A sublimely scary thriller.
Four teen girls embark on a thrill-seeking quest that goes horribly wrong.
The story starts at the end, at the very point of rescue, when the survivors are exhausted, injured, and barely intelligible. One girl is missing, two are taken to the hospital, and Deputy Vargas stays behind with Amelie, the one who will tell their story from the beginning, the one who is covered in blood—but not her own. Amelie, Devon, H, and Gia got together to explore an underground cave system that local legend says contains the Sublime, a subterranean lake with mystical powers that can change something important for those who find it—and who are willing to face their greatest fears. The four barely know each other beyond having met at Dissent, a group for those seeking extreme challenges, and each one harbors a secret reason of her own for hoping to find the Sublime. Amelie’s ostensible excuse is a commitment to her late cousin—but is her account reliable? The more she gets into the tale of their misadventure, the more Vargas questions whether what she is hearing is the truth. This disorienting, claustrophobic, and genuinely frightening thriller follows the four girls as they descend into the darkness. With well-developed, sympathetic characters, a taut plot, and an unreliable narrator, the novel straddles the line between mystical and psychological horror to keep readers guessing to the end. Amelie and Devon are assumed White, H is Korean, and Gia is coded Latinx.
A sublimely scary thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-19170-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
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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