Brooding, absorbing, but not quite the cultural mirror it aspires to be.
When a Canadian teen is found dead, his surviving friends must deal with the fallout.
Ojibwe and Québécois Réal Dufresne’s life is already complicated when his white best friend, Shaun, is found dead the morning after the two got into yet another fistfight. When he discovers the disemboweled body, Ré, despite not remembering much from the previous night, believes that he savagely tore apart and ate his friend. Evie Hawley, Shaun’s pregnant white girlfriend, isn’t handling things much better—the father of the baby she’s not ready for is dead, and she can’t help feeling relieved. Amid growing mistrust within their group of friends, the pair support (and fall for) each other through a storm of self-doubt. Despite dynamically complex characterization and storytelling, the unfortunate inclusion of spirit animals, traditional healing rituals framed as repellent, and visions used as plot devices present a distorted view of Ojibwe culture, particularly since the author seems only able to envision the complications of Ré's relationship with his Ojibwe heritage as fearful and gruesome. This represents a missed opportunity to fully explore the nuances of Ré's complex identity in favor of stereotyped shorthand and grisly spectacle, for example, as he repeatedly grapples with a dream-fueled fear of a violently cannibalistic inheritance from his great-uncle, Black Chuck, who ate his daughter after being possessed by the Windigo, an Ojibwe demon.
Brooding, absorbing, but not quite the cultural mirror it aspires to be. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1630-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist.
The mother Annabel Price thought was dead returns with a story about where she’s been—but 18-year-old Bel knows she’s lying.
Ever since Rachel Price’s unexplained disappearance 16 years ago, true-crime fans have come up with plentiful theories about what happened. Bel and her family members, who are white, cobbled together lives for themselves after a jury found Bel’s father, Charlie, not guilty of murdering his wife. Beset with medical bills for his elderly father, Charlie recently agreed to participate in a documentary about the unsolved mystery. Black British filmmaker Ramsey Lee is well into the process of interviewing the Prices when his project gets an unanticipated boost after an exhausted, disheveled Rachel staggers back into town. Rachel is eager to resume her role in the family, but the inconsistencies in her accounts raise alarms for Bel. With the help of the youngest member of the filmmaking team, Bel sets out to learn what really happened. Along the way, someone else disappears, and Bel uncovers a tangle of lies that make it impossible for her to trust people she thought she knew. When things come to a head the night of her grandfather’s 85th birthday party, Bel ends up in a race for her life. The last quarter of the novel tears along at a breakneck pace before arriving at a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593374207
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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