A miss.
A teenager at New York’s Carlyle Hotel discovers her role in the ancient war between angels and demons.
Itzy Nash is to summer with her wealthy, child-hating aunt at the ritzy Carlyle, but it’s hardly what she expected. Itzy’s seeing strange things, her aunt’s gone, and the suite’s filled with bugs (the posh hotel is strangely relaxed about pest problems). Through passages of exposition—delivered in dialogue and as informative interpolations—Itzy learns that she’s seeing demons, and the Divah, a demon queen, is coming. In a sagging second section, the third-person point of view switches to angelic love interest Luc’s first-person narration of his forbidden romance with Divah Marie Antoinette and how close her evil scheme to open the Gates of Hell came to success before the guillotine prevented it. Then, back in Itzy’s time, she is dragged by the plot and other characters through the Divah’s rise and next attempt to unleash the damned—by possessing Itzy. Though early humor (demons hate Hermès, Evian, and the French language) beckons readers, it peters out. Throughout all sections, there’s a glaring lack of expected reaction to odd happenings: demon hunters and bystanders alike act as though grotesque sights (as when Luc carries a decapitated head around Paris) are normal. This has the effect of flattening both characters and worldbuilding, distancing readers so thoroughly it’s doubtful they will care about the plot’s twists.
A miss. (Fantasy/horror. 12-18)Pub Date: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63450-674-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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
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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