Best suited for those readers who turn to Nietzsche and Hesse for pleasure.
Seven-year-old Jamie falls down a “very long hill” into a dimension of nightmares.
That’s meant quite literally: the Oidhche (one of many untranslated Gaelic words and phrases peppering the text) is populated entirely with monsters from children’s nightmares; the very worst, the eponymous Lairdbalor, springs from Jamie’s own fears. The white California boy soldiers on through hellish, surreal landscapes, supported by his stuffed rat, Bilbo, turned magically alive, and a series of not-quite-trustworthy guides. Yet with every sleep, Jamie grows years, even decades, older; even if he escapes this world, will there still be a home for him? Debut author Kaufman conjures terrifying scenarios, from the creepily unsettling to the graphically horrific, with crisp, elegant prose. The narrative remains tightly interior, bound within Jamie’s thoughts and feelings, but the effort to maintain his childlike mindset as his body ages and his reflections grow more sophisticated requires increasingly artificial gimmickry. Readers will slowly realize that the Lairdbalor represents nothing less than a concrete projection of the nihilistic existentialist crisis of a morbidly anxious child. As with most postmodern philosophy, Jamie responds by stoically embracing the abyss within—a solution not without heroism. Alas for storytelling, it also leads to a curiously deflated conclusion in which the apparent reward for hundreds of pages of unrelenting misery and horror is only fatalistic quietism.
Best suited for those readers who turn to Nietzsche and Hesse for pleasure. (Horror. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68336-588-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Turner
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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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