Surprisingly dark and twisty: a solid, character-driven dystopian thriller weakened by an abrupt ending.
Being selected for the HappyHead Project seems like the best way forward for struggling teen Sebastian Seaton.
Between anxiety, bullying, and being closeted, Seb has a lot to deal with. So when he’s selected to join the HappyHead Project, a brand-new retreat in the Scottish wilderness for struggling teens like him that claims to have the answer for the epidemic of teenage unhappiness, his family is ecstatic. But Seb has a bad feeling about HappyHead—what kind of researcher wants 100 17-year-olds to isolate themselves from their friends, families, and phones for two weeks? Despite his misgivings, Seb decides to participate, trying his best to genuinely focus on self-improvement and make his family proud. Almost immediately, though, something seems off about the place—and things just get weirder from there. Can Seb overcome his fear and discomfort to achieve true happiness, or is there indeed something sinister lurking beneath HappyHead’s positive exterior? Silver’s debut addresses relevant, very real questions about life in the digital age: Mental health, peer pressure, and the exploration of what happiness really means are at the core of this novel. Some pacing issues detract from the intriguing premise, and the sudden ending will leave readers hanging until the next series entry. Sebastian and other leads present white; contextual cues point to racial diversity in the rest of the cast.
Surprisingly dark and twisty: a solid, character-driven dystopian thriller weakened by an abrupt ending. (author Q&A) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2024
ISBN: 9780593812020
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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 gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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