Wren’s engaging voice combines with a strong sense of place and nicely developed secondary characters to yield a satisfying...
A California teen finds her way at a ritzy East Coast boarding school.
Wren, a budding guitarist and singer, and her journalist mother, Hannah, have always managed life as a cozy unit of two in Ventura, California. When Hannah announces that she’s sending Wren to her Connecticut alma mater, Hardwick Hall, for the duration of her long-term reporting assignment in Greenland, Wren is surprised but takes it in stride. She’s never felt deeply Californian, and maybe being on her mother’s old turf can help her uncover a secret Hannah’s always held close: the identity of Wren’s biological father. At Hardwick, Wren struggles with the usual fish-out-of-water issues: making friends a month into the second year of high school is hard; the school’s rules and subtle New England class distinctions are confusing; and worst of all, her suitemate Honor is extremely and inexplicably frosty. On the plus side, Wren discovers the joy of horseback riding and finds a true friend in Chazzy, a talented and daring singer who encourages her to audition for a musical-performance class taught by an indie-rock heroine. Clues to Wren’s father’s identity are clearly signposted, but her flash of understanding, against the backdrop of a life-threatening crisis for Hannah, feels earned, and her reunion with him is both warm and believably complex.
Wren’s engaging voice combines with a strong sense of place and nicely developed secondary characters to yield a satisfying read. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61695-660-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills.
A group of teens stranded in a snowstorm discovers a murderer in their midst.
While traveling on the highway to a state theater competition, Nell and her friends Min, Raven, Adam, and Jermaine are caught in a dangerous blizzard. Their teacher, Mrs. McElroy, who is driving the minivan, decides to stop for the night at the run-down and shady-looking Travel Inn and Out. The motel is labyrinthine and spooky, with dingy corridors and walls adorned with moldering kitsch. Nell and the gang meet another group of kids who are also stranded by the storm, making fast friends. A game of Two Truths and a Lie starts out flirty and fun but devolves into something more sinister when one slip of paper reads “I like to watch people die,” and “I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve killed.” The snow falls and the winds howl, and soon power and cell service are lost, cutting off the motel patrons from the outside world. As the first victim is discovered and the body count begins to grow, the terror becomes palpable. Everyone at the motel seems to have an insidious secret: Will Nell be able to uncover the killer before they strike again? An homage to Agatha Christie, Henry’s locked-room mystery is tautly plotted, with quick-moving nail-biting chapters, relatable characters, and a deftly wrought setting that paradoxically manages to feel both claustrophobic and sprawling. Nell is White; there is diversity among the secondary characters.
An atmospheric and entertaining thriller perfect for snowy night chills. (Mystery. 12-16)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-32333-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
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