Spiked with spooky, menacing moments but lacking in depth.
After a spell goes awry, two Cape Cod girls find themselves connected to the spirit of a murdered woman.
Mazzy and Nora have practiced witchcraft for years with some success. But one day, during the off-season, everything changes. The friends have different approaches: Mazzy likes “to do things by the book (as in, literal spell books)” and Nora “believes the best magic comes from intuition.” When Nora suggests using a spell from the internet designed to uncover hidden things—she says it’ll bring clarity to their lives—Mazzy agrees, despite her misgivings. Under a full moon, they trek to the beach, where they find the mutilated remains of a woman. Nora feels compelled to discover her identity, but while scrying for answers, Mazzy has a vision of hooded figures conducting a ritual. Soon Nora hears the dead woman whispering to her, pushing her to hurry. The friends start to believe the woman’s death is linked to the Hand of Nephthys, a local cult known for human sacrifices and necromancy. As their investigation deepens, it becomes clear they’re in danger, and Nora’s connection to the dead woman becomes all-consuming, leaving Mazzy to chart her own risky path to the truth before more tragedy strikes. Though the plot is deftly woven with escalating danger, both white-presenting leads feel as if they exist only to propel the plot and never stand out as fully realized characters.
Spiked with spooky, menacing moments but lacking in depth. (Paranormal thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9780593856338
Page Count: 362
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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 gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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