An homage to horror stories that doesn’t quite land.
A “final girl” finds herself in a real-life thriller in which survival isn’t an option.
Seventeen-year-old Charity works at Camp Mirror Lake, a horror-simulation camp in the woods of upstate New York. She’s moved up to being manager as well as Final Girl, the most desirable role in their nightly performance, thanks to her lifelong horror fandom, her mastery of fake blood, and her ability to navigate co-workers with all-too-real murderous impulses. But her real commitment to the faux frights comes from not having much of a home to go back to when the dust clears each season. The camp, owned by a Mr. Lamont, is located on the site where a 1980s cult classic was filmed. When her co-workers mysteriously don’t show for their roles as victims, Charity reaches out to her friend Paige and her girlfriend, Bezi, inviting them to fill in. As an aficionado of the genre and one of the few Black staff members, Charity is well aware of the usual tropes; as Bezi reminds her, “You know what happens to Black folks in slasher movies,” (Charity reassures her, “I’m the final girl….Guaranteed to survive the night”). Unfortunately, the slowly paced story meanders toward a reveal that readers may themselves have already anticipated. Ultimately, the tropes of the final girl and Black people’s roles in horror are reconciled in an inexplicable hurry.
An homage to horror stories that doesn’t quite land. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781547611546
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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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