It Looks Like Us

July 1, 2022
Troubled teens fight monsters. Riley Kowalski is a classic "final girl": She's picked up by a helicopter amid the burning wreckage of an Antarctic research station, the lone survivor among her group of young data collectors. Interrogated by a private security force, she reports a gruesome tale. After applying for this gig via a targeted ad and hoping to break free from her debilitating anxiety, Riley finds herself working with four other teenagers who are also trying to get away from their pasts. The expedition, supposedly designed to collect icebound microplastics, is funded by amoral automotive tech multimillionaire Anton Rusk (any similarities to a real billionaire with a rhyming name are obviously intentional). After strange visions worm their way into the corner of Riley's vision, one of their adult chaperones becomes infected by a virus, her body elongating and morphing into an eldritch horror, and the fight for their lives begin. The unforgiving setting is automatically fascinating, and the monster is a good, gory, bone-cracking invention. Most characters default to White; one boy is from South Korea, another has brown skin and is gay, and Riley is asexual, but these identities are not developed beyond passing mention. True terror is hamstrung by the often clunky prose, told in a limiting present tense despite most scenes being related after the fact, and hard-to-follow action scenes. Nevertheless, fans of horror will find a lot to enjoy. A satisfying fulfillment of classic creepy tropes. (Horror. 12-18)

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September 26, 2022
While being interrogated in a classic good cop, bad cop scenario, teenage Riley Kowalski recounts the events leading up to her rescue in this chilling horror novel that kicks off with Riley being airlifted out of a burning Antarctic research facility. A week prior to the book’s beginning, Riley took three flights to get from Portland to Antarctica, where she and four other high school students join an expedition to research the effects of microplastic pollution. They aren’t there long before a horrific shape-shifting creature invades the station. After infecting one of their chaperones with a body-morphing virus, the teens must figure out who they can trust while evading infection. Readers looking for a full-on creature feature won’t be disappointed; drawing inspiration from the monster-flick creepiness of Alien and The Thing, Ames (To Break a Covenant) peppers the narrative with truly harrowing descriptions of the virus’s victims and their brutally mangled bodies. Though the plot relies heavily on the structure of its influences, resulting in a familiar arc, the dynamic cast and their complex relationships propel this frightful adventure toward a bloody conclusion. Most characters default to white. Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 In this tense and frightening horror novel, a group of young people are handpicked by a tech billionaire to travel to Antarctica to carry out some light scientific research. Riley is hoping to use this trip to reorient herself after some unnamed trouble back home set her adrift, but what she and the group find in the frozen landscape is a surly chaperone, a series of lies, and a truly horrifying monster. As the group moves between the cramped passageways of Antarctic stations and the seemingly uninhabited, bitter-cold tundra, it becomes clear that the ravenous, shape-shifting being isn't the only monster they are up against and that the megalomaniac who brought them there might not let them leave. Ames is a skilled writer of body horror--descriptions of the monster moving and shifting are as clear as they are horrifying. An homage to John Carpenter's The Thing (with references to other giants in the horror canon, from Frankenstein to The Shining), Ames' second novel is delightfully gruesome and truly scary. A must-read for horror fans.

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Starred review from November 18, 2022

Gr 8 Up-This is a fun and scary horror send-up. Beginning with a quote from John Carpenter's The Thing, this novel immediately clues readers in to its simple premise; it's The Thing, but with teenagers. A group of teen interns in the Antarctic think they are collecting environmental samples, but they are actually there as part of a tech billionaire's plot to capture a shapeshifting monster. When the monster inevitably escapes, it begins to infect the teens with a flesh-eating virus, collecting them into a hivemind. Many elements are referential to 1970s and 1980s horror and action films-The Breakfast Club set of teen characters, the final girl hunting the monster back with a flamethrower, etc. This story definitely leans into tropes with an enjoyable effect, including a positive reversal of romantic tropes with an asexual main character. This edge-of-your-seat, action-packed story is perfect for teens looking for a scary winter read. Some body horror elements may be disturbing to sensitive readers, and this story contains strong language. VERDICT Highly recommended for horror fans.-Jeri Murphy

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