Enjoyable but ultimately forgettable; will appeal to fans of the original series.
Calder Academy, a boarding school for delinquent paranormals, may as well be a prison for Clementine.
Clementine Calder has spent her whole life on the isolated Texas island campus of the school for paranormal teens whose powers pose a danger to others. Calder Academy houses everyone from witches to vampires, suppressing their magic and forcing them to coexist. Now that her senior year has arrived, Clementine wants nothing more than to graduate and move away. But the headmaster—her mother—is clear that she’s not going to let Clementine ever leave and experience the real world: “Just remember, Clementine, dreams can be prisons, too.” Beyond the issues with her family, Clementine has spent the last three years avoiding Jude Abernathy-Lee, her childhood best friend who ghosted her, seemingly without reason. When a Category 5 hurricane hits the island, Clementine is forced to work with Jude and suddenly finds herself at the center of a waking nightmare that will change the course of her life—and of Calder Academy—forever. Set in the same universe as Wolff’s Crave series, this spinoff is easy to dive into, although the flat, uninspired romance and core narrative leave something to be desired. Clementine is cued white; Jude’s father is Korean (his mother’s background isn’t named), and there’s racial diversity in the supporting cast.
Enjoyable but ultimately forgettable; will appeal to fans of the original series. (content warning) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781649377012
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying.
In a world where everyone has a magical ability based on the moon’s phase on their day of birth, magical education is reserved for those with exceptional talent.
Students at Aldryn College for Lunar Magics pursue the advanced study of magic. Emory Ainsleif is a Healer, an ability associated with House New Moon. Last spring, she followed her best friend, Romie Brysden, and seven others into the Dovermere Caves. In the deepest cave, known as the Belly of the Beast, Emory unwittingly took part in a ritual that left a peculiar mark on her wrist and left the other students dead. Back at Aldryn for the new school year, Emory begins to develop magical abilities that go beyond healing—and that she’s unable to control. She turns to Baz, Romie’s brother, for help—Baz was born during an eclipse, giving him unpredictable magic. Reluctant to train Emory but eager to find out what happened to his sister, Baz finally agrees, and together they begin to unravel what happened last spring. This dark fantasy, told in Emory’s and Baz’s alternating third-person perspectives, has a spooky atmosphere and rich worldbuilding. It slowly unfolds to reveal what really happened to Romie, but predictable plot twists and a gratuitous deus ex machina may frustrate readers. The central characters are described as having pale skin.
The magical world is fresh, but the storyline is less satisfying. (content warnings, Sacred Lunar Houses & their tidal alignments) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781665939270
Page Count: 544
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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