A flawed but entertaining novel.
When 18-year-old Memphis Engle finds out her archaeologist father is in danger, she’ll do anything to save him.
When Memphis learns that her father died in a plane crash, she copes with her grief by attempting to finish his life’s work: translating an ancient map written in a secret language. That is until Ashwin “Ash” Sood, a South Asian Brit and a member of the cult of the ancient Egyptian god Horus, tells her that her father is actually alive and that the map describes the locations of five different pieces of a statue. Dr. Engle, Ash says, is being held captive by a cult whose members want to regain the statue and summon the apocalypse. Although Ash insists that the only way to save her father is to hand over the original map, Memphis instead convinces Ash to join her on a whirlwind journey around the globe, deciphering the hieroglyphics and recovering the missing pieces of the statue. Together, the two unlikely friends work to save Memphis’ father—and the world. Biracial (white/Chinese Malaysian) Memphis is a searingly intelligent and endearingly gutsy female protagonist, and the evolution of her relationship with Ash unravels both artfully and believably. Unfortunately, the book contains numerous factual errors about India that break readers’ suspension of disbelief. Furthermore, despite its fascinating premise, the abrupt ending ultimately leaves readers unsatisfied.
A flawed but entertaining novel. (Speculative fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-05230-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
Exhilarating, nonstop fun.
A murder on The Escape Game, a popular reality TV show, puts the next round of contestants at risk—can they all get out alive?
The previous season of the show, in which groups of teens race to get through escape rooms, ended in disaster when Sierra Angelos and her team discovered another player lying dead in a coffin—her older sister, Alicia. But the network and ruthless executive producer determine that the show will go on. Prickly, olive-skinned Sierra, whom some suspect of murder, is returning—and she’s determined to find the killer. Her new team includes math whiz Carter Kelly, who’s Black; home-schooled, white-presenting Beck Matheson, who designs his own escape rooms and is trans; and Aditya Parvesh, who’s cued South Asian, has a way with words, and was pushed into auditioning by his movie star mother. At first, Team Helsing struggles to gel, but the teens’ shared desire to prove themselves makes them a formidable powerhouse—even if they’re hiding some of their true goals from one another. As clues to the killer’s identity start appearing, the players must try to make it to the finale before someone else becomes the next victim. This thrilling whodunit moves at a page-turning pace; the occasional reveals for the main mystery are well balanced with the tighter sequences of solving the escape rooms. The narration rotates among the central cast, allowing readers to empathize with each character in turn and be privy to even more intrigue.
Exhilarating, nonstop fun. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9798217006120
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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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