An entertaining and thoughtful page-turner with a dash of romance.
A mysterious stash of old letters containing psychics’ predictions leads a group of teens into adventure.
Liv Hall is on a mission. Her grandfather has died, and before the lawyers come to clear out his house in Hyde Park, New York, she wants to go through his belongings. If it requires the help of cute neighbor Forester Torres; Nebony Price, his ex-girlfriend; and Jaxon Coleson, Liv’s crush, so be it. The gang, including Liv’s childhood friend Winnie Scott, discover boxes hidden in the attic, marked “DO NOT OPEN.” They’re all from the Premonitions Bureau, a paranormal research organization that closed in 1993. Inside they find 25 years’ worth of letters from psychics containing thousands of predictions, some of which came true. This discovery places the teens on the radar of dangerous people with a strong interest in obtaining the letters. Thriller author Womack’s YA debut is a rollicking, secret-filled ride. Liv and Jaxon’s budding relationship is thoughtfully developed even as Jaxon comes to terms with his psychic powers and Liv discovers hers. The plot, which unfolds through multiple points of view, is twisty and engaging. Readers will enjoy guessing what happens next as the teens race to change the future, and the reveals are surprising but well supported. Larger questions of fate, governmental control, and the consequences of psychic powers give the story weight and meaning. The minimally described characters largely present white.
An entertaining and thoughtful page-turner with a dash of romance. (Paranormal. 13-18)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780744311266
Page Count: 256
Publisher: CamCat Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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 fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights.
Spooky stories covering multiple subgenres, plus some added attractions.
Few horrific tropes or creepy conventions are overlooked in Duplessie’s debut. The stories are arranged into six sections: “Short Frights for Dark Nights,” “Anatomical Anomalies,” “Five Minutes in the Future,” “Be Careful Who You Trust,” “The Dark Web,” and “The Unearthly, the Ghoulish, and the Downright Monstrous.” Some of the best entries are grounded in familiar setups, but Duplessie is careful to avoid repetition. The stories’ relatively short lengths and the crisp, direct writing style make this volume inviting for even reluctant readers, but it doesn’t shy away from the truly terrifying and grotesque. That said, the grisliest events are often described with poetic elegance rather than gratuitous violence: “His face collapsed like an empty paper bag.” The stories frequently conclude with the suggestion of frights to come rather than graphic depictions. One ends with an overly curious girl getting sealed up in a brick wall. Another foreshadows the murderous power of a cellphone. Highlights include the eerie “The Reaping,” in which the prick of a rose’s thorn triggers a spate of bloodlust, and “Chamber of Horrors,” which features a murderous iron maiden. Each story ends with a bonus in the form of a QR code and instructions to “scan the code for a scare”—if readers dare. Short, eerie poems are peppered throughout; there are even a handful of riddles. Most characters read white; names cue some ethnic diversity.
A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights. (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780063266483
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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