In the icy-cold weeks after Christmas, Alissa’s normal adolescent problems are overlaid with supernatural mysteries. On her annual Christmas pilgrimage to her father’s grave, Alissa falls through the snow to the tomb of a dead boy with a plant growing from his chest. When Alissa, magically compelled, plucks and eats the plant, she finds herself afflicted with visions. She sees people walking down the street whom nobody else can see, people who turn into ravens and fly across the sky. Alissa’s rotten ex-boyfriend is also affected by Alissa’s new powers, and becomes a preternatural stalker, obsessed with Alissa and blessed—or cursed—with the ability to find her. Only her best friend Evelin can help Alissa hold herself together in an increasingly surreal world. Alissa’s story is told in alternating chapters by different characters, and the down-to-earth perspectives of Evelin and Alissa’s stepfather keep this lyrical tale grounded until the satisfying and surprising conclusion. (Fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-72452-X
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL
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BOOK REVIEW
Rachel, a 16-year-old trauma survivor, is initiated into her private school’s secret society for horror fans.
A year after surviving a violent attack, high school junior Rachel Chavez becomes the new girl at Manchester Prep on Manhattan’s affluent Upper East Side. The middle-class daughter of a faculty member, Rachel feels invisible except for her one new friend, harmless school gossip Saundra Clairmont. After a school party ends in a ghost story, a séance, and screaming, Rachel—who immersed herself in horror movies as a coping device—notices a prankster amid the chaos. Soon, she is initiated into the Mary Shelley Club, a tightknit group that requires secrecy and rule-following from its members. She joins Freddie Martinez, a film geek on scholarship; hot-tempered, Stephen King–adoring Felicity Chu; charming Thayer Turner, whose political family is compared to the Obamas; and brooding golden boy Bram Wilding. Mostly the teens just watch all sorts of horror films—classics, slasher, zombie, psychological—but membership also involves more sinister activities. Moldavsky’s tightly plotted tale weaves in dark humor, an impressive amount of horror trivia, and insightful references to Frankenstein. Readers will quickly become invested in Rachel’s story even when she’s making difficult-to-witness mistakes. The characters are notably diverse; issues of ethnicity and social class are naturally woven into the story.
An atmospheric page-turner about loving scary movies, longing to belong, and uncovering the many masks people wear. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23010-2
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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Sun-loving Bella meets her demon lover in a vampire tale strongly reminiscent of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. When Bella moves to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her father, she just wants to fit in without drawing any attention. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the eye of aloof, gorgeous and wealthy classmate Edward. His behavior toward Bella wavers wildly between apparent distaste and seductive flirtation. Bella learns Edward’s appalling (and appealing) secret: He and his family are vampires. Though Edward nobly warns Bella away, she ignores the human boys who court her and chooses her vampiric suitor. An all-vampire baseball game in a late-night thunderstorm—an amusing gothic take on American family togetherness that balances some of the tale’s romantic excesses—draws Bella and her loved ones into terrible danger. This is far from perfect: Edward’s portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella’s appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist. (Fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-316-16017-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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