An unsettling thriller that will leave readers questioning what’s real.
A teenage girl in Pensacola, Florida, fights to uncover the mystery of her current reality in a horrifying new world.
When 16-year-old Willow Lafayette wakes up restrained to a bed in a room she doesn’t recognize, she has no memory of how she got there, who brought her there, or how long she’s been imprisoned. Held captive by an older woman calling herself Granny who force-feeds her, Willow recalls her former life: her almost-boyfriend August, her singing channel on YouTube, the bunyavirus pandemic that was quickly spreading throughout the country, and the work her father, an internationally recognized epidemiologist, had done to treat the virus. When Granny dies suddenly in front of her, Willow is planning how to escape when a mysterious boy named Elijah appears and frees her. Elijah tells Willow that the world is ending, an experimental drug has turned people into deadly monsters who are roaming the country—and her father may be at fault. Willow must grapple with these revelations and figure out how to survive and whom to trust. The sheer number of plot twists ultimately ends up teetering on the verge of frustrating rather than surprising. However, this is a timely, chilling story that explores fear and consequences. Main characters are cued White.
An unsettling thriller that will leave readers questioning what’s real. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781728265568
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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
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
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