C. J. Daley
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for the audio ARC! I really like the cover for this one and the blurb relating anything culty to R. L. Stine is an instant yes for me. This didn’t disappoint. The audio by Jesse Vilinksy was fantastic. It really felt like she embodied Lindsay.
Lindsay isn’t your average troubled kid. With parents as emotionally cold as an iceberg, she has managed to get kicked out of just about everything ever, including expulsion from multiple schools. She cuts classes, smokes to get attention, and never stays anywhere long enough to even begin to make friends. Her parents are rich, seeming to believe that money is enough to hush things up and get her to graduation, when all she really desires is to be seen. Instead, they decide they’ve had enough of her antics and ship her off to stay the summer with her uncle and aunt. If the family estrangement isn’t weird enough, it’s also a kind of teenage reform house…and more importantly, where the hell is her uncle?
This novel does well to toe the line between reading almost new adult, while definitely having the air of a young adult story with its chosen POV. Some of the themes and language are dark, and the crimes and horror are pretty violent at times too. It also has a pretty positive commentary on sexuality and being perceived as different that I quite liked. There has been a somewhat recent push for young adult books to be more tame and “clean” but this one does the opposite. I think both are valid and deserve to exist, the same way no two kids are alike. If you are a jewish bisexual girl drummer that just wants love and attention from her parents, then you deserve to see it exist on the page too.
This is also a pretty well handled showing of how Christianity, bible verses more specifically, can be weaponized in a controlling manner. How the idea of God’s eternal glory can be tainted into something far from bountiful…and that’s not even really the cult stuff! Phin and Cass, these sort of ethereal, The Shining-esque twins, were really creepy to me. From their too-helpful nature to their old-timey accents that made me think of Leo in The Great Gatsby, I wanted no part of them. Of course they would live on an island that can only be reached during low tide, or via boat. Nothing strange going on there at all…
The cast of characters that are introduced as this sort of halfway house for troubled kids kids(?) were really enjoyable. With one of them being sent there for being gay and another for being trans, I felt it really gave the setting an eerie feeling—like even before anything happens it all felt like a sham. And of course the fact that they all turn out to be perfectly capable, caring, and helpful teens really tied together the entire arc for Lindsay. Found family that pulls on the heartstrings. If you’ve ever read Stine and desired a little more creepiness and a tad more character depth, this one might work perfectly for you!
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for the audio ARC! I really like the cover for this one and the blurb relating anything culty to R. L. Stine is an instant yes for me. This didn’t disappoint. The audio by Jesse Vilinksy was fantastic. It really felt like she embodied Lindsay.
Lindsay isn’t your average troubled kid. With parents as emotionally cold as an iceberg, she has managed to get kicked out of just about everything ever, including expulsion from multiple schools. She cuts classes, smokes to get attention, and never stays anywhere long enough to even begin to make friends. Her parents are rich, seeming to believe that money is enough to hush things up and get her to graduation, when all she really desires is to be seen. Instead, they decide they’ve had enough of her antics and ship her off to stay the summer with her uncle and aunt. If the family estrangement isn’t weird enough, it’s also a kind of teenage reform house…and more importantly, where the hell is her uncle?
This novel does well to toe the line between reading almost new adult, while definitely having the air of a young adult story with its chosen POV. Some of the themes and language are dark, and the crimes and horror are pretty violent at times too. It also has a pretty positive commentary on sexuality and being perceived as different that I quite liked. There has been a somewhat recent push for young adult books to be more tame and “clean” but this one does the opposite. I think both are valid and deserve to exist, the same way no two kids are alike. If you are a jewish bisexual girl drummer that just wants love and attention from her parents, then you deserve to see it exist on the page too.
This is also a pretty well handled showing of how Christianity, bible verses more specifically, can be weaponized in a controlling manner. How the idea of God’s eternal glory can be tainted into something far from bountiful…and that’s not even really the cult stuff! Phin and Cass, these sort of ethereal, The Shining-esque twins, were really creepy to me. From their too-helpful nature to their old-timey accents that made me think of Leo in The Great Gatsby, I wanted no part of them. Of course they would live on an island that can only be reached during low tide, or via boat. Nothing strange going on there at all…
The cast of characters that are introduced as this sort of halfway house for troubled kids kids(?) were really enjoyable. With one of them being sent there for being gay and another for being trans, I felt it really gave the setting an eerie feeling—like even before anything happens it all felt like a sham. And of course the fact that they all turn out to be perfectly capable, caring, and helpful teens really tied together the entire arc for Lindsay. Found family that pulls on the heartstrings. If you’ve ever read Stine and desired a little more creepiness and a tad more character depth, this one might work perfectly for you!