"The bumblebee flies anyway"—and so too the life-sized model car, which Barney finds and dismantles in a nearby junkyard to reassemble in the attic, will ride. . . straight off the roof of The Complex, the institution where terminally ill teens are receiving experimental treatment. Barney conceives the car project largely for wasting Mazzo, rich and handsome but bitter, who wishes to "go out in a blaze of glory" and asks to be unplugged. But Barney has really taken an interest in Mazzo because of Mazzo's beautiful twin sister Cassie, and she in turn has a special interest in her brother's condition: for years she has noticed that when he is hurt, she feels it in her own body. (When he dies, then, what about her?) But Barney doesn't know about Cassie's "thing" or the reason for her increasing headaches; and only well along does he discover that he himself is not a "control" but one of the dying, like Mazzo and Billy the Kidney and the others. Those fragmented, nightmare memories he can't track down have been created for him by the doctors, to screen out the real, unacceptable memories of how he came to the institution. Until this discovery there are unexplained flashes, sinister-sounding treatments, and references—to "the handyman" and "the merchandise," Barney's terms for the doctor and the medicine—which seem more mysterious than they are. This air of ambiguity and vaguely totalitarian menace, a common thread in Cormier's fiction, sometimes seems a little contrived and arbitrary here, but it is far from inappropriate to a patient-inmate's view of hospital life. And if that final triumphant push of the car, with Mazzo dying on the roof in Barney's arms (Barney comes out of remission and dies soon after), is a little clichÉd, it is not sentimentally rendered as it might be in other hands. All in all the novel hasn't the consuming, focused tension of previous Cormier YAs, but that is not to deny its crisp, sure craftsmanship, suggestive applications, and holding power.
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1983
ISBN: 044090871X
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1983
Everyone’s a suspect in this thrilling tale that armchair sleuths will enjoy untangling.
A twisty whodunit set against the backdrop of a town haunted by a deadly curse.
High school senior Eden Stafford didn’t want to attend the all-night party at Fairport Village, the scene of several grisly murders of teens over the decades. But she and her mom need the money; ever since her dad fled to avoid embezzlement charges, finances have been tight, so she agrees to work as an assistant to her friend Henry, who’s filming a documentary at the ruined seaside resort for a film school application. When Henry’s dead body is found, followed by that of classmate Diego, Eden realizes that the old curse is killing kids again. She reluctantly teams up with Caleb, her former best friend who turned into her bully, and his clique to work out what really happened to the first victim, Nicolas—and what his death has to do with whoever or whatever is stalking them now. Ichaso provides an impressive roster of suspects, keeping Eden (and readers!) on guard as the mystery plays out. Eden’s growing feelings for Caleb complicate her investigation even as she deals with past hurt and recriminations that add layers of emotion and suspicion. The town’s history is entertaining, and the crimes’ dual timelines allow for extra sleuthing. The crumbling California resort setting is vividly depicted. Most characters present white.
Everyone’s a suspect in this thrilling tale that armchair sleuths will enjoy untangling. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781728299709
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Thoughtful, ambitious, and unexpected.
A village girl and a cursed witch become unlikely allies on a quest to find the source of a devastating magical plague.
In this rich, nuanced fantasy world, witches can either draw power from themselves, from sources—humans who are magical conduits—or from the earth. The latter is considered dark magic because the amount of power available is exponentially greater than a human body could produce, as is the corresponding environmental fallout. Five years earlier, now-17-year-old witch Tamsin used dark magic in a moment of desperation and was cursed and banished from the Coven as a result. Meanwhile, Wren, who is also 17, has spent her entire life concealing her identity as a source in order to care for her magic-hating, chronically ill father. When he is struck by the new plague ravaging the land and stealing its victims’ memories, she turns to Tamsin for help. Theirs is an especially slow-burn romance, as Tamsin’s curse prevents her from feeling, but the buildup allows for deeper character development and a very satisfying conclusion. Tooley’s debut skillfully and subtly emphasizes the consequences of prioritizing power above people and the environment while the friction between regular people and magic-bearers poignantly echoes the fear and rejection queer people, who are accepted in this world, often face in ours. A White default is assumed.
Thoughtful, ambitious, and unexpected. (map) (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5385-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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