An atmospheric setting and strong spiritualist elements cannot compensate for underdeveloped characters.
In Massachusetts in 1848, three sisters battle a force threatening their town.
Sixteen-year-old Daisy Wolfson and her sisters, fraternal twin Morrigan and 18-year-old Avery, made a mistake: They allowed something sinister to escape during their new moon ritual. Iniitally unaware of the problem’s origin, people in their small town of Redcliffe seek the sisters’ aid with curative spiritualist practices, tarot readings, crystals, herbalism, and elemental channeling. But, slowly and steadily, a Bleakness accentuates the townspeople’s worst instincts, and this animosity is aimed directly at the Wolfsons. The sisters, who can see into the past (Morrigan), the future (Daisy), and into people’s souls in the present (Avery) must work together to heal the afflicted while they still can and find the culprit causing this madness before they’re all overtaken. At the same time, Daisy follows her own spiritual journey, one mirroring the tarot’s major arcana that involves more than one handsome young man. Although the setting and action are well described, the minimally developed characters fail to do more than follow their assigned roles, resulting in an interesting premise that unfolds with little emotion. The thoroughly described spiritualist practices will appeal to readers interested in the occult. The sisters are cued white; their mother was a “French Catholic Acadian orphan,” something the town’s elite find disgraceful. Laude’s charming spot art adorns the text.
An atmospheric setting and strong spiritualist elements cannot compensate for underdeveloped characters. (Supernatural. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781368099431
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Melissa de la Cruz Studio
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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
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