A group of teens are marooned on a creepy deserted island in Lutz’s heart-pounding debut.
Diving is in 17-year-old Tasia “Sia” Gianopoulos’ blood. Sia’s Yiayia (grandmother) spent much of her youth free diving in the waters off Kalymnos, Greece, and now Sia helps her mother lead diving trips in the Florida Keys. She has a bad feeling about diving the wreck of the USS Andrews, but since her father’s incarceration for murder they desperately need the money. Sure enough, a client dies, and when a nearby charter, chock full of science students, arrives to help, they’re attacked by a giant tentacled creature. Soon after, Sia wakes on an island that shouldn’t exist along with her 7-year-old brother, Felix; her crush, Ben, whom she met right before the attack; and his ex-girlfriend, Steph. Simple survival is hard enough without the creature that attacked them lurking right offshore, and a series of disturbing events leads to the island’s mysterious heart and a shocking revelation. Lutz strikes the perfect balance of realistic and uncanny, and Sia’s dive sequences, in particular, are seriously spooky. While this type of thing has been done before, Lutz does it so darn well that readers won’t mind, and the choice to tell the story via Sia’s letters to her father adds poignance. Sia’s family is Greek American, Ben is cued as black, and Steph is white.
An escapist thriller that will reel readers right in. (Science fiction thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-310-77010-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Categories: TEEN MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEEN PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL | TEEN FICTION
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After a family tragedy, 16-year-old Ivy Mason hopes to reconnect with her aloof identical twin sister, Iris—but Iris has other plans.
When Ivy’s parents divorced 10 years ago, Ivy stayed with her father while Iris went to live with their mother. When their mother dies after falling off a bridge while jogging, Iris comes to live with Ivy and their father. Narrator Ivy is reeling (she even goes to therapy), but Iris seems strangely detached, only coming to life when Ivy introduces her to her best friends, Haley and Sophie, and her quarterback boyfriend, Ty. However, Ivy isn’t thrilled when Iris wants to change her class schedule to match hers, and it’s not long before Iris befriends Ivy’s besties and even makes plans with them that don’t include Ivy. Iris even joins the swim team where Ivy is a star swimmer. As Iris’ strange behavior escalates, Ivy starts to suspect that their mother’s death might not have been an accident. Is Iris up to no good, or is Ivy just paranoid? In the end, readers may not care. There are few surprises to be found in a narrative populated by paper-thin characters stuck fast in a derivative plot. Even a jarring final twist can’t save this one. Most characters seem to be white, but there is some diversity in secondary characters.
A lackluster take on a well-worn trope. (Thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12496-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Categories: TEEN FICTION | TEEN PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL | TEEN MYSTERY & THRILLER
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BOOK REVIEW
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
Categories: TEEN MYSTERY & THRILLER | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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