Yet another orphaned teen uncovers his magical heritage, in the debut of a cheerfully derivative horror series. At 14, newly orphaned Devon March is sent to Amanda Crandall, mistress of Ravenscliff mansion, in a creepy seaside town called Misery Point, where thunder and lightning conveniently punctuate any portentous statement. Devon comes with a lot of questions about his new home, but also a few secrets, such as his intermittent abilities of telekinesis and demon-wrestling. The mysterious Voice that guides Devon hints that answers reside at Ravenscliff, but Mrs. Crandall firmly squashes any inquiries into the past. Still, he can’t avoid the dark rumors that swirl around Ravenscliff, and especially its former master, the diabolical Jackson Muir. Why are demons again stalking the streets of Misery Point? Why does Devon feel compelled to seek out resentful ex-convict Rolfe Montaigne? What secrets lurk in the boarded-up East Wing? Could Jackson Muir’s malevolent influence extend beyond the grave? And what does it all have to do with Devon, and the sorcerous Order of the Nightwing? The pseudonymous Huntington tosses in every imaginable gothic cliché: gnarled retainers, secret passageways, possessed children, weeping portraits, sinister clowns, hidden tomes, forbidden romances, even maggot-infested corpses, complemented by an incessant barrage of pop-culture references. The overstuffed plot careens along in a recklessly urgent present tense, lurid purple metaphors teetering on the edge of self-parody. More of a carnival thrill ride than a novel; still, Huntington is so obviously having fun that it’s easy to just sit back and enjoy the trip. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-001425-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
Sun-loving Bella meets her demon lover in a vampire tale strongly reminiscent of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. When Bella moves to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her father, she just wants to fit in without drawing any attention. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the eye of aloof, gorgeous and wealthy classmate Edward. His behavior toward Bella wavers wildly between apparent distaste and seductive flirtation. Bella learns Edward’s appalling (and appealing) secret: He and his family are vampires. Though Edward nobly warns Bella away, she ignores the human boys who court her and chooses her vampiric suitor. An all-vampire baseball game in a late-night thunderstorm—an amusing gothic take on American family togetherness that balances some of the tale’s romantic excesses—draws Bella and her loved ones into terrible danger. This is far from perfect: Edward’s portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella’s appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist. (Fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-316-16017-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Hold tight: You’ll want to stay on this nightmarish roller coaster till the end.
Trapped in an apocalyptic theme park, teens fight back.
Jay has it pretty good, all things considered, in a not-too-distant future absolutely ravaged by droughts, fires, floods, and powder-keg instability. He and his family are live-in employees of Karloff Country, a mountaintop in Virginia taken over by a billionaire family who created their own version of Disneyland as a refuge for their similarly wealthy peers to cavort away from the destruction they helped create. But when the end times loom, Jay realizes that the new guests, the Trustees, are privileged to the point of sociopathy, torturing staff over perceived slights with impunity. Jay rebels along with fellow Karloff Academy seniors Zeke and Connie and Seychelle, his crush and an heir to the Karloff fortune (Chelle’s racist grandfather, Franklin Karloff, hasn’t gotten over her White mom’s having had a biracial Black baby). They’re all fast friends; “the Black kids always find each other.” Narrated through multiple points of view, the novel features Jay’s perspective most prominently, with some interludes from his friends, all presented in Giles’ signature strong, accessible voice. With hints of Cory Doctorow, Jordan Peele, and Richard Matheson, this book stands on its own as a dystopian adventure, but the deeper metaphors around servitude, privilege, class, and solidarity mean that there’s a lot to think about as the characters reckon with their proximity to and complicity in violence both local and far-flung.
Hold tight: You’ll want to stay on this nightmarish roller coaster till the end. (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75201-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
