Review by Booklist Review
Jackson (Grown, 2020) takes her first plunge into horror in this blend of Candy Man and Get Out, wherein a newly blended family looking for a fresh start becomes the victim of their new home's violent past. That home is in the Midwestern town of Cedarville, an area being revitalized by an arts foundation, which has awarded teenaged Mari's mother its first residency. Almost immediately, their "new" house starts throwing out some seriously strange vibes--doors open by themselves, objects disappear--and local legends give more clout to hags and hauntings than Mari likes to admit. Clear racial divides exist in Cedarville from a war on drugs waged disproportionately on its Black community, and while Mari and her side of the family are Black, her new stepfather and his daughter are white, which adds another interesting dynamic to the story. As Mari tries to manage her anxiety, a recent drug addiction, and a crush on a boy at school, things at home escalate into a hair-raising finale that proves Jackson knows her way around the genre.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Jackson consistently turns out quality writing and compelling stories. Her many fans know this and won't hesitate to give horror a try.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
After being expelled from her Carmel, Calif., high school for drug use, Black former track star Marigold Anderson moves to Detroit-inspired Cedarville with her newly blended, interracial family. To get a new start and recoup the steep cost of Mari's rehab stay, they'll be living rent-free at an artists' residency, in a renovated historic house, while Mari's author mother writes a new book. But when the family arrives, it slowly becomes clear that there's something sinister about the new home--and that everybody knows about it but them. As references to systemic ills pile up, it becomes clear that the murderous and racist history of the predominantly Black subdivision is about to rear its furious head. Amid the family's struggle to adapt to the strangely desolate town is Mari's mission to secure a weed connection to help her cope with anxiety and delusional parasitosis. Plot progression is scattered among a number of unresolved threads, and Mari's addiction-induced tunnel vision takes center stage to the detriment of other components, but Jackson delivers multilayered frights in a true horror tradition, peppered with instantly recognizable references to urban legends and internet horror culture. Ages 14--up. Agent: Natalie Lakosil, Bradford Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Teenage Marigold is an unreliable narrator, and she knows it. A bedbug infestation several years ago triggered an anxiety disorder that led to a dependency on marijuana and Percocet. So when she and her newly blended family move to Cedarville, she keeps her observations about their new house to herself; her desire not to arouse suspicion in her mother, who worries about Marigold relapsing, is more intense than her fear of strange noises and odd odors--at least, at first. But questions arise: Why are the other houses on the block gutted and burnt? Why does her stepsister, Piper, suddenly have an imaginary best friend? And can the family really trust the Sterling Foundation, which offered Marigold's mother, a writer, a residency supposedly intended to help Cedarville flourish? Though Jackson masterfully weaves in references to everything from The Shining to Paranormal Activity, hers is a wholly original take on the haunted house genre. The novel will have readers racing for the conclusion, but the electrifying finale will linger, as will Jackson's commentary on race, class, gentrification, and exploitation. Marigold, her mother, and her brother are Black, while Marigold's stepfather and stepsister are white. VERDICT Jackson is one of the most innovative YA suspense writers in recent years, and her latest is no exception. Spellbinding and thought-provoking.--Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A family already at odds tries to survive the whims of a haunted house. Jackson, who penned thrillers Allegedly (2017) and Monday's Not Coming (2018), proves that her skills in suspense carry over to the horror genre. Anxiety-ridden Mari, recovering from substance abuse, tries to start anew when her family leaves California and moves into a newly renovated home in the Midwestern town of Cedarville. She's relocating with brother Sammy, stepsister Piper, stepfather Alec, and her mother, whose acceptance into a 3-year artist residency lets them stay rent-free in a new house that looks perfect on the outside. However, certain things ring alarm bells: a basement they're instructed never to enter, construction workers who refuse to stay in the house past the afternoon, and the stories circulating around the neighborhood about what happened there. As Mari unravels the mysteries around her, she must try to avoid relapsing into bad habits; contain her dizzying, trauma-born phobia of bedbugs; and avoid the wrath of entities who wish her harm. Jackson conjures horrors both supernatural and otherwise in a masterful juxtaposition of searing social commentary and genuinely creepy haunts, as well as providing an authentic portrayal of tensions within a blended family. Mari, Sammy, and her mother are Black; Alec and Piper are White. Begs to be finished in one sitting, though maybe with the lights kept on. (Horror. 14-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
