A timely and engrossing contribution to YA literature.
In Smith’s YA speculative novel, a teenage girl recognizes the strength of her socially proscribed superpowers.
When 16-year-old Cal Littleton embarks on a trip to the salon to touch up her pink roots, her life is changed forever. A “switcherborne,” Cal possesses a recessive gene that allows her to transport her consciousness into other people’s bodies. When a bus driver attends to his phone and neglects to see a woman and her baby crossing the street, Cal, hoping to avert tragedy, suddenly switches into the bus driver’s body, swerving to the left and causing an accident that renders her childhood best friend, cross-country running star Jamie Mulligan, paralyzed. To assuage her guilt, Cal switches with Jamie, granting him the ability to run while controlling her body, knowing the possible consequences to herself and those around her: switcherborne are scorned in society and such activities are forbidden. As Cal spends more time in Jamie’s body, she develops empathy for him and learns the extent of her powers. Best of all, she discovers that she can heal others. This remarkable novel contrasts fantastic elements with strong realistic components in a narrative that will feel engaging, authentic, and genuine to YA readers. Exercising restraint when it comes to the fantasy elements, this work reads like a well rendered, realistic novel (“I’d known it was a bad sign when Mr. Mulligan built that ramp. You don’t build a ramp if the doctors think your kid is going to walk again in a couple of weeks”). Expertly constructing a world with a political climate not unlike today’s, Smith explores what happens to people when hatred prevails. In addition, the author crafts well-rounded and diverse characters, allowing many readers the opportunity to see themselves reflected somewhere in the cast. While there are sequences hampered by excessive details about switching, and perhaps too many healing scenarios, the novel also compellingly depicts realistic teenage characters navigating real-world problems.
A timely and engrossing contribution to YA literature.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781387255184
Page Count: 317
Publisher: Lulu.com
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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