The real world proves more frightening than ghosts in this fast-paced, female-driven story.
Haunted girls reclaim their narratives in this modern take on a gothic novel.
When scandal drives her out of Manhattan, Bram Howland goes to stay with her Uncle James. He lives in a grand mansion in a small Hudson Valley town where outsiders are despised and local lore about the so-called “Dead Girls” leads many to believe the house is cursed. Recently, a fire destroyed part of it, killing Uncle James’ second wife. Although officially ruled an accident, James believes his stepdaughter, Lark, who is now in a mental hospital, started the fire after becoming fixated on a girl who once lived in the manor and drowned herself. Bram knows what it’s like to be silenced and not trusted, and she expects that Lark was saner than rumors say: She’s determined to find the truth even as strange, eerie happenings occur and she finds herself in danger. The book opens during a blizzard and succeeds in maintaining a moody, unsettling atmosphere throughout the straightforward, plot-driven story. Some characterization is thin, and Bram’s history with drug abuse and rehab feels underexplored. However, the novel is thematically rich, encouraging readers to question the crazy-woman trope and showcasing women’s fortitude against all odds. Twists abound, and numerous plot threads are satisfyingly tied together in the powerful ending. All main characters are White by default.
The real world proves more frightening than ghosts in this fast-paced, female-driven story. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-58120-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
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