Largely entertaining but loses steam at the end.
A New York City teenager unwittingly awakens a vampire at her boarding school.
When Lorena Navarro and her best friend, Salma Santos, are accepted to Huntington Academy, a new, highly selective school in New Hampshire, Lorena sees it as the perfect chance to start over. A scandal she was involved in has damaged her mother’s career as a parenting influencer, and she’s eager to move on. But her plans for a fresh start unravel when she, Salma, and their new friends discover a coffin and a hidden library in a forbidden wing of the school. Lorena is attacked by the coffin’s occupant, a strikingly handsome, 276-year-old vampire named William Pride, who’s “pale as a corpse.” He’s been in a death-sleep for centuries. Now bound to William as his Familiar, Lorena is pulled into the mystery of why he was sleeping, what became of his family, and what happened to vampire-kind. The closer they get to the truth, the greater the danger, not only for Lorena and William but for their friends as well. Vampire enthusiasts will appreciate the familiar tropes, but once the lore explaining what has happened to the rest of the vampires is revealed, the plot grows unwieldy. William and Lorena’s romance, while central to the narrative, lacks the emotional depth and gradual development needed to feel fully believable. Lorena is Argentinian American, and Salma is cued Latine.
Largely entertaining but loses steam at the end. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250863911
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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
A sexy, swoony, action-packed duology opener.
Teens from different social spheres collaborate, investigating magical mysteries while navigating their shared attraction.
When 18-year-old Wren Hayes doesn’t receive a magical gift from the three Fates—Dawn, Day, and Dusk—she’s shunned by Aurilian high society. Unbeknownst to Wren, 19-year-old Damien, a thief from the Void (a part of the city she’s forbidden to visit) has taken the locket that should have been her gift from the Fates. He’s shocked to discover a photo of himself inside. Using his own Fates’ gift—a mirror with powers of invisibility—Damien infiltrates a party and steals a silver watch from a guest. But his gift isn’t fully functioning, and Wren tackles him, sending them both tumbling into the mud. They tussle and exchange flirty barbs before Damien makes off with his prize, losing Wren’s locket in the process. Unsure why someone from the Void would possess such a gift and determined to uncover why hers was “unjustly kept” from her, Wren tracks down Damien. Seeking answers of his own, he agrees to work with her. Their well-crafted dance of desire and restraint is on point (“She stifled a stunned noise as I placed a menacing kiss—a mere graze of my lips—on the back of her hand”), melding seamlessly with the plot. The story addresses sexism, privilege, and wealth while hurtling the characters into a whirlwind of action and disturbing revelations. Wren presents white, and Damien has tanned skin.
A sexy, swoony, action-packed duology opener. (map) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9798217117215
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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