Next book

OUTER BANKS

DEAD BREAK

From the Outer Banks series , Vol. 2

A summery, surf-filled mystery sure to entertain fans of the show.

Surfing and sleuthing keep the Outer Banks teens on their toes.

A big surfing competition is happening on the Outer Banks, thrilling Kie but putting her at odds with her parents, who’d prefer she spend time with the wealthy Kooks. Kie befriends the professional surfers who are in town for the big event, including one particularly cute competitor. Pope is working at his new internship at the morgue, while JJ and John B are enjoying time on the water. But when the dead body of one of the out-of-town visitors washes up, it’s up to Kie and the Pogues to solve the mystery and save the day—before everyone leaves town. This murder mystery seamlessly blends familiar characters with newcomers, using the influx of summer visitors as a believable backdrop. Pope’s and Kie’s alternating perspectives provide the narrative with depth, as their different career aspirations—coroner and surfer, respectively—add context and dimension to their characterizations. As in the show, Pope is Black, and Kie is biracial, Black and white. Readers who are new to this world may find it difficult to keep up with the large cast, but it’s a treat for loyal followers, who will enjoy riding the wave to its satisfying conclusion.

A summery, surf-filled mystery sure to entertain fans of the show. (Mystery. 13-18)

Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023

ISBN: 9781419761614

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023

Next book

THE CHANGING MAN

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

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 20


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

Next book

SIX OF CROWS

Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell...

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 20


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.

The dangerous city of Ketterdam is governed by the Merchant Council, but in reality, large sectors of the city are given over to gangs who run the gambling dens and brothels. The underworld's rising star is 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, known as Dirtyhands for his brutal amorality. Kaz walks with chronic pain from an old injury, but that doesn't stop him from utterly destroying any rivals. When a councilman offers him an unimaginable reward to rescue a kidnapped foreign chemist—30 million kruge!—Kaz knows just the team he needs to assemble. There's Inej, an itinerant acrobat captured by slavers and sold to a brothel, now a spy for Kaz; the Grisha Nina, with the magical ability to calm and heal; Matthias the zealot, hunter of Grishas and caught in a hopeless spiral of love and vengeance with Nina; Wylan, the privileged boy with an engineer's skills; and Jesper, a sharpshooter who keeps flirting with Wylan. Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy, sending her protagonists around countries that resemble post-Renaissance northern Europe, where technology develops in concert with the magic that's both coveted and despised. It’s a highly successful venture, leaving enough open questions to cause readers to eagerly await Volume 2.

Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family . (Fantasy. 14 & up)

Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-62779-212-7

Page Count: 480

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015

Close Quickview