Eighteen-year-old Lennie Cash hasn’t had it easy.
The daughter of a notorious thief who abandoned her at Chuck E. Cheese after dragging her on a bloody crime spree when she was 6, Lennie lives with her reclusive mother and three benignly neglectful, moonshine-making uncles. (The family practically defines “white trash” to the outside world.) To make matters worse, her best friend, Dylan, was found butchered two weeks ago, and the cops think she might be responsible. Looking for a little release and armed with four bottles of her uncles’ moonshine, Lennie decides to crash an exclusive high school party. Following a ritual she’s witnessed her uncles perform a million times, Lennie offers her classmates a sip of moonshine and a wish to be granted—little does she know that every wish will come true. Sharp, funny, and amiable, Lennie’s narration feels a lot like a modern-day Scout’s, and readers are likely to go along for the ride just to spend time with her. Unfortunately, Lennie’s spot-on voice doesn’t make up for the fact that the story gets derailed by the silly chaos of the wish-making rather than spending its time thoroughly exploring the darker and more intriguing tale of Dylan’s murder.
Contemporary fiction with a touch of magic and a hint of horror, Quinn’s latest defies traditional labels and offers readers a different sort of fictitious escape. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: April 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-235604-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Did you like this book?
Rachel, a 16-year-old trauma survivor, is initiated into her private school’s secret society for horror fans.
A year after surviving a violent attack, high school junior Rachel Chavez becomes the new girl at Manchester Prep on Manhattan’s affluent Upper East Side. The middle-class daughter of a faculty member, Rachel feels invisible except for her one new friend, harmless school gossip Saundra Clairmont. After a school party ends in a ghost story, a séance, and screaming, Rachel—who immersed herself in horror movies as a coping device—notices a prankster amid the chaos. Soon, she is initiated into the Mary Shelley Club, a tightknit group that requires secrecy and rule-following from its members. She joins Freddie Martinez, a film geek on scholarship; hot-tempered, Stephen King–adoring Felicity Chu; charming Thayer Turner, whose political family is compared to the Obamas; and brooding golden boy Bram Wilding. Mostly the teens just watch all sorts of horror films—classics, slasher, zombie, psychological—but membership also involves more sinister activities. Moldavsky’s tightly plotted tale weaves in dark humor, an impressive amount of horror trivia, and insightful references to Frankenstein. Readers will quickly become invested in Rachel’s story even when she’s making difficult-to-witness mistakes. The characters are notably diverse; issues of ethnicity and social class are naturally woven into the story.
An atmospheric page-turner about loving scary movies, longing to belong, and uncovering the many masks people wear. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23010-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Did you like this book?
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
24
GET IT
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
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.
