An exquisitely written tale featuring a noble, hopeful protagonist who finds his true love.
In Lindsey’s (Fragile Spirits, 2014, etc.) YA paranormal romance, an attraction heats up between a street-wise teen and a classmate with an affinity for the moon.
When 17-year-old Aaron “Rain” Ryland’s drug-addict mother dies in a Houston homeless shelter, a judge sends him to live with his Aunt Ruby, his mother’s twin, who’s a police officer in New Wurzburg in Texas Hill Country. Tough, optimistic, and full of pluck, Rain has a “sixth sense about danger” that kicks in when he meets pale-blue–eyed, 17-year-old Friederike “Freddie” Burkhart, whom he finds to be “fierce and smart and painfully sexy.” Spellbound, he pursues her, and although she eventually enjoys his kisses, she pushes him away to keep him safe from an unspecified threat. Rain gains the trust of Freddie’s cousins, Thomas, Kurt, and Merrick, all members of the family that runs Haven Winery; he also commits to investigating the mysteries surrounding Freddie—her love of the moon, the danger she’s in, her dad’s murder, and her clan’s mysterious connection to another family in town, the Ericksens. Doing so, however, could mean the end of his life as he knows it. Lindsey develops the characters well; at one point, for example, Aunt Ruby breaks down in tears while gifting Rain with his deceased dad’s motocross bike, and Rain responds to this with the feeling that “he’d finally found a place where he belonged.” As the story’s tension steadily rises, the descriptions feel natural and organic to the action; for example, at a gathering at Aunt Ruby’s, Mrs. Ericksen works on her needlework and watches Rain “over her reading glasses, needle stabbing in and out.” The passion between Rain and Freddie is rendered sublimely (“She all but consumed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and digging her nails into his skin. Hot. Demanding. Perfect”), with actual sex happening offstage.
An exquisitely written tale featuring a noble, hopeful protagonist who finds his true love.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63375-883-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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
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