by Tom Dolby ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2009
Already attending one of New York City’s prestigious prep schools, Nick, Phoebe and Lauren are all invited to join The Society, an exclusive secret club that places its members on the fast track to power, success and wealth. As they become more involved, each must confront divided loyalties: Nick’s best friend is preparing an exposé, Lauren’s new boyfriend is on a self-destructive path and Phoebe’s artistic success is not fully her own. Pulling from the vast field of teen literature and pop culture, Dolby’s attempted amalgamation of Gossip Girl, The Clique and Eyes Wide Shut never comes together. Half-formed relationships lead to forced character interactions, leaving readers overwhelmed by the author’s guiding hand. Phoebe’s early naïveté is a grating plot device; how many teenagers actually believe the world is fair? Nick and Lauren are stereotypes of prep-school characters, and the author makes little effort to distinguish them from the other faceless students at their school. A broad ending leaves room for sequels, though this bland attempt at suspense needs no followup. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-172162-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
Share your opinion of this book
More by Rudyard Kipling
BOOK REVIEW
by Rudyard Kipling ; adapted by Tom Dolby & Drew Frist ; illustrated by Nigel Buchanan ; developed by Electric Type
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Dolby
by Scott Reintgen ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2023
Truly fantastic.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2023
New York Times Bestseller
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
More by Scott Reintgen
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Tomi Oyemakinde ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023
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
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.