Fantastically vicious.
Something terribly wrong is going on in Sanctum, Alabama.
Folks keep mysteriously dying in the small town. Meanwhile, Latavia must follow Auntie’s strict rules: stay inside at night, come right home after church, and keep out of the foreboding Red Wood. To Latavia’s relief, there are only a few weeks to go before she’s off to the University of Georgia. That’s plenty of time to visit her crush, Allison, at the ice cream shop and hang out with her geeky younger cousin, Jade. Getting ready for a party one night, Latavia falls prey to a group of townsfolk who take her deep into Red Wood with violent force. In the woods, she’s left as a sacrifice for a monster that slithers out of the darkness. The gigantic snake, however, speaks—and Latavia strikes a scandalous deal. If she destroys the magical barriers protecting the town from the creature’s wrath, she can go free and get revenge against those who sentenced her to death. A frantic supernatural thriller, Lewis’ latest careens from light bloodshed to melodrama with impressive abandon. It also lightly explores racial inequity; Latavia is Black in a seemingly predominantly white town in the American South. Underdeveloped secondary characters smooth the moral quandaries that Latavia faces to their absolute, moral extremes. Overall, this offers an intriguing, at times spellbinding peek into antiheroic actions and an overt meditation on what it means to be monstrous.
Fantastically vicious. (Supernatural thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780593434819
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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