 In the last couple of months some terrific titles have come my way, which include dark fantasy, some juicy romance and the usual taste of teen dystopia. There are ten to choose from and hopefully you will be able to find something to catch the eye of a bored teenager, favourite niece or nephew, or stock up your library with new selections. They are not ranked in any particular order. Alexander Yates - How We Became Wicked How We Became Wicked was an odd, but entertaining, mix of apocalyptic and dystopian thriller. At some point in the past a type of ultraviolet mosquito like insect, which become known as ‘Singers’, carry an infection which leads a huge proportion of the human population being murdered by the other half (or third…) The plague, which is called ‘Wicked’, spreads through the world creating three types of people which effectively ends the world as we know it. The story picks up the action some years later when humanity is on its last legs. Modern teen dystopian fiction is forever splitting people into groups, but the idea in How We Became Wicked is quite a neat one. Group one is ‘The Wicked’ who have been bitten by the ‘Singers’ and live solely to kill those who have not been infected. They are not mindless thugs and maintain an intellect and can hide their infection before casually adding something like “I would really like to explore the inside of your brain” into the conversation. The Second group is ‘The True’ who live in contained and isolated communities and the novel is set in one of these communities on a remote Canadian island, which has been cut off from the rest of the world for years. The third group is ‘The Vexed’ which is a much smaller group who are immune to the mosquitoes, some of which live with ‘The True’. The story is mostly seen from the point of view of two teenagers, who were once a couple, one is ‘True’ and the other ‘Vexed’ and a complex and clever plot as they begin to dig into the history of the plague, weird goings on at the lighthouse on a neighbouring island and how it is to be the two youngest inhabitants at the island by some years. This book was outstandingly quirky, had lots going for it, many clever observations and an outstanding ending. Highly recommended. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older. Caitlin Kittredge – Dreaming Darkly I was quickly sucked into Caitlin Kittredge’s moody and twisty gothic mystery, Dreaming Darkly, which was loaded with a tasty dose of moody teen romance. Set on Darkhaven, an American island off the New England coast, whose sole occupants are two feuding families, this atmospheric, fast-paced page-turner featuring a teenager who moves to the island after the death of her mother. Sixteen-year-old Ivy Bloodgood ends up staying with her uncle, a man she never knew existed until he claimed her after her mother’s death. At first it looks like things might be working out for Ivy, who is a great leading character, until odd things begin to happen around her and she begins to see weird things, has crazy dreams, wakes up in odd places and begins to question her own sanity. Along the way Ivy meets the teenage son of the neighbouring feuding family and hears of an old family curse; the majority of which either end up committing suicide or murdering someone. Friendship soon develops and the boy helps her solve the mystery of who she is and who her absent (or dead) father is. Nothing is quite what it seems and Dreaming Darkly is a fine mix of moody family drama, teenage angst, mystery novel with heavy supernatural overtones. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older. Kiran Millwood Hargrave - The Deathless Girls There seems to be a neverending supply of books, particularly in YA, with new stories being spun out of famous fictional stories. The Deathless Girls is a fine YA version of one of these and builds a story out of minor female vampire characters in Stoker's Dracula. In actual fact, they are so small I think they only featured in a few background scenes as his brides. So, it's an interesting, but very inevitable story, as readers of Dracula will know what is going to happen in the end. You do not have to have read Dracula to enjoy this though, the Count is barely in the book until the latter stages, but his mystique and reputation pre-empts his eventual appearance and he is nicely foreshadowed. The story is told through twins, Lil and Kizzy, who see their home burned and their family slaughtered and they are then sold as slaves. Much of the novel is about their unfortunate progression to eventually end up in the clutches of Dracula. Teen readers may find this a tad slow, but it is worth sticking with, both girls were engaging lead characters, with Lil narrating the story. Her sister always being the more outgoing and popular of the two and was greatly admired by Lil. The book puts much focus on the origins of the girls, who are gypsies and are looked down upon most of the others and culturally much information is provided on their background and Lil follows her sister who is taken to Dracula's castle first. This was an engaging historical fiction novel which wisely spent more time on the girls, their history family and culture, than on the vampire. Although I would not necessarily call it a horror novel, it will probably have more appeal to girls than boys and has much to say about how women and gypsies were treated in earlier centuries. Aimed at kids aged thirteen plus. Dawn Kurtagich - Teeth in the Mist I am a huge fan of Dawn Kurtagich and we have featured both her previous novels The Dead House and Creeper Man on Ginger Nuts. Her latest novel Teeth in the Mist is perhaps even more ambitious and is a complex story, set in a huge mansion in rural Wales, split over three narratives in the present day, 1851 and 1583 with a strong supernatural theme permeating through the story. It was a very chunky book, with different fonts and voices and took a bit of time to get into the flow but it is worthy sticking with. This was the case with both her previous two novels, let us hope teenage readers give it a chance as it is not an easy read and will challenge many. Sixteen-year-old photography buff Zoey ends up at Medwyn Mill House and is fascinated with the ruin and after spending the night there with her friend Poulton and is sure they are not alone. Jumping back to 1851 seventeen-year-old Roan arrives at Mill House as a ward and soon realises she is connected to an ancient secret and must try and escape the house, but that is not as easy as it might sound. However, there is something connecting the three young women, which also includes Hermoine who relocates with her husband to the same area in 1583. This was a very strong blend of mystery, horror and dark fantasy, even if it did not quite unsettle me in the way the magnificent Creeper Man did. But is certainly another highly original read as I have come to expect from this talented writer. Aimed at kids aged thirteen plus. Jimmy Cajoleas - The Good Demon The Good Demon was a very entertaining, rather different, and quite funny spin on the possession story which begins after a demon is forcibly removed from teenage Clare by two charismatic Christians. This was not exactly an exorcism, as exorcisms are Catholic ceremonies, this was a ‘deliverance’ and what makes this slightly odd is that Clare is really sad to be without her demon, which had lived within her for a number of years. She always looked upon the demon as a friend and a comforting experience which she referred to as ‘Her Only’. She is struggling to get on with her life when she meets the teenage boy who helped with the deliverance and they become friends, with him feeling a certain about of guilt for his part in the ‘deliverance’. Bizarrely, although the demon is gone Clare believes she is receiving messages from ‘Her Only’ she begins to search for her demon, with the teenager whom she begins to fall for. You’ll have great fun following the clues, meeting irrelevant characters and will be rooting for Clare in no time, who was a lovely character with an authentic voice. There was a lot going on and the book has much to say about fundamentalism, family, first love in a very entertaining and non-judgemental manner. Highly recommended. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older. Rory Power - Wilder Girls For a book which Amazon claims was “an instant New York Times bestseller” it was incredibly difficult to find a copy and one presumes it will become easier when the paperback surfaces in the UK next February. Wilder Girls begins eighteen months into a quarantine in which the Raxter School for Girls has been cut off from the rest of the world. Because it’s set on an island, once a weird illness called the ‘Tox’ begins to manifest, keeping the girls isolated on a corner of the island is not too difficult. However, the government airdrop in minimal food and switch off the telephones and internet and the reader soon realises something truly fishy, or some kind of conspiracy, is going on. The ‘Tox’ can lead to strange body altering manifestations such as developing a second spine, or an eye closing over, bits of anatomy fall off or grow in weird ways….. Over the eighteen months many girls have died and as the promised cure has failed to materialise the ‘Tox’ forces the girls to go to extremes to survive. It is not difficult to see why it has been compared to Lord of the Flies, but I thought it had more in common with Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year which I reviewed last time out, even though it was not set on an island, it has the same strong female vibe to proceedings. The story is seen from three rotating perspectives Hetty, Reese and Byatt who have complex relationships and friendships with each other. Although it was a very enjoyable read which I’m sure teenagers will get sucked into, I thought the ending was a bit tame, but it did successfully blend the troubled teenage psych with extreme situations. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older. Carrie Jones and Steven E Wedel - In the Woods Although it offers nothing new In the Woods was a very enjoyable and engaging collaboration between Carrie Jones and Steven Wedel, set in a small Oklahoma town in the Ozrak mountains. The book was split into two very distinct first-person narratives ‘Chrystal’ and ‘Logan’ perhaps the authors each created a ‘voice’ and if so it worked a treat. The action opens in Logan’s farm where he hears something attacking one of their calves, although he does not get a clear view of the assailant he is certain it is not human. Meantime, Chrystal who is on holiday in New York, is dismayed to be pulled away from her fun to head to Oklahoma with her cryptozoologist father who is obsessed with finding evidence of everything from Big Foot to aliens. The story ends up in the National Enquirer and before long Chrystal and her father are knocking on Logan’s farm door not for the scoop, but to investigate further. From then on In the Woods hits the ground running and is a fine horror Scoobie Doo style monster-mash-up mystery with a tasty dose of awkward romance. Both lead characters are very likable and really carry the novel and develop a friendship, or something more, when it seems like the creature is targeting locals after the disappearance of a teenage girl. The support cast were terrific also, I especially loved the way Chrystal tolerated her very quirky father, who when he wasn’t creature hunting was a kinder garden teacher! It was a well-paced novel when built suspense nicely before its big reveal. If you’re a fan of big hairy monsters stalking spunky teenagers jump right in, there is a lot of fun to be had here. Aimed at kids aged thirteen or older. Emma Berquist Missing - Presumed Dead With a brief touch, Lexi can sense how and when someone will die in Emma Berquist’s second novel Missing Presumed Dead, this is nothing new and the idea has been used in many similar YA novels, the best of which is probably Rachel Ward’s Numbers. To Lexi this is a curse and because of it she struggles to make friends, isolates, and spends much of her time alone. After Lexi forsees a brutal murder, but is unable to stop it, the ghost of the dead girl repeatedly appears to Lexi and she feels she has more connections with the dead rather than those she lives with. The dead girl is also very beautiful and Lexi is more than happy to help the ghost solve her own murder as there is a strong attraction. It was a nicely paced supernatural murder mystery with a convincing LGBTQ element to the story. Aimed at kids aged twelve to fifteen. Mary Downing Hahn – The Girl in the Locked Room The Girl in the Locked Room is the perfect start for kids aged around nine or ten looking for haunted house stories which are not too scary, or long and have believable likable characters. Jules and her family move into a big old house which needs a lot of construction, the building gives her an odd vibe and before long she believes there is a girl (or a ghost) living in the locked top floor room. Moving back and forwards in time to when the ghost was alive Jules soon begins to unravel the secrets of what happened in the house over a century earlier. Not all ghosts are scary or nasty and this is a nice play on the ‘friendly’ ghost theme which also looks at friendship in a non-threatening manner and if parents are reading it aloud to younger children there is much to discuss. Aimed at kids aged eight to ten. Susan McCauley – The Devil’s Tree Although Susan McCauley’s debut The Devil’s Tree was an easy enough read, it contained little in the way of originality to distinguish it from the overcrowded YA pack and relied upon overfamiliar horror tropes. The main character Kaitlyn is fooling around with boyfriend Hunter and other best friends Dylan and Keisha; after some heavy drinking head to a local spot which has the reputation for being haunted, an old tree which nothing grows round. Before long they feel a disturbing presence and after a car crash manage to escape, however, there are terrifying casualties and consequences. Believing the tree, or a curse to be involved, Kaitlyn wracked with guilt and with her own family problems begin to investigate the history of the tree. Before long we head into yet more Scoobie Doo territory, Ouija board and all, none of which is remotely scary or believable. Throw into the mix some social commentary regarding Kaitlyn’s attempts to get to college and escape the family trailer park with her alcoholic mother, a new romance and an unconvincing exorcist story. The end result is a bland horror novel which many teens might struggle to engage with, or quickly realise there is a lot better stuff out there. Aimed at ages twelve plus. Tony Jones   |
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