Superior entry in the genre of Christian horror and teenage angst.
A 16-year-old confronts evil in a North Carolina town.
Chris Buckley and his mother, Tara, leave Chicago and his born-again dad, who found God but abandoned the family. They return to Tara’s hometown of Solitary, N.C., and move into an isolated cabin in the woods, the former residence of Tara’s brother, Robert, who’s now missing. After defending fellow student Newt at Harrington County High, Chris tops the hit list of violent bully Gus Staunch, whose father owns half the town. Chris is repeatedly warned to stay off the radar and lie low—not an easy task, since things are seriously off-kilter in Solitary. An eerie man and his dog guard the town, which, oddly enough, is deserted at midday on Saturdays. Crazy Aunt Alice, with her live-in crow and mannequin “friend,” is less than hospitable to Tara and Chris. Then there’s creepy Pastor Marsh, whose sermons are on the dark side. Chris is also forced to look after his tippling mother, who’d rather go unconscious than face life. Chris enjoys his friendship with a trio of girls—kind Rachel, goth Poe and lovely Jocelyn, who catches Chris’ eye. As Chris falls for Jocelyn, he’s torn between staying out of harm’s way and finding the truth about Uncle Robert and other residents who’ve disappeared. In the first of four books in the Solitary Tales series, Thrasher deftly captures the essence of high school: “Nameless, faceless ghouls strolling by listening to iPods with blank stares.” Chris’ mounting terror of the unknown effectively intertwines with his panic at being the new kid at school. In addition to typical teen traumas of bad cafeteria food, locker mishaps and relationship anxieties, he’s caught in a spiritual struggle of dynamic proportions. Although he doesn’t believe in God, the malice surrounding him may eventually require help from on high. Chris and Jocelyn’s on-again, off-again relationship is intensified by the menace they both face. An occasional comic scene breaks the tension, as when Chris and Tara reflect on just how “dysfunctional” Aunt Alice is. Due to financial constraints, Chris doesn’t have a cellphone or car; he commutes primarily by bike. For much of the book, he has no Internet access, either, and hence no Facebook, which enhances the claustrophobia. Though pegged as suitable for teens and tweens, this one’s no more “young adult” than The Hunger Games, the Harry Potter books or the Twilight series. But instead of hype and hoopla, Thrasher generates authentic suspense and the feeling that something wicked this way comes.
Superior entry in the genre of Christian horror and teenage angst.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2010
ISBN: 1434764214
Page Count: 400
Publisher: David C. Cook
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dizzying, intimate romance.
Rowan teams up with her academic nemesis to win a citywide scavenger hunt.
Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been rivals in a never-ending game of one-upmanship since freshman year. Now, on the last day of senior year, Rowan hopes to best Neil once and for all as valedictorian, then win Howl, a scavenger hunt with a $5,000 cash prize. She also hopes to sneak away to her favorite romance author’s book signing; no one’s ever respected her passion for the genre, not even her children’s book author/illustrator parents. But Rowan’s named salutatorian, and vengeful classmates plot to end her and Neil’s reign. At first their partnership is purely strategic, but as the pair traverse the city, they begin to open up. Rowan learns that Neil is Jewish too and can relate to both significant cultural touchstones and experiences of casual anti-Semitism. As much as Rowan tries to deny it, real feelings begin to bloom. Set against a lovingly evoked Seattle backdrop, Rowan and Neil’s relationship develops in an absorbing slow burn, with clever banter and the delicious tension of first love. Issues of class, anti-Semitism, and sex are discussed frankly. Readers will emerge just as obsessed with this love story as Rowan is with her beloved romance novels. Rowan’s mother is Russian Jewish and Mexican, and her father is American Jewish and presumably White; most other characters are White.
A dizzying, intimate romance. (author’s note) (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4024-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development.
A portal fantasy survivor story from an established devotional writer.
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s maternal grandmother lives on a grand estate in England; Eva and her academic parents live in New Haven, Connecticut. When she and Mum finally visit Carrick Hall, Eva is alternately resentful at what she’s missed and overjoyed to connect with sometimes aloof Grandmother. Alongside questions of Eva’s family history, the summer is permeated by a greater mystery surrounding the work of fictional children’s fantasy writer A.H.W. Clifton, who wrote a Narnialike series that Eva adores. As it happens, Grandmother was one of several children who entered and ruled Ternival, the world of Clifton’s books; the others perished in 1952, and Grandmother hasn’t recovered. The Narnia influences are strong—Eva’s grandmother is the Susan figure who’s repudiated both magic and God—and the ensuing trauma has created rifts that echo through her relationships with her daughter and granddaughter. An early narrative implication that Eva will visit Ternival to set things right barely materializes in this series opener; meanwhile, the religious parable overwhelms the magic elements as the story winds on. The serviceable plot is weakened by shallow characterization. Little backstory appears other than that which immediately concerns the plot, and Eva tends to respond emotionally as the story requires—resentful when her seething silence is required, immediately trusting toward characters readers need to trust. Major characters are cued white.
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development. (author’s note, map, author Q&A) (Religious fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593194454
Page Count: 384
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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