A refreshingly angel-free departure in afterlife fiction, this gripping supernatural thriller features nuanced characters navigating a complex moral universe. After her brother's death, Mackenzie's parents seek a fresh start, moving into an apartment in the Coronado, a former hotel, to start a new coffee shop. Mac's good at keeping secrets: her grief, the psychic gifts she inherited from Da, her training and four years as a Keeper most of all. Keepers are tasked with keeping Histories--the recorded lives of human beings--from leaving the mysterious Archive, where they're filed and stored after death. Tended by Librarians, most Histories sleep, but a few awaken and panic, a process called "slipping," and escape into the Narrows, the passage separating the Archive and the living world. Returning violent Histories to the Archive, always dangerous, has gotten harder. The Librarians' vague explanation--"technical difficulties"--doesn't satisfy Mac. The mysteries extend beyond the Archive; records of former Coronado residents are missing in both worlds. Seeking answers, Mac forms an unsettling alliance with the guyliner-wearing boy who haunts the Coronado, but the handsome boy who saves her from a murderous History in the Narrows haunts her dreams. Suspense builds to the riveting climax, though discerning readers will spot loose threads when the dust clears. Never mind--that's what sequels are for. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)
The holiday season is a tough, pressure-filled time for all, because how on earth do you find that perfect gift for every loved one? And by “perfect gift,” I obviously mean “perfect book,” because I’m not a monster. The choice is hard, so rather than make it myself, I tortured 15 fabulous YA authors with the question: […]
What better way to learn more about a people (or, in Divergent’s case, a faction) than by studying its most cherished books? To that end, we’ve risked life and limb to bring you this top-secret list of required reads for all 5 factions of Veronica Roth’s bestselling Divergent trilogy. Do you consider yourself Dauntless, but secretly […]
More than half of the young adult books sold in the US are bought by adults—adults who 78% of the time are buying the books for themselves, not a teen. So why are you still hiding your copy of Divergent under a dust jacket for the latest Louise Erdrich? We know that’s not Nietzsche on […]
In 2011, The Near Witch appeared in bookstores—the debut novel by a young author named Victoria Schwab. Though it received some enthusiastic early reviews—and found devoted fans—it was quite unlike the books that were hitting the YA bestseller list at the time, and didn’t perform strongly enough to warrant the publication of a sequel. Within […]
Throughout her career, V.E. Schwab proven to have a keen grasp on the elements that make fantasy fascinating. Inspired by the tropes of comic books, the Villains series churns with the malevolent energy of the antihero. The Shades of Magic trilogy focuses on scope—the story plays out across the challenging playground of four parallel Londons—but doesn’t […]