An interesting premise marred by plausibility issues.
A wilderness challenge with a big prize brings out bad behavior.
Wilde Academy’s so elite that a dozen students compete for the title of Champion rather than mere valedictorian. Partial scholarship student Chloe Gatti needs the $600,000 prize to help her family; her younger sister has cancer and mounting medical bills. Chloe is selected along with Hayes Stratford, her ex-boyfriend, some friends she lost in the breakup, and a few cartoonishly snobbish classmates. Someone is blackmailing and undermining Chloe from the start. The trials aren’t terribly thrilling—think riddles and trivia—until the blackmailer moves on to dangerous levels of sabotage. Chloe also ends up back in the orbit of handsome, privileged Hayes, seeking the truth of the trials three years prior, when his beloved older brother died in what Hayes believes wasn’t an accident. The duo, who are cued white, end up in a tentative alliance that’s ripe with unresolved romantic feelings. Chloe is economically disadvantaged and described as being taller, curvier, and heavier than the other girls (although her size goes unremarked upon by the characters). The vagueness of the portrayal of her identity undermines the effectiveness of the representation. Other forms of diversity in the cast also lack complexity, and the characters’ motivations are generally weak. The plot relies on heavy suspension of disbelief, head-scratching logical leaps, and lapses of common sense that are sure to frustrate readers. The predictable ending leans into theatrical indulgence.
An interesting premise marred by plausibility issues. (Thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063287648
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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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