An intense yet uneven apocalyptic survival story.
In New York City, a masquerade ball turns into a dystopian nightmare.
“Do you know what I would give to go to that ball?” scholarship kid Waverly asks wealthy Caroline during one of their regular tutoring sessions. Waverly—who is gay and autistic—is an outsider at Webber Academy, a private school run by its founder, Dean Owen Webber. Even with her tutoring income, the cheapest ticket to the event, the school’s annual fundraiser, is way out of reach. But, desperate for a break from the pomp and circumstance, Caroline wants Waverly to attend the masquerade disguised as her. Waverly agrees after she learns that Ash, the dean’s daughter and Waverly’s ex-girlfriend who’s now living in London, will be there. The next day at school, everyone is talking about how Caroline’s tech billionaire dad, the dean’s good friend, was found unconscious at home in suspicious circumstances. But the party must go on. The ball is in full swing when Waverly and the rest of the partygoers find themselves trapped inside the chic venue during a blackout. Turns out, the world is ending. Whom can Waverly trust? Though intrigue is threaded throughout, the book’s descent into chaos feels at odds with the fairy-tale beginning, and the bumpy pacing hampers this thought-provokingly relevant thriller. Wilde’s scrutiny of the ripped-from-the-headlines ultrarich preparing for societal collapse is powerful, however. Most of the characters are White.
An intense yet uneven apocalyptic survival story. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781250827975
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging
Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, would rather perform autopsies in her uncle’s dark laboratory than find a suitable husband, as is the socially acceptable rite of passage for a young, white British lady in the late 1800s.
The story immediately brings Audrey into a fractious pairing with her uncle’s young assistant, Thomas Cresswell. The two engage in predictable rounds of “I’m smarter than you are” banter, while Audrey’s older brother, Nathaniel, taunts her for being a girl out of her place. Horrific murders of prostitutes whose identities point to associations with the Wadsworth estate prompt Audrey to start her own investigation, with Thomas as her sidekick. Audrey’s narration is both ponderous and polemical, as she sees her pursuit of her goals and this investigation as part of a crusade for women. She declares that the slain aren’t merely prostitutes but “daughters and wives and mothers,” but she’s also made it a point to deny any alignment with the profiled victims: “I am not going as a prostitute. I am simply blending in.” Audrey also expresses a narrow view of her desired gender role, asserting that “I was determined to be both pretty and fierce,” as if to say that physical beauty and liking “girly” things are integral to feminism. The graphic descriptions of mutilated women don’t do much to speed the pace.
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging . (Historical thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-27349-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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