A supernaturally tinged whodunit that will enrapture mystery fans.
A teenager becomes obsessed with the mystery of her brother’s death in this YA novel.
Handler’s remarkable story pulls readers into the swirling mind of Bean Hanes,a 15-year-old Minnesotan who found her “soul mate and favorite brother,” Sam, dead in his bedroom, shortly after an accident in which he hit a deer with his car.Sam is present throughout the story in Bean’s rich, yet tortured, memories, and she reflects on his deep curiosity about the Indigenous Inuit people; the teenager identified deeply with Inuit culture and even wanted to be buried in accordance with Inuit practices. Although his death is ruled a suicide, Bean can’t accept it, and she and her best friend, Julie, go on a mission to uncover the truth. The mystery is peppered with curious and sometimes conflicting details about who Sam really was and how he may have died. As Bean’s grief becomes deeper, she looks for answers in the spiritual realm, and the story’s mystical elements (including departed spirits, totem animals, and shamanic rituals) combine with standard sleuthing to create a solid mystery. For example, Bean has a recurring, meaningful dream about a storm and an open window in Sam’s room, and some pieces of physical evidence, such as an unfamiliar camouflage belt that was found with Sam’s body, raise intriguing questions. Bean and Julie piece together a complex list of possible scenarios and suspects, including Sam’s close friend Skip, who was expected at their house that evening but didn’t show up, didn’t attend Sam’s funeral, and suddenly dropped out of their lives. Over the course of this breathless narrative, Handler keeps readers guessing at the solution until the very end.
A supernaturally tinged whodunit that will enrapture mystery fans.Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62634-718-2
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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