A taut, gripping page-turner with a strong female hero to root for.
Still battered from the car crash that took her mother’s life, Jess is sent to live in the remote Canadian wilderness with Carl, the father she barely remembers—and then he’s murdered.
Carl’s lessons in living off the grid (no phone, electricity, or running water) and hesitant attempts at connecting with Jess end abruptly when associates from his unsavory past arrive to collect money he doesn’t have. Hiding with Carl’s dog, Bo, Jess watches her dad ask for more time. Instead, Raph, the leader, shoots Carl. Burying him with the mysterious crate he’s safeguarded for them, they burn the cabin and fly off. Only Carl’s friend Griff, who flew her in, knows Jess is there, but he won’t return for a year. With brains and ingenuity compensating for her physical weakness, Jess finds shelter, makes fire, and feeds and protects herself and Bo. Yet small mistakes, moments of inattention, nearly prove lethal. Raph might return for the crate, and winter’s approaching. To obtain ammunition for Carl’s rifle, Jess makes a desperate but pivotal decision. Presumably white, as are other characters, Jess is believable, her setbacks realistic, her successes earned. She is on a solitary journey—a quest not for treasure but for survival—that demands all her strength, each day a test of endurance, patience, and hope.
A taut, gripping page-turner with a strong female hero to root for. (Thriller. 12-17)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-425-29098-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
Nasty Prince Henry of the Seelie Court has come to Avalon, the city caught between the human realm and Faerie, to invite...
At last, Dana meets a Fae boy who doesn't want to sleep with her in this third in the Faeriewalker series, which began with Glimmerglass (2010).
Nasty Prince Henry of the Seelie Court has come to Avalon, the city caught between the human realm and Faerie, to invite half-human Dana to be formally presented at Court. Dana and her father are sure there's a deeper game at play—don't both Fae queens want Dana dead because of her dangerous Faeriewalker powers?—but she has no choice but to obey the summons. The journey from the incongruously modern Avalon (why do Faeries celebrate Christmas?) to the Seelie Court is chock-full of all the necessary adventures, from monster attacks to opportunities for heroic self-sacrifice. Dana finally exercises both her magical powers and her intelligence in order to help herself and her friends. And of course, there's plenty of opportunity for chest thumping among her various suitors. Dana's youthful narrative style can be disconcertingly at odds with the steaminess she describes ("I was smushed up against him… [and] painfully aware that he, uh, enjoyed having me there"); this realistic teen heroine has an occasionally bumpy meeting with romance conventions. But Dana's grim-but-hopeful interactions with her alcoholic mother ground this urban fantasy in a welcome verisimilitude.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-57595-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Secret societies dominate a posh co-educational private school in this suspenseful, possibly supernatural mystery. One or both of those societies may be responsible for the death of a girl, or so 15-year-old Kate believes. Kate’s best friend, Grace, was killed in a fire under mysterious circumstances a year earlier. When she gets an e-mail from her dead friend, Kate believes Grace is asking for justice and begins to investigate what really happened. The Roeckers populate the school with the standard drop-dead handsome rich guys and a few supermodel-style girls, but Kate finds herself more attracted to dangerous, scruffy Liam. Then there’s her annoying next-door neighbor, nerdy Seth, who has an obvious crush on her. Despite the difficulties they cause, the two help her so much that at last she enlists them in her quest. Tension mounts when the trio finds secret areas in the school and starts to track down who was really responsible on the night of the fire. A final confrontation solves the mystery, but can Kate really bring the culprit to justice? And is Grace’s ghost really haunting her? The authors create lively and memorable characters and keep the action moving in their lengthy whodunit; Kate’s interest in Latin adds an educational element. Clearly, the Roeckers had fun writing their story. Young mystery lovers may enjoy it just as much. (Mystery. 12-16)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4022-5633-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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