A fine vacation read—quick, deadly, and surprisingly entertaining.
High schooler Lia is thoroughly prepared to try to win Assassins, the secretive game the senior class plays every year.
Small teams receive email messages from the mysterious Council identifying their targets, whom they must “execute” with water pistols while avoiding their own stalkers. Lia, unlike her older brother and friends, has never been a star. Winning this highly competitive game will finally be her turn to shine, so she’s been keeping tabs on many of her classmates’ schedules. Her BFF, Gem, is amused when Devon, the guy Lia wishes were her boyfriend, ends up on their team along with Ben, whose sister Gem crushes on. But then students start dying, beginning with Lia’s first target. It looks like an accident, but Lia heard something suspicious and she’s not sure. Other deaths follow, and even as Lia’s relationship with Devon deepens, evidence starts to point to her as the culprit. With Lia’s parents unsupportive and the police suspicious of her, it falls to her and her surviving friends to identify and stop the killer. A brisk pace and short chapters keep the plot moving relentlessly forward, sustaining suspense, and if the details and lack of character development don’t quite bear up under close examination, it’s easy to overlook those shortcomings. Lia seems to be White; brown-skinned Gem uses they/them pronouns, and Devon is cued as Latinx.
A fine vacation read—quick, deadly, and surprisingly entertaining. (Mystery. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17978-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
