Hocking sure knows how to bring it.
Hocking (Torn, 2011, etc.) saves the best for last in the final installment of the Trylle trilogy.
On the eve of her 18th birthday, Wendy is days away from marrying a man she doesn’t love and becoming queen of Förening. She is also on the brink of war with her father, the evil king of the Vittra. Rest assured, the princess is up for the challenge—each and every one of them. The Wendy of this novel would barely be recognizable to the girl who first discovered she was the daughter of the king and queen of two feuding troll kingdoms. With her newfound confidence and control over her powers, Princess Wendy has come into her own. There is also strength in numbers, as Finn, her Tracker, her best friend Willa, her host brother Matt and Tove, her closeted but loyal husband-to-be, stand ready and able to fight by her side. If only she had such command over her own heart. Wendy’s love life continues to be a hot, juicy mess as Loki seeks asylum in Förening and forces Wendy to acknowledge her feelings for him. The push and pull of their undeniable attraction, complicated by the presence of both her husband and her former lover, makes their burgeoning love story all the more delicious.
Hocking sure knows how to bring it. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00633-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2012
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
An intensely dark debut that’s focused on style over substance.
Desperate to avenge her murdered cousin, a girl assumes a false identity and infiltrates his boarding school to uncover the truth.
Three days ago, Marin James’ cousin, Sam Bullvane, died. Sam was her best friend, her port in the storm as she grew up in their tiny mountain town with a uninterested father and an absent mother. Though his death was assumed to be an accidental drowning due to an overdose, Marin knows Sam was murdered. Now she’s determined to find the culprits and make them pay. Assuming the fake identity of Jamie Vane and enrolling in Huntsworth Preparatory Academy are easier than expected. But ingratiating herself with Sam’s former friends—and murder suspects—proves riskier. Quiet girl Baz Hallward feels like the easiest mark. Henry Wu is all games, tinged with danger. And Adrian Hargraves, with his perfect face, initially wants nothing to do with Marin—and she immediately loathes him. As her investigation deepens, she enters a heated entanglement with Henry and Adrian, while uncovering their secrets. Mirrors show her supernatural horrors, and she’ll have to confront them, too, if she wants to learn the truth. Marin’s early sleuthing sings with tension, but aimless philosophical musings and twists that attentive readers will see coming make it unravel quickly. Overwrought language obscures the escalating danger. Most characters present white; Henry’s surname implies Asian heritage.
An intensely dark debut that’s focused on style over substance. (Paranormal mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781250334596
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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