A fine vacation read—quick, deadly, and surprisingly entertaining.
High schooler Lia is thoroughly prepared to try to win Assassins, the secretive game the senior class plays every year.
Small teams receive email messages from the mysterious Council identifying their targets, whom they must “execute” with water pistols while avoiding their own stalkers. Lia, unlike her older brother and friends, has never been a star. Winning this highly competitive game will finally be her turn to shine, so she’s been keeping tabs on many of her classmates’ schedules. Her BFF, Gem, is amused when Devon, the guy Lia wishes were her boyfriend, ends up on their team along with Ben, whose sister Gem crushes on. But then students start dying, beginning with Lia’s first target. It looks like an accident, but Lia heard something suspicious and she’s not sure. Other deaths follow, and even as Lia’s relationship with Devon deepens, evidence starts to point to her as the culprit. With Lia’s parents unsupportive and the police suspicious of her, it falls to her and her surviving friends to identify and stop the killer. A brisk pace and short chapters keep the plot moving relentlessly forward, sustaining suspense, and if the details and lack of character development don’t quite bear up under close examination, it’s easy to overlook those shortcomings. Lia seems to be White; brown-skinned Gem uses they/them pronouns, and Devon is cued as Latinx.
A fine vacation read—quick, deadly, and surprisingly entertaining. (Mystery. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17978-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling, beautifully written page-turner.
A young woman pursues a dangerous quest in late-1800s Egypt in this sequel to What the River Knows (2023).
After Inez Olivera was nearly murdered while assisting with her uncle’s archaeological expedition in Egypt, Tío Ricardo is eager to ship her home to safety in Argentina. But Inez burns with the need to stay and make sure that those who committed crimes against her family are held responsible. Unfortunately, the law precludes Inez, as a young unmarried woman, from accessing her inheritance (needed to fund her quest for justice) without her guardian uncle’s permission. Whitford Hayes, a former British soldier and her tío’s aide-de-camp, proposes marriage, which could solve her problems. But can Inez trust the secretive Whit? More danger and intrigue lurk at every turn in this exciting duology closer, which fully addresses the first entry’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The well-paced plot encompasses many fresh, new adventures and betrayals in this reimagined historical setting in which ancient magic abounds and not everyone or everything is what it seems. Even more captivating, however, is the complicated, nuanced love story between Whit and Inez. Their chemistry sizzles, but their relationship is achingly layered with both profound loyalty and deep deception. As their journey unearths new enemies and priceless archaeological finds, the duo must try to trust each other enough to survive.
A thrilling, beautifully written page-turner. (cast of characters, map, timeline) (Historical fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781250822994
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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