Despite pacing issues, rich worldbuilding and an appealing found-family theme make for a compelling read.
The town of St. Muckle’s is a “peasants’ paradise”: Anyone who stays for a year and a day gains freedom from serfdom.
Six-year-old Charl’s father, an earl, torments his family and slaughters pagans. Escaping from his cruelty, Charl and his mother, Eileen, flee to St. Muckle’s with two companions, Sister Agnes and ex-knight Aris, who help raise Charl. Seven years later, Eileen, who’s working as an innkeeper, has earned the townspeople’s respect. But the family’s peace is shattered when an infiltrator spreads a deadly beetle-borne plague, and suspicion falls on Eileen. As illness grips the town, disaster strikes again—a dragon attacks St. Muckle’s, separating Charl from his mother. Forced to flee, he takes shelter in a ruined abbey with a suspicious nun, only to find it haunted by ghostly girls and the spirit of a murderous bishop. To reunite with his mother and escape his father’s grasp, Charl will need help from both the living and the dead. Charl is a thoughtful, kindhearted protagonist who struggles against the limitations placed on him for his own safety. The setting and backstory are richly developed, and though the novel is set in the world of Hartman’s Seraphina series, no knowledge of those works is needed. However, the narrative transition from St. Muckle’s to the abbey feels disjointed, and the rushed ending leaves some character arcs unresolved. Most major characters present white; Aris has brown skin.
Despite pacing issues, rich worldbuilding and an appealing found-family theme make for a compelling read. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780593813720
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 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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