An enjoyably twisty, romantic, and thoughtful prep-school mystery.
In this YA thriller, a teenage girl investigates a friend’s suicide, entangling her in dangerous intrigue.
“Last year, my family celebrated my mother’s birthday by conning an eighty-five-year-old woman out of ten thousand dollars,” writes 17-year-old Eleanor Ames. After cooperating with the FBI, Ellie is now trying to go straight, living with her older sister Harper, who left the con-artist life years ago, and Harper’s boyfriend, Aidan, a Secret Service agent, in the Washington, D.C., area. Ellie attends expensive Holden Prep thanks to financial aid; three months ago, her only friend there—Simon Gilbert, a senator’s son—supposedly killed himself following its spring formal. But Ellie questions this, especially when she learns new details that raise suspicions about two popular juniors at Holden who knew Simon: Bret Thomas and Dominic DeLuca. (As the author acknowledges, the book owes a debt to the TV series Veronica Mars.) In addition, Miles Beckett, an overly starched new student who lives with his uncle in Ellie’s apartment complex, starts asking questions about Simon. Ellie decides to use her well-honed grifter skills to gain the in-crowd’s trust and investigate, though she’s torn between honesty and deceit—especially when she joins forces with straight-laced Miles. He has a few things to hide too, it turns out, and both struggle with trust as their mutual attraction grows. Ellie and Miles uncover increasingly explosive secrets, including illicit surveillance, drug sales, blackmail, and an organization of assassins, leading to a perilous climax. Cross (You Before Anyone Else, 2016, etc.) is skillful in revealing character and bringing out elements of Ellie’s unusual past as they relate to her present struggles. For example, she almost drowned a few months ago, never having learned to swim because her father said that “swim lessons were for kids with social security numbers”; later, her fear of water becomes an issue. Cross also handles the details of con jobs and spycraft well, although her teen-spy subplot is tough to buy. The story’s suspense loses some force through an overlong final third or so, but this is still a promising start to a series.
An enjoyably twisty, romantic, and thoughtful prep-school mystery.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63375-509-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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