A gripping, thoughtful, and at times disturbing psychological thriller.
In this contemporary drama a young woman meets her father, a psychopathic killer, for the first time.
High school senior Scarlet is a good student and aspiring filmmaker with an overprotective mom. She manages bouts of anxiety with medication—and sometimes with weed—and struggles to feel worthy of guys’ attention. These commonplace worries take a sudden back seat when the FBI arrives at her door and her mother is forced to reveal the truth: Scarlet is actually the daughter of a notorious serial killer, and they’ve been in hiding since his arrest and trial 16 years before. This fantastical premise and Scarlet’s wry but vulnerable observations are compelling. Her relationship with her mom and reintroduction to her extended family are moving. There is a chilling intensity to Scarlet’s visits with her father, who is terminally ill and says he will disclose the names of additional victims only to Scarlet and only if she’ll agree to see him. Online articles and posts about her dad embellish the first-person narrative. A romantic subplot feels a bit tacked on at times, though the juxtaposition of the horrific details of sexual violence her father tortures her by relaying and the healthy, affirming sexual experiences Scarlet has underscores her progress in gaining confidence and understanding herself as a person who is not defined by her father’s evil. Scarlet and her family are White; there is some racial diversity in secondary characters.
A gripping, thoughtful, and at times disturbing psychological thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81744-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
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