BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH

Desperate to avenge her murdered cousin, a girl assumes a false identity and infiltrates his boarding school to uncover the truth.

Three days ago, Marin James’ cousin, Sam Bullvane, died. Sam was her best friend, her port in the storm as she grew up in their tiny mountain town with a uninterested father and an absent mother. Though his death was assumed to be an accidental drowning due to an overdose, Marin knows Sam was murdered. Now she’s determined to find the culprits and make them pay. Assuming the fake identity of Jamie Vane and enrolling in Huntsworth Preparatory Academy are easier than expected. But ingratiating herself with Sam’s former friends—and murder suspects—proves riskier. Quiet girl Baz Hallward feels like the easiest mark. Henry Wu is all games, tinged with danger. And Adrian Hargraves, with his perfect face, initially wants nothing to do with Marin—and she immediately loathes him. As her investigation deepens, she enters a heated entanglement with Henry and Adrian, while uncovering their secrets. Mirrors show her supernatural horrors, and she’ll have to confront them, too, if she wants to learn the truth. Marin’s early sleuthing sings with tension, but aimless philosophical musings and twists that attentive readers will see coming make it unravel quickly. Overwrought language obscures the escalating danger. Most characters present white; Henry’s surname implies Asian heritage.

An intensely dark debut that’s focused on style over substance.