia. But the network and ruthless executive producer determine that the show will go on. Prickly, olive-skinned Sierra, whom some suspect of murder, is returning—and she’s determined to find the killer. Her new team includes math whiz Carter Kelly, who’s Black; home-schooled, white-presenting Beck Matheson, who designs his own escape rooms and is trans; and Aditya Parvesh, who’s cued South Asian, has a way with words, and was pushed into auditioning by his movie star mother. At first, Team Helsing struggles to gel, but the teens’ shared desire to prove themselves makes them a formidable powerhouse—even if they’re hiding some of their true goals from one another. As clues to the killer’s identity start appearing, the players must try to make it to the finale before someone else becomes the next victim. This thrilling whodunit moves at a page-turning pace; the occasional reveals for the main mystery are well balanced with the tighter sequences of solving the escape rooms. The narration rotates among the central cast, allowing readers to empathize with each character in turn and be privy to even more intrigue.
Exhilarating, nonstop fun. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217006120
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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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