An uneven but intriguing series opener.
After almost being murdered, a girl invokes a contract with a devil to exact revenge.
Ever since her mother died during a violent mob attack, 17-year-old Magi, Evangeline “Evan” Wilde, has pretended to be Dun, someone without magic. This ruse has kept her and her magical blood safe from being unwillingly bound in a contract with a Necro (one of those who first rose up and ended the rule of devils). Evan works at the Red Emporium, writing contracts that call down devils. One day, a man named James Bahayin visits, seeking a protection sacrifice, and Evan feels drawn to him. That night, she’s attacked by a Necro and almost becomes an unwilling sacrifice. A desperate Evan offers her life for the power to take revenge on Necros. Enter Jack, a devil who’s waited 300 years for the opportunity to kill the Necros—and Rhys, the devil he loved who betrayed him. With Jack’s help, Evan, who reads Black, infiltrates Necro society, befriending James and Penelope Heriotza, whose family is rising in influence. Gradually, she realizes that not all Necros are evil. Now she must choose: exact revenge on innocents or die for nothing? This immersive, plot-driven story takes place in a racially diverse world with queer representation that evokes 1920s New Orleans with a creative magic system and some well-executed twists. Unfortunately, the characters feel two-dimensional and exhibit little growth, and many events seem to occur to serve the plot.
An uneven but intriguing series opener. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9798890033000
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 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
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
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