A gripping, heart-wrenching story about friendship, family, fear, and the monsters we carry with us.
An 18-year-old and her friends are plunged into a dark tide of events that threatens to pull them under.
Maya Woods, a Black girl from the Caribbean, is the daughter of a member of Parliament and therefore obliged to uphold the family image as an exceptional student and model child. Fearing that her bonds with best friends Erica, Pearl, and Lystra will weaken after their high school graduation, Maya hopes they can have one last adventure together. Their annual boat trip seems like the perfect opportunity to make treasured memories. But when they’re forced to evade threatening men, the girls end up on Annatto—the most distant of the Small Islands. It’s a mysterious locale that was once used to treat people with leprosy and is now rumored to be haunted. When the girls are pursued by a terrifying soucouyant in the night, they flee. Erica ends up dead, and the other three leave her body behind when they take off in the boat. When help reaches Annatto and there’s no sign of her, the survivors become subjects of interest—until a week later, when Erica shows up at home, alive. Dass’ masterful tale of friendship and self-discovery takes readers on an emotional roller coaster that’s steeped in Caribbean folklore. The strong pacing and well-developed relationships among the protagonists will keep the pages turning even as secrets and dangers come to light.
A gripping, heart-wrenching story about friendship, family, fear, and the monsters we carry with us. (author’s note) (Supernatural thriller. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781368098748
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents/Disney
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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