An engaging thriller with complex relationships, convincing stakes, and fairy-tale allusions.
In this fairy-tale–inspired YA series starter, four teenagers work to decipher strange poems from their missing friend.
It’s been six weeks since Raven Snow’s best friend, Penny Zale, escaped from a psychiatric hospital in Everbeach, Florida, with her “long, blonde signature braid—chopped off and left behind.” At a vigil for the missing girl, Raven and her pals Aarya Samudra and Dawn Thorne meet Elle Glass, another friend of Penny’s, who reveals four cryptic and unfamiliar poems—one for each girl—that she apparently received in the mail from Penny. Aarya suggests bringing the letters to the police, who don’t immediately launch an investigation, so the four teens pursue one themselves—even after Raven’s wicked stepmother, Vera Snow, threatens to remove her stepdaughter from the basketball team if she takes part. Raven’s wrestling with more than Vera or Aarya know; she’s also conflicted about her feelings for Penny’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Logan Steele, whose billionaire family owns sugar empire Steele Enterprises. As Raven’s feelings for Logan grow, so does evidence that he was involved in Penny’s disappearance. This novel is well paced with few extraneous details, aside from the fact that Dawn doesn’t uniquely contribute to the narrative. Still, the relationship between the four girls is heartwarming, even as Raven and Aarya’s friendship is tested by the secrets each character keeps. An engaging subplot explores the connection between frenemies Aarya and Punkaj Grimsley, whose internship with local newspaper The Mirror comes in handy. Bengali American author Banerjee and Lebanese Jamaican author Richardson add rich cultural texture to their characters’ stories; Raven’s growing relationship with Elle’s Jamaican godmother, Titania, reminds the teen of her deceased Jamaican mother and the culture from which she feels disconnected, and Aarya’s relationship to the grand Hindu statues in her parents’ hotel lobby is especially striking as the novel reaches its climax. As friendships are threatened, readers are presented with a simple ethical question, posed by Aarya: “when is it on you, as the friend, to figure out something is wrong?”
An engaging thriller with complex relationships, convincing stakes, and fairy-tale allusions.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Wise Wolf Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements.
A wary teen wonders if she should run when people come looking for her.
Lucy Smith was raised by her white father, who said little about her mother. Following his death and her stepmother’s abandonment, Lucy entered the foster care system at 14. Her stepmother revealed that Lucy’s birth mom was Native American, but her social worker urged her to keep that quiet. Battered by her time in the foster care system, it’s no wonder that 18-year-old Lucy is cautious when she’s approached by a man who says he’s an attorney who helps Native American foster kids connect with their families and communities. He introduces her to a friend who reveals to Lucy that she knows her Ojibwe maternal relatives—but a wary Lucy refuses her offer to learn more. Someone is stalking her, after all, and the FBI is investigating the bomb that went off in the diner where she worked—an event she’s sure targeted her. This stand-alone from bestseller Boulley, who’s an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, includes characters her fans will recognize from previous works. The action scenes are mediated by ruminations on the failings of the foster care system and strong portrayals of Lucy’s relationship with her father and her complicated identity. Ardent book lover Lucy is a sympathetic narrator whose strong sense of justice is coupled with a deep acceptance of others.
A powerful story of family, belonging, and identity interlaced with thriller elements. (content warning, author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250328533
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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