Intriguingly different but in need of refinement.
Lily knows how to care for the dead, but what about the living?
In her greater Bay Area town, scarred and scared 18-year-old Lily—long teased for being the daughter of a mortician, nearly killed and still limping after a serious fall from a tree years earlier—finds it easier to relate to the dead people she prepares for burial than to her (centrally cast) best friend or recent high school–graduate stepbrother. Lily, who avoids social situations, dropped out of school after 11th grade and now has her GED diploma. Her genuine compassion for the dead (she spends her hard-earned money buying a deceased homeless woman a nice thrift store outfit for a viewing no one attends) and her anxiety around the living create an unusual and compelling portrait. When a nearby home explodes and the lone survivor is a mysterious boy who may be the same person who saved her when she nearly died, Lily falls again—this time emotionally. The end result is a mashup of one too many elements: A thoughtful bildungsroman vies for attention with a Stranger Things–like blend of evil-government–action story mixed with science fiction, fantasy, and mystery, to the detriment of both despite their individual unique charms and the ways the two plots support each other. In a town infamous for a lynching, main characters are White by default.
Intriguingly different but in need of refinement. (Paranormal romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3948-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sterling Teen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying.
In a world where everyone has a magical ability based on the moon’s phase on their day of birth, magical education is reserved for those with exceptional talent.
Students at Aldryn College for Lunar Magics pursue the advanced study of magic. Emory Ainsleif is a Healer, an ability associated with House New Moon. Last spring, she followed her best friend, Romie Brysden, and seven others into the Dovermere Caves. In the deepest cave, known as the Belly of the Beast, Emory unwittingly took part in a ritual that left a peculiar mark on her wrist and left the other students dead. Back at Aldryn for the new school year, Emory begins to develop magical abilities that go beyond healing—and that she’s unable to control. She turns to Baz, Romie’s brother, for help—Baz was born during an eclipse, giving him unpredictable magic. Reluctant to train Emory but eager to find out what happened to his sister, Baz finally agrees, and together they begin to unravel what happened last spring. This dark fantasy, told in Emory’s and Baz’s alternating third-person perspectives, has a spooky atmosphere and rich worldbuilding. It slowly unfolds to reveal what really happened to Romie, but predictable plot twists and a gratuitous deus ex machina may frustrate readers. The central characters are described as having pale skin.
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying. (content warnings, Sacred Lunar Houses & their tidal alignments) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781665939270
Page Count: 544
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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