by Samantha Mabry ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2016
Fans of open-ended, atmospheric stories will enjoy the chilling suspense
Lucas is a rich, blond gringo in Puerto Rico, but he actually believes the old island tales about the secretive shut-in who lives down the street from his family's luxury hotel.
Since he was a little boy, 17-year-old Lucas Knight has spent his summers at his real estate tycoon father's premier resort—a renovated convent—in Old San Juan. Despite his wealth, Luke can't escape his own brand of bad luck. His mother (an "island girl" herself) left the family when he was 7; his hotel room is reportedly where a heartsick novice once killed herself; and two days after hooking up with Marisol—his local best friend's beautiful cousin—he finds her dead body washed up on the beach, making the authorities think he's an ideal suspect. Things take a turn from mystery to magical realism when the girl from the "cursed" house on Calle Sol—Isabel, who's rumored to be so full of poison she's green—turns out to be real, and she’s simultaneously dying and deadly. If Luke wants to know what happened to Marisol, he must trust this strange and sheltered girl. The author steeps her debut novel in compelling Caribbean folklore and a lush, evocative setting. The pacing, however, is occasionally uneven, and the plot often creates more questions than it answers.
Fans of open-ended, atmospheric stories will enjoy the chilling suspense . (Fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61620-521-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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by Rosaria Munda ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2019
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes.
What happens to the world after the dust from a revolution has settled?
Friends Annie and Lee were children from very different circles when Atreus killed Lee’s father, dragonlord Leon Stormscourge, ending the uprising on the bloodiest day in Callipolis’ history. For too long the dragonriders held all the power while their people starved and lived in fear. Nine years later, a new generation of dragonriders is emerging, children selected and trained on merit, not bloodlines. Their dragons are finally mature enough for them to compete for Firstrider, a position of power that can give Lee back a small part of what his family lost. However, not only is Lee competing against Annie, but rumors are circulating that some of the royal family have survived and have dragons of their own. Everyone will have to make a choice: Restore the old regime, support the First Protector and the new caste system he created, or look for a new way, no matter what the cost. From the beginning, this book pulls readers in with political intrigue and action. What keeps them invested, however, are the complex relationships between many cast members. Choices are complex, and the consequences for all could be deadly. The world is well fleshed out and believable. Annie and Lee are light skinned; secondary characters are diverse, and race is a nonissue in this world.
Full of drama, emotional turmoil, and high stakes. (author’s note) (Fantasy.14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51821-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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by Kristy Acevedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2023
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale.
A reissue of the 2016 novel published as Consider.
Alexandra Lucas and her boyfriend, Dominick, are about to start their senior year of high school when 500 vertexes—each one a doorway-shaped “hole into the fabric of the universe”—appear across the world, accompanied by holographic messages communicating news of Earth’s impending doom. The only escape is a one-way trip through the portals to a parallel future Earth. As people leave through the vertexes and the extinction event draws nearer, the world becomes increasingly unfamiliar. A lot has changed in the past several years, including expectations of mental health depictions in young adult literature; Alex’s struggle with anxiety and reliance on Ativan, which she calls her “little white savior” while initially discounting therapy as an intervention, make for a trite after-school special–level treatment of a complex situation; a short stint of effective therapy does finally occur but is so limited in duration that it contributes to the oversimplification of the topic. Alex also has unresolved issues with her Gulf War veteran father (who possibly grapples with PTSD). The slow pace of the plot as it depicts a crumbling society, along with stilted writing and insubstantial secondary characterization, limits the appeal of such a small-scale, personal story. Characters are minimally described and largely racially ambiguous; Alex has golden skin and curly brown hair.
A glossy repackaging of a jejune tale. (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-839-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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