A compassionate exploration of friendship and betrayal wrapped up in a true page-turning mystery.
In Fox’s YA mystery, a teenager must piece together the truth behind her apparent suicide—and the events leading up to it—from beyond the grave.
Sixteen-year-old Nicole Benson wakes up confused and disoriented on a bright platform floating in an abyss, surrounded by a group of kids her age and younger, many of whom have horrific injuries that disappear soon after she sees them. They’re taken to “Substation Fifteen,” where they are welcomed and assigned mentors to support and guide them as they prepare for “The Evaluation,” which they must pass in order to move on to their next destination. Nicole’s mentor, Grace, explains that Nicole is dead and that Substation Fifteen is for those who have died by suicide. (“Lemon-yellow lights illuminate a larger area. ‘This is the simulation center devoted to viewing memory projections.’ We’d better get YouTube and Netflix or I’m definitely leaving.”) Though Nicole comes to remember falling to her death, she can’t recall the events leading up to it…but she’s absolutely certain that she didn’t do it on purpose. Sure, her life wasn’t perfect: Her mother died when she was a baby, she’s insecure about her looks, and the object of her infatuation, Alex Traynor, is dating her frenemy, Cassie Church. Still, Nicole knows that she didn’t kill herself. As the 30-day countdown to The Evaluation ticks by, Nicole begins to master skills, like entering the dreams of her loved ones, telekinesis, astral traveling, and even materializing before the living. In doing so, she starts to reclaim her memories from her final day. Fox’s captivating mystery explores adolescent friendships, betrayals, and suicide with cleverness and an abundance of compassion. The characters are well developed, distinctive, and compelling. (Nicole, a gifted singer-songwriter, guitar player, and actor, is sympathetic and relatable; she’s also judgmental and a bit conniving.) Readers will enjoy the author’s imaginative worldbuilding and exploration of the supernatural and will be especially enthralled by the dizzying twists and turns as the circumstances surrounding Nicole’s death are revealed.
A compassionate exploration of friendship and betrayal wrapped up in a true page-turning mystery.Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781943649082
Page Count: 322
Publisher: Electric Eggplant
Review Posted Online: today
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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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