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BY ANY OTHER NAME

Name: BY ANY OTHER NAME
Author: Erin Cotter
ISBN: 9781665940719

by Erin Cotter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 2023

To read or not to read? There’s really no question: pick this one up.

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An Elizabethan actor witnesses the murder of Christopher Marlowe and accidentally becomes the queen’s spymaster in this Achillean historical fiction.

In 1593 London, Will Hughes scrapes together a life as a teenage actor at the Rose Theatre under the mentorship of Christopher Marlowe. Kidnapped from his anti-monarchist family at a young age, Will escaped indentured servitude and is now determined to get back to them. So when handsome young nobleman Lord James Bloomsbury offers him an exorbitant sum to stage an illicit play, Will is sure he’s found his ticket home. But when Will sees Marlowe get stabbed through the eye and finds a phial of poison that may be meant for the queen, their plans are derailed. James convinces Will to team up with him to solve the murder and earn the queen’s favor—something that’s vitally important to James but that Will sees as risky. As their investigation grows, the two are pulled into an increasingly tangled web that includes spies, noblemen, the infamous pirate queen Gráinne Ní Mháille, and Queen Elizabeth I herself, not to mention complicated feelings for each other. Will and James’ romantic arc is captivating, and Will’s first-person narration is propulsive. The existence of Black people in Elizabethan England is acknowledged through the presence of Will’s roommate Inigo. A well-balanced, well-researched dramedy, Cotter’s quippy, heart-wrenching debut is ideal for fans of Mackenzi Lee and F.T. Lukens.

To read or not to read? There’s really no question: pick this one up. (Historical fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023

ISBN: 9781665940719

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER

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THAT'S NOT MY NAME

by Megan Lally ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 26, 2023

A gripping tribute to resilience.

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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

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT WE DID TO SURVIVE
by Megan Lally

- BOOK REVIEW
NO PLACE LEFT TO HIDE
by Megan Lally

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EVERY EXQUISITE THING

by Laura Steven ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2026

An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.

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In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.

Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.

An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)