A busy, but satisfying, whodunnit with a solution as complicated as its premise.
Years after a series of horrific events left five young women from a cheerleading squad dead, the sister of one of them begins to suspect that justice has not been done.
Sixteen-year-old Monica is beginning her school year recovering from terminating an unplanned pregnancy after having a summer fling with a guy in his 20s. The physical and emotional pain that she feels is only compounded by the five-year anniversary of her kind and caring older sister Jen's death. Jen died by suicide, seemingly in reaction to two of her friends’ dying in a car accident and then, just weeks later, two others being brutally murdered by an obsessed neighbor, who was then shot and killed by Jen and Monica's police officer stepfather. However, Monica makes some discoveries that cause her to begin questioning this story, and she doggedly pursues each loose end she can find. The fantastical setup underpinning this contemporary mystery is intricate, and readers may struggle to keep track of all the characters as the narrative moves between the first-person present perspective of Monica and Jen’s third-person flashbacks. Yet, it cleverly layers a veneer of doubt over each of the players in the story, effectively keeping the audience guessing until the very end. Monica and her family are white, and there is diversity in secondary characters.
A busy, but satisfying, whodunnit with a solution as complicated as its premise. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: July 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1832-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up.
A grim, modern-day manifestation of the Peter Pan tale drawn from subtle, dark elements in the original text.
Wendy Darling is a sweet, naïve 17-year-old who just moved to Chicago. One night, Peter Pan comes through her open window, expecting an empty house and instead becoming enamored with the girl inside. Wendy herself is immediately enchanted by Peter, whose boyish charm and good looks convince her to join him for a night on the town along with his spunky and snappy ex-girlfriend Tinkerbelle. During the course of a single night, Wendy runs into more of Peter’s connections, including a collection of orphans he houses off the grid, a Detective Hook eager to bring him down, and other counterparts from the source material (including the racist caricature of a Native girl, gracefully realized here as a three-dimensional young Ojibwe woman). But as the night goes on and Peter’s facade grows more transparent, the frightful truth at his center threatens the safety of everyone involved. Eschewing literal magic, Ancrum’s remix is spellbinding and psychologically compelling despite a slower-moving middle. The haunting truth surrounding Peter is well earned and disturbing, a perfect—and bleak—transformation of the character for the 21st century. Wendy is Black, Peter and Tink are White, and the supporting cast represents myriad racial and queer identities.
Dynamically reckons with the real-life ramifications of someone who refuses to grow up. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-26526-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
A killer read.
A manipulative teen sets his sights on destruction.
When Crystal Giordano, who’s Puerto Rican and Italian American, recognizes new student Aaron Fortin as the Speaker—the masked streamer her friends obsessively follow—she blurts out that fact at their lunch table, not realizing the havoc that will follow her revelation. Aaron insinuates himself into the friend group, easily winning over “Extremely Online” Harmony and standoffish Paul (all three teens are white). Meanwhile, closeted Trevor (who’s Black and Muslim), goth Gayle (who’s white), and Crystal herself are harder nuts to crack. Crystal begins to suspect that Aaron has a dark side, but when he releases her private video diary to the entire school, the exposed secrets drive a possibly insurmountable wedge between her and her friends. But when she realizes Aaron has something huge planned for prom night, she knows it’s up to her to save the day. A clean-cut teenage amalgam of Charles Manson and Slenderman, Aaron employs a variety of techniques to control his online followers and real-life peers. The point of view alternates between Aaron and Crystal, putting readers right in the middle of the deadly cat-and-mouse game. Cesare keeps the tension ramping up, while the stakes rise higher and the murders keep coming. Horror fans will have a tough time putting this down once they start reading.
A killer read. (content warning, resources) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781454954248
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
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