Sweetest Darkness

July 15, 2024
A teen psychic takes a mind-bending journey to save his town. The Alvarado Hotel is calling to Quinn O'Brien, his best friend, June Pilsner, and his crush, Selena Garcia, in their dreams. This long-abandoned property was once the glamourous lifeblood of Gypsum, Texas (population 1,021), drawing in Hollywood starlets and directors. Quinn is trying to balance his growing feelings for Selena, grief over his grandmother's death, and the looming foreclosure on his family's land. As he tries to take on more fortunetelling clients to pay the bills, Quinn's ventures into the darkness beyond become more and more dangerous. Something--or someone--is beckoning to him and his friends from the deep, asking to be freed. Lutz ably captures the desperation of adult problems being foisted onto young shoulders. As Quinn grapples with Gram's death, he also faces the repercussions of his growing psychic gift, both from the supernatural and from his friends, who are growing concerned about his powers. The historical plotline and the journal entries threaded throughout the story are illuminating and entertaining. As the teens try to piece together what's happening and save the day, horror fans will root for them to succeed while cringing at each false step they take. The evocatively remote setting will keep readers immersed in the moment. Quinn and June read white; Selena is cued Latine. An imaginative supernatural thriller novel set in a small town you won't soon forget.(Paranormal. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 The Alvarado Hotel was once a destination for the "it" crowd in the 1930s. Then it shuttered, falling into disrepair after the Hollywood people packed up and headed back to the coasts. Like its oldest living resident, Eva Durbin (a promising leading lady in her day), the town of Gypsum, Texas, slipped into obscurity. Decades later, Quinn and his friends, June and Selena, are summoned to the old hotel through their dreams. One night, they all find themselves in front of the Alvarado, and know it isn't by chance. A transportive, supernatural cat-and-mouse game ensues as the teens try to find out who--or what--brought them there, all while the town's very existence is threatened. Moving through space and time, the novel's plot is a complex web evocative of teen dramas. Real-world problems and quirky small-town folks add to the facets of Gypsum's world, though it may not reflect what many readers want to see in 2024. A good fit for fans of Riverdale and Christopher Pike.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-This supernatural thriller opens on a dark night in Gypsum, TX. A shared recurring dream has drawn teenagers Quinn, Selena, and June to the abandoned Hotel Alvarado in search of answers. Once a stop for the rich and famous, it now draws thrill seekers and ghost hunters and pulses with disquieting energy. While the teens don't have a clear idea of what they will find, what unfolds is a mystery that spans generations and links Gypsum to an ancient force that brings destruction to everything it touches. The story weaves in a number of supernatural elements that should appeal to fans of the genre: many characters have psychic or perceptive abilities that initially defy explanation, and the creepiness of the Hotel Alvarado is an immediate draw as a location. The supernatural being that Quinn and his friends encounter effectively builds tension, especially since the human mask it wears poorly conceals its true form. Unfortunately, character development and pacing are somewhat uneven: Quinn's motivations, including his relationship with his brother Ollie, are expertly handled, but June and Selena feel like silhouettes by comparison. The last third of the book rushes to explain and tie everything together, and while there is resolution, it is a challenge to sort through it all. VERDICT The opening chapters are powerful enough to pull in reluctant readers, but later chapters require much more diligence. A secondary purchase for libraries in need of beefing up their horror/supernatural offerings.-Michael Van Wambeke

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