Too many ideas and not enough focus unfortunately diminish what could have been a unique and much-needed novel exploring the...
Mona Lisa LaPierre’s academic parents are off to Russia for research, leaving the teen behind in a cabin deep in the woods of New England with her crotchety Mohegan Indian grandfather, whom she barely knows.
There is no electricity, her grandfather seems able to communicate with bears, and the lines between this world and the world of spirits are blurry to say the least. Mona passes the time wailing the blues on her trusty guitar, Rosalita. As she gradually bonds with her grandfather, she also begins to connect more deeply with the natural world and with both sides of her Native American heritage, Mohegan and Abenaki. This would be more than enough to process, both for Mona and for readers, but this summer after high school is also filled with a cold-case murder mystery, budding romance, love triangles, dysfunctional parents, family secrets, death, and supernatural occurrences. Though ambitious and inclusive of voices tragically underrepresented in teen literature, this novel regrettably fails to strike the right chord. Rather than weaving together to form a cohesive story, the various plot points and surprise turns are heaped upon one another at an inconsistent pace, and the result feels cluttered and forced.
Too many ideas and not enough focus unfortunately diminish what could have been a unique and much-needed novel exploring the lives of contemporary Native American teens. (author’s note) (Mystery. 13-17)Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-9293-4512-0
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Poisoned Pencil
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
Chilling and suspenseful, with just the right number of twists.
If your friend’s dead body falls in the woods and nobody is around to see which of you pulled the trigger, what will your story be?
In an after-party haze of booze and drugs, five white, wealthy best friends go hunting in the River Point woods—only four return. With one of the boys, Grant, shot dead in an apparent accident and no one willing to admit responsibility, Logan, Henry, John Michael, and Shep vow to keep silent in order to protect their remaining group and the killer among them. But secrets have a way of burrowing through bonds, and the tightknit foursome, dubbed the River Point Boys, has already started to unravel. Meanwhile, budding photojournalist and white senior Kate Marino is interning at the district attorney’s office, where her boss is assigned the River Point case. The DA wants the case to disappear quietly, but Kate is determined see justice done. As she assists with examining the boys’ behavior during interrogations and in person, she discovers that nothing about the case, the suspects, or even her own connection to the boys is what it seems. The narration alternates between Kate’s fervent suspicions and a River Point Boy’s cold manipulation, leaving readers to wade through the many vengeful motives that spill from a wellspring of affluence, privilege, and corruption.
Chilling and suspenseful, with just the right number of twists. (Mystery. 13-17)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-3089-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
An overall entertaining read.
In this sequel to The Similars (2018), tensions rise as the villains reveal a ploy to exact revenge on the Ten and their families and ultimately take over the world.
When Emma Chance returns to her elite boarding school, Darkwood Academy, for her senior year, things are different: Her best friend, Ollie Ward, is back while Levi Gravelle, Ollie’s clone and Emma’s love interest, has been imprisoned on Castor Island. More importantly, Emma is coming to terms with the contents of a letter from Gravelle which states that she is Eden, a Similar created to replace the original Emma, who died as a child. To complicate matters further, other clones—who are not Similars—infiltrate Darkwood, and Emma and her friends uncover a plot that threatens not only the lives of everyone they care about, but also the world as they know it. Hanover wastes no time delving right into the action; readers unfamiliar with the first book may get lost. This duology closer is largely predictable and often filled with loopholes, but the fast-paced narrative and one unexpected plot twist make for an engaging ride. As before, most of the primary characters read as white, and supporting characters remain underdeveloped. Despite its flaws and often implausible turns of events, the novel calls attention to larger questions of identity, selfhood, and what it means to be human.
An overall entertaining read. (Dystopia. 13-16)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6513-7
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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