A grim and brooding story weakened by inconsistent worldbuilding.
After Hunter, a white-presenting transgender boy in the Chicago area, survives a werewolf attack, he and his friends plot to kill the monster that infected him before he loses his humanity.
One night, Hunter runs out into the dark in search of his missing dog; a creature ambushes him, tearing into his arm and leg. His protective best friend, Korean American Gabe, comes to the rescue, fighting off the monster just as he stands up to the bullies who persecute Hunter at school. The bites heal at a supernatural speed, so Hunter doesn’t need medical treatment. But then his period returns in full force for the first time in two years, and his body starts reacting to contact with silver. As Hunter’s body begins to change, he and Gabe join forces with Hunter’s other close friend, Mars (who’s white and Filipino American), to figure out a way to kill the werewolf and cure Hunter before it’s too late. Hunter is a moody protagonist, weighed down by toxic gender norms and internalized transphobia that cause him to make self-destructive decisions. Along with the imminent threat of the werewolf, bisexual Hunter grapples with emerging romantic feelings for Gabe and Mars and transphobic harassment from his former best friend’s boyfriend. Overall, the conflict and resolution lose emotional impact due to the haphazard construction of the lore around the rules for werewolves, which undermines the characters’ choices.
A grim and brooding story weakened by inconsistent worldbuilding. (author’s note) (Horror. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780593814789
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues...
He’s in remission from the osteosarcoma that took one of his legs. She’s fighting the brown fluid in her lungs caused by tumors. Both know that their time is limited.
Sparks fly when Hazel Grace Lancaster spies Augustus “Gus” Waters checking her out across the room in a group-therapy session for teens living with cancer. He’s a gorgeous, confident, intelligent amputee who always loses video games because he tries to save everyone. She’s smart, snarky and 16; she goes to community college and jokingly calls Peter Van Houten, the author of her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, her only friend besides her parents. He asks her over, and they swap novels. He agrees to read the Van Houten and she agrees to read his—based on his favorite bloodbath-filled video game. The two become connected at the hip, and what follows is a smartly crafted intellectual explosion of a romance. From their trip to Amsterdam to meet the reclusive Van Houten to their hilariously flirty repartee, readers will swoon on nearly every page. Green’s signature style shines: His carefully structured dialogue and razor-sharp characters brim with genuine intellect, humor and desire. He takes on Big Questions that might feel heavy-handed in the words of any other author: What do oblivion and living mean? Then he deftly parries them with humor: “My nostalgia is so extreme that I am capable of missing a swing my butt never actually touched.” Dog-earing of pages will no doubt ensue.
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus’ poignant journey. (Fiction. 15 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deep dive into trauma, with light at the end of the tunnel.
A teen’s sense of self is unsettled by a kidnapping.
After a prologue reveals the hero’s captive status, the story introduces Sayers Wayte as he was before—an uber-wealthy, hard-partying, privilege-flaunting Texas teen who’s falling in with a meaner crowd (including a friendship with a bully who ridicules Sayers’ best friend for his bisexuality and targets a vulnerable nerd in encounters that rapidly escalate to disturbing levels off-page). The first act balances Sayers’ charm and potential with his character failings while keeping readers guessing who the kidnapper will be (and what their motivations are). Once he’s been kidnapped, Sayers must attempt to manipulate his kidnapper by playing along with who the kidnapper wants him to be—at first, it’s a ruse to create chances to try to escape, but eventually Sayers’ identity and feelings toward his kidnapper begin to blur. A dangerous discovery pushes his mind to the brink to protect him and keep him alive. Unlike hostage stories that end with the rescue, Roe digs deep into what happens in the aftermath as Sayers tries to learn how to be a functioning individual again and struggles with rebuilding his entire self. There are no easy answers for Sayers’ issues, but with determination and help from key friends, he finds hope. Aside from a character with a Guatemalan father, most characters default to White.
A deep dive into trauma, with light at the end of the tunnel. (Thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305173-7
Page Count: 512
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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