An ambitious and entertaining if unfocused adventure.
A brilliant teenage detective and her friends race against time to save their genius teacher.
Rose Moriarty, the mystery-solving 16-year-old daughter of Professor James Moriarty and Irene Adler, encounters Clara Frankenstein and Count Christoph of the Carpathian Mountains, also known as Count Dracula. He wishes to employ Rose’s father to obtain a legendary orb that bestows destructive powers upon its wielder. On behalf of her father, who’s in hiding, Rose agrees to find the orb before it can fall into the hands of the evil Scarabeus and his legion of human/bug hybrids. In exchange, she demands a sample of Count Christoph’s blood, a key ingredient in a possible cure for Nikki Tesla, one of Rose’s teachers, who suffers from a terminal illness. Accompanying Rose is Sefina “Seffy” Moreau, daughter of eugenicist Dr. Moreau, who uses serums to create human-animal hybrids possessing characteristics that are useful in battle. Seffy and Rose need to face their traumatic pasts and partake in action-packed fights to uncover the location of the orb. Debut author Morgenstein provides brief hints of a rich backstory that’s never fully explained, making the novel often feel like a sequel to a book that hasn’t yet been written. Although the book is full of witty humor and inventive characters, as well as many references to Victorian literary figures, Rose’s circuitous path makes the plot feel disjointed and episodic rather than cohesive. Rose presents white, and Seffy is cued biracial.
An ambitious and entertaining if unfocused adventure. (Fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781464238543
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Stonefruit Studio/Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.
January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. Told in four alternating voices—Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred—with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. The three sympathetic refugees and their motley companions (especially an orphaned boy and an elderly shoemaker) make it clear that while the Gustloff was a German ship full of German civilians and soldiers during World War II, its sinking was still a tragedy. Only Alfred, stationed on the Gustloff, lacks sympathy; almost a caricature, he is self-delusional, unlikable, a Hitler worshiper. As a vehicle for exposition, however, and a reminder of Germany’s role in the war, he serves an invaluable purpose that almost makes up for the mustache-twirling quality of his petty villainy. The inevitability of the ending (including the loss of several characters) doesn’t change its poignancy, and the short chapters and slowly revealed back stories for each character guarantee the pages keep turning.
Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful. (author’s note, research and sources, maps) (Historical fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16030-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
PROFILES
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills.
A group of teens stranded in a snowstorm discovers a murderer in their midst.
While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills. (Mystery. 12-16)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-32333-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
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