Teens will find it easy to relate to this drama that touches on the supernatural but is grounded in sisterly love and common...
Sixteen-year-old Lil has been sad and anxious since her sister, Mella, inexplicably went missing over four months earlier.
Although sometimes resentful of her sister’s colorful character and unpredictable behavior, Lil misses her terribly. Events take a strange turn when Lil rescues a young teen, apparently the victim of a mysterious accident, who is eventually able to provide clues as to Mella’s whereabouts. Set against the backdrop of the wet and wild Welsh countryside, the story is punctuated with chapters about gatherings of the Sisterhood of the Light led by the charismatic but evil Moon whose mission it is to bring down-and-out girls in from the Dark and induct them into the sinister Light-worshipping Sisterhood. With the help of her loyal boyfriend, Kiran, and her policewoman aunt, Sabrina, Lil continues to search for Mella, haunted by imaginary conversations with her, survivor’s guilt, and flashbacks to the good and bad times they had together. Lil’s reflections on Mella and her anxiety and insecurity are relevant to modern teen issues, and Lil experiences the flood and fire of a traumatic separation. The relationship between the sisters is well-drawn. Most major characters are assumed white, and Kiran is biracial, with a white Welsh mother and British-Indian father.
Teens will find it easy to relate to this drama that touches on the supernatural but is grounded in sisterly love and common sense. (Thriller. 14-17)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2906-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Given the grim reality of medical management of schizophrenia (and the bleakness of depictions of it in teen fiction), the...
A teen with schizophrenia is getting better—isn’t he?
Miles has a slew of meds that keep him just stable enough to function, if not enough for popularity. The medication keeps his schizophrenia under control, but it can’t do anything about his guilt and grief over lost baby brother Teddy. Teddy vanished (perhaps drowned, perhaps kidnapped) the day Miles’ hallucinations first manifested, and his family is saturated with misery, refusing to speak about Teddy and hiding all photographs of him. Miles is convinced he can fix his family’s dysfunction if only he can find Teddy, and he sets out on a disjointed, confused but passionate quest for his brother’s kidnapper. Meanwhile he negotiates relationships: with his best friend, who is careless with Miles’ safety when pressuring him to use drugs and alcohol; with his best friend’s girlfriend, the only person who actually looks out for Miles; and with his childhood sweetheart, who is both popular and a two-faced back-stabber. Miles’ mental health may not be improving as much as he thinks it is, and his quest culminates in disturbing revelations. Overly choppy prose attempts to represent Miles’ delusional state of mind but mostly serves to distract; still, this is a cleareyed, surprisingly hopeful look at the disorder.
Given the grim reality of medical management of schizophrenia (and the bleakness of depictions of it in teen fiction), the cautious optimism of Miles’ life is most welcome . (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16437-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
The disappointingly predictable plot and characters fail to deliver on the novel’s promising opening scene
Believing that the wealthy Gregory family is involved in their friend Willa’s death, a group of one-dimensional teen socialites engage in bumbling efforts to achieve vigilante justice.
Operating under the assumption that James Gregory drowned Willa, while his twin brother and grandfather used the family money and influence to orchestrate a coverup, Willa’s friends form a “revenge club” whose $25,000 dues payments will be used to expose the family’s depravities, thereby destroying its fortune and social status. The girls’ easy access to thousands of dollars in cash is only the first of many improbable plot devices. An overreliance upon convenience—and the inexplicable—eliminates opportunities for the clever moments of detective work that typically punctuate classic whodunits. While the book does explore important questions about money, power and privilege, the stereotypical characters offer few fresh perspectives and do little to distract readers from the spottiness of the revenge drama. (Country-club staff members are variously described as having “café au lait” and “coconut-colored” skin, maids have heavy Russian accents, and the rebellious member of the revenge club is marked by her “white trash” tattoos.) Readers interested in a protagonist’s explorations of her town’s chilling undercurrent of corruption and violence will find Lauren Myracle’s Shine (2011) more rewarding.
The disappointingly predictable plot and characters fail to deliver on the novel’s promising opening scene . (Mystery. 14-17)Pub Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61695-261-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
