Spooky and strange.
A group of teenagers has a terrifying day on a strange new island in the Pacific Northwest.
Sixteen-year-old Harrow has been having a rough time. Even before her dad died under odd and indeterminate circumstances, she was a girl who fell a lot: off trees and also “in and out of love and friendships, off the pedestals—few and far between—I’ve been put on, and out of the grace of the people I needed it from the most.” She lives in the uncanny town of Seeker’s Rest, Washington, which is dubbed “The Last Town on Earth.” An island recently popped up out of the mysterious local lake—the deepest one in the U.S. About nine months before Harrow was born, the lake had suddenly appeared in an equally mysterious valley, which itself just materialized almost a century ago. On a whim, Harrow decides to explore the island; her former best friend, Olive, and classmates Shane and Ethan join her. Their trip quickly turns into a nightmare: The island is inhabited by ominous and dangerous phenomena. Mostly unfolding over one tightly paced day and told in Harrow’s breathless present-tense narration, the book will leave readers shuddering at some of the more gruesome scenes of body horror. In a literary device that creates emotional distance, Harrow describes her personified emotions (Hope, Love, Guilt, Fear), which she keeps locked in a metaphorical motel in her mind until they themselves decide to come out and play.
Spooky and strange. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781454965053
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 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
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing final installment.
This trilogy closer scatters its characters across magical worlds as they try to save themselves from a terrible fate.
Cornelius Clover plans to sacrifice the magical people known as the keys from each of the four worlds in order to absorb the power of the deity Atheia and become a godlike figure himself. Atheia has other ideas, instead taking Romie Brysden as a vessel and embarking on a mission to destroy those who use the magic of her shadowy counterpart, the deity Sidraeus. Emory Ainsleif and Basil “Baz” Brysden, Romie’s best friend and brother, respectively, refuse to let all this happen—even if it’s said that “fate is already written.” Emory partners with Sidraeus, and Baz works under a mysterious god of balance to try to save Kai Salonga. The four worlds—and all magic users—face a dire fate unless Romie, Emory, Baz, and Kai can change the story. The clear worldbuilding established in the previous two books seems to slip from Lacelle’s grasp in this entry; the distinctions among the vessels, gods, and deities (the latter two are distinct) blur in confusing ways. The abundance of whimsically named characters wielding different types of magic slows the story, and the overarching message of love and forgiveness triumphing over evil suffers from a lack of subtlety. Strong queer representation undergirds the narrative, and readers will enjoy following Baz and Kai’s budding romance. Central characters present white.
A disappointing final installment. (maps, Sacred Lunar Houses & their tidal alignments) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781665970389
Page Count: 592
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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