A gripping investigation of injustice and small-town sins that unveils humanity’s monstrous potential.
Cousins become immersed in their rural town’s tragic folklore, uncovering surprising familial connections.
Before the start of her junior year, Bronwyn Sawyer’s dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer are put on pause when Lala, her beloved paternal grandmother, has a stroke and lands in hospice and Bronwyn’s father temporarily uproots the family from Illinois to his overwhelmingly White Arkansas hometown and into Lala’s house. Although the move is only for a year and Anais, Bronwyn’s cousin, is also a junior at Hillwoods High School, Bronwyn is disoriented: Although they were once close, the girls haven’t seen each other in years; Lala’s not getting better; and Bronwyn feels like an outsider. Bronwyn’s anxiety increases after learning that the students of Hillwoods, including Anais, follow secretive rituals and uphold superstitions that border on paranoid—all leading back to a curse and the chilling legend of a murdered woman who exacts her revenge through drownings, including in a local lake and pools. Bronwyn’s curiosity threatens the town’s status quo, and as Anais tries to protect her cousin from both real and paranormal dangers, Bronwyn realizes the ghost story, which involves her family, points to horrifying truths about Hillwoods’ bigoted past. Tirado builds palpable suspense, and Bronwyn’s and Anais’ alternating first-person perspectives highlight their inner resolve. Both teenagers identify as Black; Anais’ mom is White, and Lala is from the Dominican Republic.
A gripping investigation of injustice and small-town sins that unveils humanity’s monstrous potential. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72825-080-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging
Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, would rather perform autopsies in her uncle’s dark laboratory than find a suitable husband, as is the socially acceptable rite of passage for a young, white British lady in the late 1800s.
The story immediately brings Audrey into a fractious pairing with her uncle’s young assistant, Thomas Cresswell. The two engage in predictable rounds of “I’m smarter than you are” banter, while Audrey’s older brother, Nathaniel, taunts her for being a girl out of her place. Horrific murders of prostitutes whose identities point to associations with the Wadsworth estate prompt Audrey to start her own investigation, with Thomas as her sidekick. Audrey’s narration is both ponderous and polemical, as she sees her pursuit of her goals and this investigation as part of a crusade for women. She declares that the slain aren’t merely prostitutes but “daughters and wives and mothers,” but she’s also made it a point to deny any alignment with the profiled victims: “I am not going as a prostitute. I am simply blending in.” Audrey also expresses a narrow view of her desired gender role, asserting that “I was determined to be both pretty and fierce,” as if to say that physical beauty and liking “girly” things are integral to feminism. The graphic descriptions of mutilated women don’t do much to speed the pace.
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging . (Historical thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-27349-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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