Bottom line? Beware of girls who read books….
Balancing between possibly paranormal and just plain disturbing, Tucholke walks a fine, spine-chilling line.
Dark-haired, awkward (but soon to be gorgeous) Midnight is in love with Poppy, the beautiful, blonde, high school queen with a cruel streak a mile wide. Poppy is in love with Leaf Bell, an older boy who can see “right through the pretty” to the “ugly on the inside.” A self-described bully, Poppy is “built for winning and getting what I wanted and not for trying to be better.” Determined that, if her life is to be one of “desperation, then it would be loud, not quiet,” she is frustrated by Leaf’s indifference. Dreamy Wink is Leaf’s younger sister and a neighborhood oddball—the girl with the tarot card– and tea leaf–reading mother, a freckled dreamer who maybe reads a little too much. But Wink knows every story needs a Hero and a Villain and revolves around three essentials: revenge, justice, and love. Populating her gothic narrative with a mostly white cast, Tucholke writes in three alternating voices, presenting an eerie, tangled story with plenty of questions: Who can be trusted? Who—or what—pulls the strings? High on teen drama and with plenty of trauma—mostly emotional, with a little physical thrown in—the book keeps readers wondering. Nicely constructed and planned, with unexpected twists to intrigue and entertain.
Bottom line? Beware of girls who read books…. (Suspense. 12 & up)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4048-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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
A gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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