An atmospheric setting and strong spiritualist elements cannot compensate for underdeveloped characters.
In Massachusetts in 1848, three sisters battle a force threatening their town.
Sixteen-year-old Daisy Wolfson and her sisters, fraternal twin Morrigan and 18-year-old Avery, made a mistake: They allowed something sinister to escape during their new moon ritual. Iniitally unaware of the problem’s origin, people in their small town of Redcliffe seek the sisters’ aid with curative spiritualist practices, tarot readings, crystals, herbalism, and elemental channeling. But, slowly and steadily, a Bleakness accentuates the townspeople’s worst instincts, and this animosity is aimed directly at the Wolfsons. The sisters, who can see into the past (Morrigan), the future (Daisy), and into people’s souls in the present (Avery) must work together to heal the afflicted while they still can and find the culprit causing this madness before they’re all overtaken. At the same time, Daisy follows her own spiritual journey, one mirroring the tarot’s major arcana that involves more than one handsome young man. Although the setting and action are well described, the minimally developed characters fail to do more than follow their assigned roles, resulting in an interesting premise that unfolds with little emotion. The thoroughly described spiritualist practices will appeal to readers interested in the occult. The sisters are cued white; their mother was a “French Catholic Acadian orphan,” something the town’s elite find disgraceful. Laude’s charming spot art adorns the text.
An atmospheric setting and strong spiritualist elements cannot compensate for underdeveloped characters. (Supernatural. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781368099431
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Melissa de la Cruz Studio
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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