A ripping tale that ends up missing the mark.
Queer teenagers unleash literal and metaphorical demons.
In 1991, Zachary “Zooey” Orson Jr. leaves his fancy Upper East Side high school after a scandal involving a teacher and is starting his sophomore year at an even fancier all-boys boarding school in Adders Lair, Massachusetts. He’s immediately targeted by both the school bully and the Vicious Circle, a well-established secret society of gay and bi students. Little does Zooey know that several VC members—campy queen Leo; his athlete boyfriend, Daniel; and Steven, who reads like a stereotype of an autistic person—have stolen a grimoire from the headmaster’s desk and used it to make their lives a little easier. Homophobia and supernatural events collide, but after a delightfully intriguing first third, the story veers toward the sentimental. While an ancient evil force named Frateroth threatens the world via conspiracy tropes that, through referencing Hebrew and the control of banking, unfortunately evoke antisemitic stereotypes, the plot becomes bogged down with an overt desire to teach important lessons about history (ACT UP, Stonewall), racism (Zooey is White and Korean and passes as White; Daniel is Black), biphobia, and other topics through plot points that feel shoehorned-in and anachronistic flights of exposition. Teen readers with a taste for horror will have fun and they might learn something, but the two elements form an awkward whole.
A ripping tale that ends up missing the mark. (author’s note) (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5470-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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 poignant and romantic coming-of-age tale.
The boy she believed was the fated love of her life dies; now a 17-year-old girl must find a new future—and a new version of herself.
After the death of her boyfriend, Beck, and her military family’s latest move, Amelia Graham tries for a fresh start. On her first day at her new school, she nearly hits fellow senior Paloma with her car but ultimately finds a new friend in her. After months of being depressed and alone, Lia realizes she’s living again. And then there’s the boy. Although she feels an immediate connection, Lia stays away from him, trying to honor her love for Beck. But Isaiah is there when Lia needs support, and she’s increasingly drawn to him. As the past recedes, Lia realizes that who she was with Beck wasn’t all she’ll ever be. Told through Lia’s first-person point of view and moving between past and present, this story covers heartbreak, healing, and learning to live when the person you lived for is gone. Upperman’s writing is engaging, and although the emotions are heavy, an undercurrent of hope snakes through the narrative, growing brighter as Lia comes back to life and begins to see that the future holds multiple possibilities. Central characters present white; Paloma is cued Latine.
A poignant and romantic coming-of-age tale. (A Geographical History of Amelia Graham) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464217784
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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