by Jessica Warman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2011
A rich and compelling character study wrapped around a mystery.
Drowned on her 18th birthday, a rich, popular girl struggles to discover what happened and learns some unpleasant truths.
Liz has always been a golden girl, the center of the most popular clique in her tony Connecticut suburb. Drowning is bad enough, but it's even worse that she has to share her afterlife with poor-kid Alex, killed in a hit-and-run several months ago, who takes pleasure in showing her what a bitch she is—or at least was. Warman introduces readers and her protagonist to the girl Liz was gradually and simultaneously. In her afterlife, ghosts have hazy memories, so Liz’s understanding of her life is incomplete. With Alex’s help (he's a pro at being dead), Liz learns that her family was not as perfect as she wants to believe and that she was mixed up in some seriously bad stuff. She also learns that she was shockingly, horrifically shallow. For much of the book the mystery surrounding Liz's death is subsumed in her growing recognition of her frankly unlikable personality. That readers will like her ghostly persona despite her unpleasant living one is testament to Warman’s skill. While they will figure out the mystery before Liz does, they will appreciate her growth if not the rather tidy ending.
A rich and compelling character study wrapped around a mystery. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8027-2182-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
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by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2024
A boarding school mystery that tackles fresh topics but struggles to knit together multiple complex narratives.
A mystery upends a London girl’s attempts to heal her grief-stricken life.
Recently orphaned Sade Hussein, a wealthy Nigerian British Muslim 16-year-old, was home-schooled before she entered the Alfred Nobel Academy, an international boarding school. There she meets Elizabeth Wang, her roommate and “house sibling,” a role describing those assigned to help new students acclimate. Sade soon becomes familiar with the school cliques, including the infamous—and beautiful—Unholy Trinity, comprising Persephone Stuart, Julliette de Silva, and queen bee April Owens (who used to room with Elizabeth). Sade’s new friendship with her roommate is abruptly interrupted when Elizabeth goes missing, and the Unholy Trinity approach Sade, curious about what might have happened. Meanwhile, Sade is investigating with Basil dos Santos, Elizabeth’s best friend, when a music box belonging to the missing girl mysteriously appears on Elizabeth’s bed. When attractive playboy athlete Jude Ripley shows an unwanted interest in Sade, one of her new friendships is negatively affected. Along with dealing with a missing roommate and complicated social dynamics, Sade, who struggles with panic attacks and night terrors, is haunted by a ghost girl, who visits her in regular nightmares and begs her for help. The very large cast, the uneven pacing and characterization, and the presence of several complicated storylines slow down the flow of this ambitious story. The characters are broadly diverse in ethnicity and nationality.
A boarding school mystery that tackles fresh topics but struggles to knit together multiple complex narratives. (content warning) (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781250800848
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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by Leigh Bardugo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2015
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell...
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New York Times Bestseller
Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.
The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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by Leigh Bardugo ; illustrated by Dani Pendergast
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