The occasional flash of humor or graceful turn of phrase is not enough to save this sophomore outing but holds out hope for...
Sara Jane, high school student and reluctant Mafiosa, continues to explore her psychic powers and search for her kidnapped family in this sequel to Cold Fury (2012).
She and her best friend, fat schlub Doug Stuffins, have holed up in the Bird Cage Club, her family’s hideout, where she studies her family’s secret notebook for clues to their hinted-at “ultimate power.” When in public, she watches for the mysterious black ice cream trucks, which are driven by grotesque, asexual creatures; they were behind her family’s disappearance and are, terrifyingly, now pursuing her. She juggles her romance with dreamy Max from school with her responsibilities as Outfit counselor at large, which find her using her hereditary “cold fury” gaze to keep the peace. As in the first book, genuinely intriguing details about the Outfit clash with the book’s paranormal elements. Sara Jane’s conveniently discovered psychic ability to generate electricity feels superfluous; the “ice cream creatures” are creepy but so over-the-top they clash with the real-life menace of such figures as Lucky, the Outfit boss (who, brilliantly, achieves catharsis by watching sad Disney movies). Narrator Sara Jane does a lot of telling, not showing, as she makes choices readers will find both inconsistent with her character development and repugnant.
The occasional flash of humor or graceful turn of phrase is not enough to save this sophomore outing but holds out hope for future, better integrated tales. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25721-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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
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