An interesting premise that doesn’t quite deliver.
A queer Black reimagining of The Great Gatsby.
Seventeen-year-old Nick Carrington of Greenwood, Oklahoma, comes from a long line of Black journalists, and he, too, wants to be a writer. When tragedy strikes, Nick seeks refuge with his extended family in Harlem. His cousin Daisy is ambitious, and she encourages Nick to apply to the prestigious West Egg Academy, which Jay Gatsby Sr. and Tom Buchanan co-founded, in order to make connections and find his way in New York. Nick receives a scholarship, but he soon realizes the supposedly integrated haven where “migrants from the South [can] escape prejudice and access the opportunities of an elite education” is just a smokescreen. African American students are pushed into the manual labor track and live in subpar housing. As Nick wrestles with exposing the truth, he starts to fall for biracial Jay Gatsby Jr. and must decide if love is worth compromising on liberation. The setting is well developed, and as part of establishing the historical texture, the book uses the language of the times, including terms like Colored and Negro. Unfortunately, the execution is challenged by trying to pack in numerous historical elements—the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Harlem Renaissance, Prohibition, and Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association—without sufficient room to fully develop them, resulting in a story that lacks cohesion. The character development is also insufficient, making it hard to connect or empathize with the main characters.
An interesting premise that doesn’t quite deliver. (Historical fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9780063312487
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful.
A family’s secrets rise to the surface as a young man investigates a suspected murder.
Evander, who’s 17 and lonely, never leaves his room in the manor on Hazelthorn Estate. He’s told he’s too fragile and is locked away “for his safety” while an elderly butler feeds him brain-addling “medicine.” But one night changes Evander’s life—and the manor’s future—forever. Byron Lennox-Hall, Evander’s billionaire guardian and the family’s patriarch, dies unexpectedly. Relatives descend upon Hazelthorn like vultures as a shocking twist reveals that Byron left everything to Evander alone. Without Byron around to keep his only grandchild and presumed heir, Laurence “Laurie” Lennox-Hall, away from his ward, Laurie and Evander become the unlikeliest of allies. When they were boys, Laurie attempted to kill Evander—but, maddeningly, Evander can’t stop thinking about him. He also suspects that someone murdered Byron. Drews’ latest starts off as a straightforward whodunit and turns into something that’s far more sinister—and delicious. From descriptions of moth-eaten decay to vivid floral imagery, Drews luxuriates in atmospheric prose. Their literary green thumb nurtures intertwining themes of monstrosity and abuse alongside yearning, first love, queerness, and mystery. The slow-burn romance at the root of this blend of gothic and body horror is as tender as it is unforgettable. Evander is cued as autistic, and main characters present white.
A uniquely arranged bouquet of terrors, as disturbing as it is beautiful. (author’s note) (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781250376299
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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