An entertaining horror outing that’s socially aware and nerve-racking at all the right moments.
Young patients in a Bronx psychiatric ward battle vicious creatures in Kirby’s YA debut and series launch.
Tom Walton, though still a teen, revels in debauchery, courtesy of the privilege of being a wealthy New York senator’s son. But he’s hurting on the inside, so much so that he climbs a bridge and jumps off the top. Tom wakes up in a hospital in the Bronx; because of his suicide attempt, he is assigned to the psychiatric ward. He’d like nothing more than to go home, but he’s stuck there on a 72-hour hold. The situation gets worse when huge, clawed creatures raid the hospital and tear apart the humans inside during a power outage in the dark of night. Tom, his fellow patients in group therapy, and their therapist can only hide for so long before they must fight for survival. Not everyone trusts Tom, a newcomer and the lone white patient among the group (“None of this started going down until your white ass showed up”). Kirby aptly builds a foreboding atmosphere, starting with early signs of a bizarre, “electric red” glow. The powerless hospital provides a memorable setting; characters cautiously trek through unlit hallways as the monsters’ distinctive, creepy shrieks continuously resonate. Racism is a central theme, often playing out in therapy sessions that the group partakes in—even, oddly enough, with murderous creatures right outside the locked doors. While other characters in Tom’s group showcase diverse backstories and personalities, Tom himself is, unfortunately, an unlikable and clueless protagonist who seems more worried about acceptance than survival. Regardless, the author’s action-laden scenes pop, and intriguing theories about the monsters’ origin complement the remarkable open ending.
An entertaining horror outing that’s socially aware and nerve-racking at all the right moments.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9798989021109
Page Count: 196
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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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