A truly honest and authentic YA narrative.
Three diverse teens struggle with relationships, family drama, bigotry, and the politics of high school theater in Kingsberry’s YA novel.
Ari, Ya, and Atlas are seniors in their final semester at Baldwin Hills High. In honor of Pride Month, the high school’s theater club has chosen to put on a student-produced play. Ari (Arielle), a brilliant wordsmith who is Black, autistic, and gay, has written a queer adaptation of Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We Real Cool.” However, after several rounds of edits, the club decides to produce a more hetero-centric play (“the committee took no issue with centering a hetero-romance”). Led by Ya (Sonya), a cishet young woman and an ally, the three friends endeavor to produce their play with Atlas (a transgender teen) as the star and their classmates as cast and crew. As the play becomes more of a reality, the friends must struggle with a transphobic PTA, raising a seemingly impossible amount of money, and teenage romantic drama—all before opening night. As the trio fights for their play’s right to exist, they must also come to terms with issues of identity and allyship. In many ways, Kingsberry’s novel falls into the category of standard teen fiction. However, the author’s commitment to representing the lives of often marginalized teens—be they Black, Latine, or LGBTQ+—and doing so without falling into the standard “troubled teen” trope sets the book apart from the rest of the genre. Characters are three-dimensional; they’re witty and engaging, but also as aggravating as many teens can be. The themes of love, friendship, and unwavering loyalty shine through the muck and mire of contemporary bigotry, highlighting the queer “glimmers” identified at the start of the book. The inclusion of neurodiverse characters is also gratifying, making this a novel that should appeal to most teen readers, regardless of their identities.
A truly honest and authentic YA narrative.Pub Date: June 1, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 244
Publisher: IKB Press
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A nonstop adventure with plenty of magic and romance to draw in avid YA fantasy fans.
In this second installment of Owen’s YA fantasy series, a young woman impersonates her twin sister, a queen, while fighting for her own life.
After the events of The Liars Crown (2022), Meren has successfully impersonated her twin sister, Tabra, as the queen of Aryd; her sibling is currently hiding in the desert. But her sister’s evil husband, King Eidolon, knows the truth and has magically bound Meren to him with a sand nymph’s curse. The secret of his apparent immortality is still a mystery, but he somehow sheds “shadows” (“fractured, evil pieces of the king’s soul”) to create younger versions of himself—and his queens are always sacrificed to make it possible. However, one of these shadows, Reven, has managed to fight off the evil that permeates his nature. He and Meren have fallen in love, although he’s forced to constantly fight the shadows still contained within himself: “Their screams are like ragged blades shredding my insides as they try to claw their way out,” he narrates at one point. “If I look down, I know I’ll see their faces bulging out of my skin, even under my clothing.” Reven mounts a daring mission to rescue Meren alongside Cain, a member of a nomadic tribe known as the Wanderers who also vies for her heart. The most engaging adventures begin as the main characters attempt to defeat Eidolon’s shadows once and for all; Meren has power over sand and Reven has power over shadows, but those abilities become unreliable, which effectively puts them all in danger. Fans of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series will find much to enjoy in Owen’s work, which features plenty of fast-paced action and sexy-but-forbidden romance. Meren’s tendency to deliver sassy quips also provides a feeling of lightness to the author’s well-drawn and immersive fantasy world, and a jaw-dropping cliffhanger ensures that there’s more story to be told.
A nonstop adventure with plenty of magic and romance to draw in avid YA fantasy fans.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649372819
Page Count: 460
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun and scary slasher thriller.
A Fourth of July celebration turns deadly for a group of teens in Ross’ YA psychological thriller.
Eighteen-year-old Riley March and four girlfriends—Cam, Val, Nia, and Blake— are off on a celebratory Independence Day weekend away, their last before they all leave for college in the fall. Their destination is the exclusive and remote Palm Key Island, the perfect location for wealthy kids to spend their leisure time. Some of their other friends from school are there, too, including Riley’s crush, Sebastian. Riley needs to make sure no one finds out her biggest secret: She really doesn’t belong in this group, as she is not rich like her friends. Their weekend of sun, booze, and partying starts to go wrong when Val disappears after a night out clubbing—she’s presumably off with a boy—and warnings of an approaching hurricane sour the mood. As the group (joined by some male friends) hunkers down, trapped inside their rental with no internet or electricity while waiting for the storm to pass, tensions build and relationships start to unravel. They learn why their summer house rental is so cheap as casualties begin mount. The author’s compelling, fast-paced thriller pays homage to slasher movies and serial killer lore with a fun hook: “Things no longer seem fun and light anymore as I remember we’re about to be trapped in a hurricane—and in a murder house, no less. The only thing worse than that is being trapped in a hurricane, in a murder house, in complete darkness.” As the scares spiral, Ross maintains a tight focus on the complex, complicated relationship dynamics within the group of teen girls, all conveyed from Riley’s outsider/insider’s perspective. Still reeling from a close friend’s death by suicide the year before, the group’s secrets start to spill out, unveiling a history of bullying, competition, and privilege in a well-balanced narrative arc.
A fun and scary slasher thriller.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 978-0988256828
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Ic13 Books
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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