A fast-paced thrill ride.
An incredible opportunity for a group of friends to shoot a movie at a notorious castle in Romania turns into a nightmare.
Alexandra Rush aspires to be a film director, but her dreams feel threatened when she gets wait-listed for the prestigious college program she was set on attending alongside her producer-wannabe boyfriend. With the help of a famous Romanian actress, Alex is given a new chance: She and six friends, all assumed White, get to spend spring break in Romania at Castle Prahova to create Alex’s Dracula-inspired short film. The castle was once home to Vlad Dracul, inspiration for the fictional vampire Dracula. In the novel’s opening scene, set after the fateful trip, readers learn that Alex was the only one to make it out alive. The story then jumps back to tell the complete tale, with parts of the subsequent criminal report interspersed. This exhilarating novel plays with the Dracula mythos in fun ways while using classic horror tropes like a remote, eerie locale and a mysterious man in a mask. There’s a cinematic feel throughout; it reads like an ode to beloved horror films such as Scream. Crisp writing builds tension and keeps the pages flying as the atmospheric and moody story becomes increasingly gruesome and twisty. Uneven power dynamics based on gender and financial status are skillfully woven in.
A fast-paced thrill ride. (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: June 14, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-20485-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 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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