A gruesome, superficial subterranean tale of redemption.
Who is Grant Franklin Tavish V? “A murderer.”
The son of a Virginia senator, Grant’s life is mapped out to the smallest detail: his affluent community, his friends, his girlfriend. And thanks to his father’s connections, Grant can walk away scot-free from the fatal car accident he caused. The guilt, however, proves too much. When Grant sets off on a caving excursion—a tradition that all Tavish men undergo before high school graduation—he plans to take his own life as a form of recompense. Except that a cave collapse traps him underground along with four other teens. Now the group must explore the cave system together in order to escape its hellish embrace while also evading something sinister lurking in its shadows. Situating readers squarely within Grant’s anguished point of view, Liggett (Heart of Ash, 2018, etc.) builds up Grant’s stifling, privileged life. The other teen characters represent the less fortunate, a group plagued by poverty, bad home lives, and other stereotypes. Unfortunately, Grant’s cave companions offer little beyond a single purpose: to feed into his self-development. Still, the author excels at weaving a tightly-packed narrative. As the teens struggle to find a way out, bonding during the ordeal, the cave starts claiming its victims. The story soon reaches its predictable, but somewhat satisfying, finale. One character is implied Latina; otherwise a white default is assumed.
A gruesome, superficial subterranean tale of redemption. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7653-8100-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Tor Teen
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
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
A flawed but entertaining Halloween thriller.
Penny’s sleepy little farming town hasn’t been the same since it was terrorized by a masked killer who claimed five teenage victims last Halloween.
That killer just happened to be the father of her ex-boyfriend, Nash, and afterward, Penny’s parents forced her to break up with Nash. This October, everyone is on edge. Nash and his sister, Grace, are local outcasts, and when Penny finds another classmate’s dead body while shopping for Halloween costumes in a party supply store, the proverbial pitchforks come out. As the body count rises, the townspeople quickly blame Nash and Grace. To take the heat off Nash, for whom Penny still has feelings, the two team up to try to figure out the killer’s identity. But when it becomes apparent that the killer is targeting Penny, their mission becomes a matter of life or death. Suspenseful chases and mysterious sightings interspersed with an occasional dead body keep the pacing fast and consistent. The setting is reminiscent of Scream’s Woodsboro, and Preston makes good use of spooky Halloween decorations. The character development is light, and readers will quickly become frustrated with the many poor choices Penny makes. The abrupt ending may irritate some, but slasher fans will nevertheless enjoy trying to figure out who the menacing person hiding behind a mask is. Penny and Nash are cued white; Penny’s friends include some racial and religious diversity.
A flawed but entertaining Halloween thriller. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780593481516
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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