A creepy, character-driven read.
A hoax turns terrifyingly real when a paranormal influencer investigates a former mining town.
For two years, 18-year-old Lenny Gilson and her boyfriend, Evan, have traveled the country investigating unexplained phenomena for their YouTube channel, “Odd Kids.” But ever since Evan’s tendency to control their relationship led Lenny to declare a break, they’ve been a couple only on camera. An anonymous tip sends them to Reed Ranch in Scarberry, Nebraska, purportedly the site of alien activity in 1961—and the setting of Lenny’s recurring dreams. However, unbeknownst to Lenny, Claire Reed has staged a hoax to garner advertising for her Aunt Maeve’s ailing tourist attraction. As “the big fat rainbow thorn in Scarberry’s side” whose mom “got addicted to a bunch of stuff,” Claire longs to leave the conservative town—but not until she’s sure her aunt and cousin, a leukemia survivor, won’t lose their home to developers. When cattle turn up mutilated and people disappear, Claire and Lenny work together to investigate. Is this the work of the legendary monster Old Lucky? Or have the townspeople angered the Old Gods? Though most secondary characters feel two-dimensional, Claire’s and Lenny’s alternating third-person chapters explore myriad issues, including queerness, social media, and self-confidence, with care and occasional humor. While the pacing is somewhat slow, a late twist offers food for thought, and Claire and Lenny’s growing relationship is satisfying. Most characters read white.
A creepy, character-driven read. (Paranormal mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: June 23, 2026
ISBN: 9781324083436
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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
Entertaining, heartfelt, and suspenseful: a superb addition to a beloved series.
Eighteen-year-old sleuth Stevie Bell is back to investigate another mystery in this stand-alone addition to the Truly Devious series.
Stevie is nursing a broken heart following her recent split from boyfriend David. Fed up with her parents’ lack of understanding and support—they regard her interest in solving murders as “creepy” and “weird”—she announces that she’s not coming home for Christmas. But now she’s at a loose end; spending winter break “alone on murder mountain” at Ellingham Academy, her Vermont boarding school, doesn’t seem ideal. So when the opportunity arises to accompany her close friend Nate to New York City, she willingly agrees. The third-person chapters switch between Stevie’s contemporary experience among a group of eccentric, often-clashing residents of a Manhattan apartment building and a young woman named Blue who becomes entangled in a cult in the 1970s. A trail of clues is laid that Stevie can’t resist following. Readers will be kept guessing how the intertwining storylines fit together until the very end. The novel expands to explore Stevie’s relationships and growth, including her ongoing management of her anxiety disorder. The marvelously clever dialogue, abundance of heart, and witty, memorable, and well-rounded cast elevate this beyond standard mystery fare. Both timelines establish the New York City setting as its own character. Stevie and Blue read white.
Entertaining, heartfelt, and suspenseful: a superb addition to a beloved series. (map) (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063256019
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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