A quirky, witchy murder mystery.
A magical, murderous take on Clueless.
Embry Woodcross, who has blue eyes and curly blond hair, is the queen bee at Raven’s Head School for the Magically Gifted. There, Embry works hard to make potions to help her fellow students, as well as playing matchmaker whenever possible. When a new student, “petite and pale” platinum blond vampire Oakley Riddle enrolls in senior year, Embry is instantly intrigued. The work Embry and her best friend, Amethyst Oberon, who’s also a senior prefect, put into making Oakley an it girl comes to a screeching halt when Oakley is found murdered—and Embry is the prime suspect. Suspended from school, Embry turns to the (literal) boy next door, blond, green-eyed Rye Knighton, for help clearing her name. In addition to the many elements that closely follow beats from the film Clueless, Henning’s magical world, in which all sorts of magical creatures from werewolves to zombies to selkies attend a magical school, will feel familiar to fans of the show Wednesday. The writing is fluid, the banter among the friends is fun, and the mystery surrounding Oakley’s death and Embry’s potential involvement make for a good story. There’s some racial diversity among the supporting cast members, including Ames, who has curly black hair and “flawless dark brown skin.”
A quirky, witchy murder mystery. (Fantasy mystery. 13-18)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9780316584364
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia.
A teenage witch goes up against the evil king of the mountain to save a cursed village.
Witch-in-training Verity Vox has spent a year apiece in different villages, helping in any way she can as she learns her art. When it’s time to move on, she receives a sign that shows her where to go next. When the latest sign appears in the form of a note begging for help that floats down on a leaf, she’s eager for the challenge. Verity winds up in Foxfire, a village in the Appalachian mountains that’s been magically cut off from the rest of the world for years, leaving its people close to starvation. The root of their suffering is a man they know as Earl, who lives in the hills and strikes deals with the townspeople that ultimately cause crops to wither, folks to disappear, and the only bridge out of the valley to crumble. Verity is determined to change the villagers’ fortunes, but to do so she’ll have to face off against not just Earl but the ancient power of the mountains itself. Loosely based on the Germanic Erlking legend and told in a voice reminiscent of folktales, the story features a queer romance and a cast that presents white. The convoluted magic system undercuts the strong themes of reciprocity, poverty, and privilege, but Appalachian readers will instantly recognize home.
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798890032706
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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
BOOK REVIEW
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