Atmospheric, well-realized, and terrifying.
Home is where the trauma is when a magical crash course meets dark family history.
Recent Irvine, California, high school graduate Edelweiss “Edie” Birch seeks her inheritance: the Hart Creek, Maine, home of her estranged late maternal grandmother, Ludmilla Vovk. The pointy red-and-white structure out in the woods is a character unto itself, not least because it can grow chicken legs and move around like Baba Yaga’s house. Pale, red-haired Edie meets up with her aunt Darya and Darya’s student, Leander. The Vovk family came to America from Ukraine in the 1800s, bringing their “nature worship” traditions with them. They practice magic, including casting an annual spell that protects Hart Creek from menacing goblins. This task now falls on Edie’s shoulders, and she’d much rather offload the responsibility onto someone else. Edie and Leander, who has brown skin and Afro-textured hair, are young adults struggling with the weight of others’ expectations, although Edie’s are rooted in horrifying family secrets. Edie’s growth from passive avoidance to engaged action forms a satisfying character arc. The goblins, often depicted as silhouettes or bright, glaring eyes, turn out to be more than they seem. The color palette’s shifts—green and black during moments of menace and an intense flashback sequence in greens and reds against a black background—provide thrills amid the angst. References to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Stephen King are earned touchstones in Hender’s YA debut.
Atmospheric, well-realized, and terrifying. (content warning, sketchbook) (Graphic horror. 14-18)Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250882615
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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