An interesting premise marred by plausibility issues.
A wilderness challenge with a big prize brings out bad behavior.
Wilde Academy’s so elite that a dozen students compete for the title of Champion rather than mere valedictorian. Partial scholarship student Chloe Gatti needs the $600,000 prize to help her family; her younger sister has cancer and mounting medical bills. Chloe is selected along with Hayes Stratford, her ex-boyfriend, some friends she lost in the breakup, and a few cartoonishly snobbish classmates. Someone is blackmailing and undermining Chloe from the start. The trials aren’t terribly thrilling—think riddles and trivia—until the blackmailer moves on to dangerous levels of sabotage. Chloe also ends up back in the orbit of handsome, privileged Hayes, seeking the truth of the trials three years prior, when his beloved older brother died in what Hayes believes wasn’t an accident. The duo, who are cued white, end up in a tentative alliance that’s ripe with unresolved romantic feelings. Chloe is economically disadvantaged and described as being taller, curvier, and heavier than the other girls (although her size goes unremarked upon by the characters). The vagueness of the portrayal of her identity undermines the effectiveness of the representation. Other forms of diversity in the cast also lack complexity, and the characters’ motivations are generally weak. The plot relies on heavy suspension of disbelief, head-scratching logical leaps, and lapses of common sense that are sure to frustrate readers. The predictable ending leans into theatrical indulgence.
An interesting premise marred by plausibility issues. (Thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063287648
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
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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