Think of Hitchcock’s The Birds, only more intense and with many more animals.
Three teens are trapped when a hurricane hits their New England island with more than just wind and water.
Animal lover Sidney works for the local vet and adores Snowy, her deaf, white German shepherd. When the storm hits, she is with Cody, whom she’s recently broken up with, and Rich, who secretly has a crush on her. The teens shelter in Rich’s vacation home but find themselves under attack from thousands of insects swarming up from the basement. The scene shifts to different venues, where different characters are attacked by similar swarms of animals, including formerly loving pets. Psychodramas—such as Sidney’s romantic travails and various neighbors’ own idiosyncratic problems—play out against the chaos. Sniegoski rarely lets up on the galloping suspense, putting his characters (almost all presumably white) in a few too many impossible-to-escape situations but keeping pulses pounding. Each time a character frantically tries to unlock a door while pursued by savage animals, be sure that character will drop his or her keys. Gruesome scenes abound, with characters eaten alive by swarms of insects, rats, squirrels, and domestic pets, including one in which birds kill a character, up close. The cause of the chaos is nicely sci-fi, thankfully without involving a mad scientist, and clearly, it’s going to get worse in the sequel.
Think of Hitchcock’s The Birds, only more intense and with many more animals. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4373-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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