Next book

THE GIRL WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE

The only thing Cady knows for sure is that someone wants to kill her.

“Take her out back and finish her off,” is one of the first things the 16-year-old hears when she comes to in an isolated cabin in the woods of Oregon. Suffering from amnesia, Cady doesn’t recall anything about her life, including where she’s from, who her family is or even the excruciating pain of having two fingernails torn off. But her body remembers enough martial arts to incapacitate her captor and escape. When she tries to contact the authorities, they believe she is an escaped patient from a local mental hospital. Is she an insane murderer, as news reports suggest? With no place to hide and everyone a potential liar (including herself), Cady races across the state, piecing together clues and scraps of memories, to try to figure out who she is in this thriller with nonstop twists and turns. Her only ally is Ty, a former homeless teen she meets at a brief fast-food stop. The possibility of biological warfare amps up the suspense, while short chapters and Cady’s direct, first-person narration make the Hollywood-blockbuster–like story pulsate. Although rushed, the ending stays true to the mood and consistent pacing of Cady’s plight. An adrenaline rush for reluctant readers. (Thriller. 14 & up)

 

Pub Date: June 11, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9541-8

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: June 8, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 64


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

Next book

A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER

From the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series , Vol. 1

A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.

Awards & Accolades

Likes

  • Readers Vote
  • 64


Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT


  • New York Times Bestseller

Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.

Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.

A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019

Next book

THE CHANGING MAN

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

Close Quickview