A haunting and twisted, if unevenly developed, tale that explores the line between safety and control.
A teen investigates the bloodstained secrets of a town built on ritual, silence, and monsters.
Wispy Falls promises safety—but a 17-year-old vlogger, a black-haired, brown-eyed boy who goes by Storymancer, knows that’s a lie. His 7-year-old brother, Lee, is among those who vanished in the woods. After someone finds a body in the woods, LightParticle121, a conspiracy message board user, sends Storymancer a news clip from a local station that strangely doesn’t appear in the news archives. Storymancer begins corresponding with LightParticle121, who claims that all the missing were sick (Lee had cancer, but few people know that). Even as their exchanges grow increasingly unhinged, Storymancer pursues this lead, documenting his investigation into the bloodmoon ritual, which the authorities claim will protect citizens against the cryptids in the woods. But the deeper Storymancer digs, the more he questions the ritual—and suspects that the Penumbra Institution, which controls the town’s medical care, may be hiding something far more sinister. Told through video and radio show transcripts, emails, and more, the found footage–style narration creates a chilling realism. Chupeco demonstrates a keen understanding of how misinformation spreads and digital natives process fragmented information, though the structure works against the story’s emotional core. The town’s mythology and the cryptid classifications are well-crafted, but the pacing sags under the weight of the plot’s complexity and exposition-heavy forum posts.
A haunting and twisted, if unevenly developed, tale that explores the line between safety and control. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781728255941
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 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
A disappointing final installment.
This trilogy closer scatters its characters across magical worlds as they try to save themselves from a terrible fate.
Cornelius Clover plans to sacrifice the magical people known as the keys from each of the four worlds in order to absorb the power of the deity Atheia and become a godlike figure himself. Atheia has other ideas, instead taking Romie Brysden as a vessel and embarking on a mission to destroy those who use the magic of her shadowy counterpart, the deity Sidraeus. Emory Ainsleif and Basil “Baz” Brysden, Romie’s best friend and brother, respectively, refuse to let all this happen—even if it’s said that “fate is already written.” Emory partners with Sidraeus, and Baz works under a mysterious god of balance to try to save Kai Salonga. The four worlds—and all magic users—face a dire fate unless Romie, Emory, Baz, and Kai can change the story. The clear worldbuilding established in the previous two books seems to slip from Lacelle’s grasp in this entry; the distinctions among the vessels, gods, and deities (the latter two are distinct) blur in confusing ways. The abundance of whimsically named characters wielding different types of magic slows the story, and the overarching message of love and forgiveness triumphing over evil suffers from a lack of subtlety. Strong queer representation undergirds the narrative, and readers will enjoy following Baz and Kai’s budding romance. Central characters present white.
A disappointing final installment. (maps, Sacred Lunar Houses & their tidal alignments) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781665970389
Page Count: 592
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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