A dense fever dream that’s not for the faint of heart.
Secondary school can be a nightmare, and that’s particularly true of a macabre school governed by peculiar social rules and supernatural machinations in this novel translated from French.
The story follows four students, each feeling like outcasts in their own ways. First-year Iris abandons her childhood friend in his time of need and suffers the consequences. Pierre, the odd one out who’s without a partner to share his desk in a class of 27 students, is violently bullied and ostracized. Madeleine feels insecure and ascribes mystical powers to herself. Guy is paired with a new girl in class and starts to question the tyrannical rule of the prince who dominates his class. Meanwhile, a small cabal of students who call themselves the Top-Secret Club meet to discuss the underlying cause of the school’s peculiarities, which they ascribe to the schmoil, a supernatural substance in the pipes. All of this is a metaphor for the isolating perils of existing as an adolescent within the social trappings of schools that so often operate according to elaborate, cliquish, and downright indecipherable social conventions. This is well-trodden territory, and this iteration feels particularly impenetrable. The prose is clunky, and the circumstances of the characters feel so odd that they nearly obscure the familiar emotions of loneliness, isolation, and insecurity that readers might otherwise find relatable.
A dense fever dream that’s not for the faint of heart. (Paranormal. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781609459567
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying.
In a world where everyone has a magical ability based on the moon’s phase on their day of birth, magical education is reserved for those with exceptional talent.
Students at Aldryn College for Lunar Magics pursue the advanced study of magic. Emory Ainsleif is a Healer, an ability associated with House New Moon. Last spring, she followed her best friend, Romie Brysden, and seven others into the Dovermere Caves. In the deepest cave, known as the Belly of the Beast, Emory unwittingly took part in a ritual that left a peculiar mark on her wrist and left the other students dead. Back at Aldryn for the new school year, Emory begins to develop magical abilities that go beyond healing—and that she’s unable to control. She turns to Baz, Romie’s brother, for help—Baz was born during an eclipse, giving him unpredictable magic. Reluctant to train Emory but eager to find out what happened to his sister, Baz finally agrees, and together they begin to unravel what happened last spring. This dark fantasy, told in Emory’s and Baz’s alternating third-person perspectives, has a spooky atmosphere and rich worldbuilding. It slowly unfolds to reveal what really happened to Romie, but predictable plot twists and a gratuitous deus ex machina may frustrate readers. The central characters are described as having pale skin.
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying. (content warnings, Sacred Lunar Houses & their tidal alignments) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781665939270
Page Count: 544
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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