An intriguing supernatural concept with distracting narrative execution.
Mendocino, California, conceals many secrets—and maybe magic too.
High school junior Zayn Pereira, whose dad is from Afghanistan and late mum was from Australia, arrives in Mendocino in a daze. She’s haunted by her uncle’s fatal bike accident and is struggling to care for her 7-year-old sister, Mania, while feeling resigned to her father’s distant affect. The story drops readers right into Zayn’s life, hinting only slightly at the secrets both she and her new Northern California town are hiding. The community is reeling from a teenage girl’s unsolved disappearance, and Tiago Rodriguez, a Mexican and Chilean American boy who’s the first person Zayn connects with, is a prime suspect. The story’s tone shifts dramatically when Zayn employs her supernatural gift to save Tiago following a hit-and-run: Pressing their palms together, Zayn uses her hand, which glows with healing orange lines, to absorb his pain into her body and heal his broken leg. For years, she’d “kept away from the scraped, the bleeding, the broken. Until now.” Things go sideways between Zayn and dark forces controlling the town as she discovers that generations of locals have been locked in a violent conflict. The premise is compelling, and many scenes, especially those set on Rainsong, a purportedly haunted nearby island, are deliciously terrifying. But the dialogue-heavy first-person narration struggles to match the story’s ambitious aims, distracting from the cinematic, high-stakes thriller elements.
An intriguing supernatural concept with distracting narrative execution. (Speculative thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 23, 2026
ISBN: 9780593810286
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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