Katie Barton, a scholarship student at the exclusive Whitney Prep boarding school, harbors dark secrets that shattered her...
At an exclusive, picture-perfect prep school, a grisly discovery leads to more sinister—and deadly—revelations.
Katie Barton, a scholarship student at the exclusive Whitney Prep boarding school, harbors dark secrets that shattered her home life. Her roommate, Tessa, also on a scholarship, is her best friend and closest confidante, with some disquieting secrets of her own. Much to Tessa’s chagrin, Katie has been dating privileged Mark Summers, a star athlete and son of the headmaster. However, one fateful day at her dorm, Katie receives a mysterious, tattered box. Inside, is a severed human hand with a rose tattoo. Soon after, Mark is indicted for the murder of the girl with the missing hand. Could he have done it? Or could Katie’s jealous roommate have been involved? The plot is driven by a cast of stereotypical prep school attendees, and the psychological observations of these characters feel boilerplate and wooden. Some of the more serious issues in this book—like date rape—are breezily glossed over to make room for the central mystery. The adults (including a school psychologist) behave questionably and unrealistically, presumably also to accommodate the plot. Most disappointingly, most readers will have started putting the pieces of this mystery together very early on, making for a lackluster reveal at the credibility-defying conclusion. While the pages may fly, the shortcomings are abundant in this overly ambitious offering. (Mystery. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-73797-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
What could be interesting worldbuilding drowns in infelicitous prose and inexplicable machinations
Urban fantasy whose original ideas aren't sustained by the overall package.
In this sequel to Lightbringer (2011), Wendy just tries to survive in the complicated dual world she inhabits. She's inherited the duties of a Reaper from her mother, who recently died and then became an evil adversary—in that order. Wendy exists simultaneously in the worlds of the living and the dead, taking care of her siblings in the real world but using her Light to destroy maggoty Walkers in the parallel Never, the world of the dead. When a new and dangerous opponent arises among the dead, Wendy's erstwhile (and deceased) boyfriend, Piotr, navigates the overly complex metaphysics and politics of the Never in an attempt to help her. Meanwhile, Wendy discovers a never-known family of aunts, grandmothers and female cousins, Reapers all, and most definitely not on her side. Realism is not enhanced by Piotr's friends: Lily, who, like the Tiger Lily of Peter Pan for whom she is named, plays generic exotic Indian rather than an individual from an actual tribe, and ghostly flapper Elle, whose Damon Runyon–esque dialogue ("it's the cat's meow to doll up and ritz it up for a night again") feels as forced as Piotr's frequent das and nyets.
What could be interesting worldbuilding drowns in infelicitous prose and inexplicable machinations . (Fantasy. 13-15)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61614-632-0
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Pyr/Prometheus Books
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Frannie turned her demon boyfriend Luc into a human with her magical Sway in Personal Demons (2010). Now he's living in his...
A demon-turned-human, a lecherous succubus, an angelic—if bratty—brother, an "insanely beautiful" archangel; with all these mystical creatures in her life, no wonder Frannie's overwhelmed.
Frannie turned her demon boyfriend Luc into a human with her magical Sway in Personal Demons (2010). Now he's living in his own apartment while barely resisting Frannie's seduction attempts. Frannie divides her time between Luc, her summer job and her increasingly distant friends. Frannie and Luc's dating is complicated by the constant presence of Matt, Frannie's guardian angel, who was once her twin brother but died during childhood. Through alternating, brief first-person accounts, all three narrate the continuing saga of Frannie vs. Hell. Lucifer wants to punish Luc for his defection and gain control of whatever power turned him human; luckily, Hell doesn't know about Frannie's Sway. Meanwhile, Matt is distracted from his duties by uncontrollable feelings for Lili, a strange new girl in town. The protagonists pop in and out of Hell like there's no tomorrow; secondary characters are merely damned for all time. The battle against Hell is punctuated by frequent steamy encounters: There's "crippling desire," lust that’s "totally raw and all-consuming" and characters who "sink into the sheets, into each other." For all that sex, it's a shame that the sexuality of all the girls other than Frannie is subject to disturbingly intense slut-shaming.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2809-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
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