Don’t just skip this, run from it.
An elite Atlanta prep school harbors shocking and deadly secrets.
At Winship Academy, the Mystery Club has only two members: Benny, one of the only Jewish students in the entire school, and gossipmongering Virginia, a boarder in the school's crumbling dorms. When popular, blonde Brittany plummets off a bridge, the Mystery Club is on the case. What they discover, however, is a disquieting web of murder, obsession, and sex crimes. Rape and child pornography are breezily discussed and seem to be given almost no gravitas; the perpetrator of the rape and murder faces no punishment, even after Benny and Virginia deduce who did it. Benny concludes, "What the world needed more than justice was truth" instead of reporting it to the authorities. Even more frustratingly, among the nearly all-white student body, the only people who commit crimes in this book are people of color. It will be hard for readers to find anyone to latch onto, as the characters are almost uniformly repellent, including Benny and Virginia. Their ability to shrug off the seriousness of the crimes they investigate in order to solve them seems positively sociopathic. The mystery itself is implausible, and that failing combines with the careless treatment of victims and loathsome characterizations to create an offering that’s both repugnant and infuriating.
Don’t just skip this, run from it. (Mystery. 13 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6200-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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