by Rachel McIntyre ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2018
Secondary purchase at best.
In rural England, Liv and her friends have scored an audition for a new reality show—and cool as they are, it should be a snap.
Wealthy, arrogant Olivia “Liv” Dawson-Hill has just finished her A-levels. Wanting to grow her beauty vlog before university, she sees an ad for a casting call that seems made for her. Her friends Jeremiah “Jez” Livingston, former head boy and ostentatious do-gooder, and toned playboy Declan “Duff” Duffy are up for it. Camera-shy friend Henrietta “Hetty” Barraclough, daughter of a xenophobic member of Parliament, surprisingly puts herself forward. When the assistant director, Cassandra Verity, shows up early—instead of the guy Liv has been in contact with—she and her friends roll with it until Cass begins revealing dark secrets about the teens she seemingly has no way of knowing, secrets about their impact on the life of one girl. Left with a moral dilemma, with friendships in tatters, what will they do? McIntyre’s (The Number One Rule for Girls, 2016, etc.) update of An Inspector Calls is not entirely successful: The characters are all unlikable and a bit unbelievable, and well-educated teens (even shallow ones) would have seen through Cass’ “research” long before these do. The constant hopping back and forth in time quickly becomes tiresome, and the timeline frays. Still, the premise may interest reality show fans. All major characters are white.
Secondary purchase at best. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4052-7368-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Egmont UK
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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by Holly Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2020
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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New York Times Bestseller
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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by Leigh Bardugo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2015
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell...
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Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.
The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.
Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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