An intriguing paranormal thriller.
A newbie wolf from St. Augustine, Florida, is out for revenge.
Vanessa and her best friend, Celeste, are out celebrating Vanessa’s 17th birthday when Celeste is murdered by a werewolf and Vanessa is bitten by another one. After her transformation, a heartbroken and angry Vanessa is presented at the Wolf Queen’s Court, which is ruled by the cunning Queen Sybil of the North American Court. These magical wolves possess powers beyond the ability to change at will between human and wolf bodies. Vanessa turns out to be the first known wolf to have purple eyes, and the queen is very interested in how she can use her powers to the court’s advantage. Even as Vanessa tries to solve the mystery of which wolf is responsible for Celeste’s death, she develops a budding romance with Prince Sinclair Severi, the queen’s son. But his interest in her could be dangerous to Vanessa: His engagement to “mean girl” Princess Evelyn Lee of the Asian Court is in the works, and Vanessa must determine whether there’s anyone she can trust in the brutal inner circle of the royal court. Debut author Gray’s worldbuilding is layered and intricate, and the action moves at a brisk pace although some of the dialogue is repetitive and stilted. Vanessa’s single-minded vengeance reverberates throughout, and while some of her choices may frustrate readers, the story is utterly enjoyable. Vanessa and Sinclair read white.
An intriguing paranormal thriller. (hierarchy of the seven werewolf courts) (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780316588430
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 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
© 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.
