by Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg ; translated by Anna Paterson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2015
Epic in length if not scale, the closer puts its small-town teen ensemble through the wringer.
The rise of a rival coven spells both complications and loyalty conflicts for the young witches charged with saving the world from a demon invasion.
Concerned readers of the previous two doorstoppers will be relieved to learn at the outset that the three members of the Chosen Ones who were killed aren’t entirely dead. Instead, they roam a misty Borderland as channel-surfing silent witnesses to past and present incidents in the Swedish town of Engelsfors. Said incidents range from the pairing off of the still-living Chosen Ones and allies as high school seniors to the formation of a new set of supposed Chosen under the direction of Walter, the ruthless Council’s power-mad leader. Warning that the original Chosen Ones aren’t strong enough to close the demonic portal that is about to open, Walter recruits Minoo, the mightiest young witch in town—leaving her to choose between abandoning her friends and (presumably) saving the world. As before, heavy friction characterizes every relationship, even amicable ones, and there is at least as much effort spent in working through personal issues as in penetrating the heavy fog of lies and obfuscations that both the Council and the subtle demons have cast around the upcoming apocalypse. In the end, the common threat remains a nebulous backdrop to the fierce emotional tides of nascent adulthood.
Epic in length if not scale, the closer puts its small-town teen ensemble through the wringer. (castlist) (Fantasy/horror. 13-18)Pub Date: July 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4683-0673-6
Page Count: 864
Publisher: Overlook
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
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by Sara B. Elfgren ; translated by Judith Kiros
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by Sara B. Elfgren ; Mats Strandberg ; translated by Anna Paterson
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by Sara B. Elfgren ; Mats Strandberg ; translated by Per Carlsson
by Kathleen Glasgow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2016
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
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New York Times Bestseller
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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by Tomi Oyemakinde ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023
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
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