Starred review from January 17, 2022
Bram Stoker Award–winning YA author White (Camelot Rising) makes her adult debut with an enthralling, high-energy thriller grounded in supernatural horror. Fourteen contestants are dropped off in an abandoned amusement park for a weeklong game of extreme hide-and-seek with a massive cash prize. Among them is Mackenzie “Mack” Black, recruited through the homeless shelter where she’s been staying. Mack is skilled at making herself invisible, having survived her father’s massacre of her family by hiding. But as players develop alliances and rivalries, it becomes clear to some that there’s more than money at stake, while others uncover the horrors lurking in the park. White’s depictions of players other than Mack begin in stereotype, but she gradually reveals enough emotional depth in each that, by the time they become a team determined to survive, the reader is ready to cheer them on in both their escape and their satisfying revenge against those who would treat them as disposable. White skillfully balances the terrifying solo experiences of individual characters, the tense group dynamics, and the park’s backstory to create a constantly shifting narrative backed by a growing sense of dread. With this exhilarating outing, White proves she has a finger on the pulse of millennial horror.
April 1, 2022
Transitioning from YA fiction following the conclusion of her Camelot Rising trilogy (starting with The Guinevere Deception, 2019), White makes her adult debut with a contemporary thriller centered around a classic Greek myth, with just a touch of reality-show flair. Fourteen people desperate to make a fresh start have more in common than they know. That connection makes them prime candidates for the contest for which they have been selected: a competition based on a children's game, set in an isolated, long-forgotten amusement park, with a fabulous monetary prize for the winner. All they have to do is stay hidden from a mysterious seeker for a week. The shifting viewpoints of contestants and event organizers open a window to background and motivation and offer insight into the purpose behind the game while building tension as each contender is eliminated. The suspenseful plot combines elements of Thomas Tryon's classic Harvest Home, Netflix's Squid Games, and the social commentary of Jordan Peele's film oeuvre and mixes these with a revelatory pacing reminiscent of Spielberg's Jaws. Horror enthusiasts will devour this devilishly clever story.
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April 1, 2022
When Mack receives an invitation to participate in a hide-and-seek competition with a $50,000 prize, she's living in a homeless shelter and still wracked with guilt over surviving her family's murders years earlier. She and 13 other young people are taken to an abandoned amusement park, where they're told they must hide during daylight hours and that the first two members of their group to be found every day will be out of the competition. The competitors include a wannabe influencer, a young man banished from his religious sect, a lesbian veteran, an underemployed striver, and a kindly gas station attendant. They soon realize that whatever is seeking them in the park is not human. White's (The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein) adult debut still feels fundamentally like a YA novel. The prose is simplistic, and though the characters are out of their teens, most of them are emotionally stunted from trauma and seem younger (one has her first kiss ever during the competition). The idea that generational wealth requires violence to sustain it is delivered with an anvil, while the horror elements are underbaked; there are very few actual scares to be found. VERDICT This mashup of The Breakfast Club and The Hunger Games may appeal to young teens, but it's not recommended for adult horror readers.--Stephanie Klose
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from September 25, 2023
This stylish and spooky comics adaptation of White’s novel from Peterson (Truckus Maximus) with artwork by Fish (the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series) reveals the horrors society will sink to in order to uphold the status quo. Mack’s a quiet survivor, but she’s at the end of her rope—and the limit of her time allotment at a women’s shelter. She and 13 other quirky hopefuls (including a social media influencer, a YouTube prankster, a military vet, and a cult survivor) learn of a competition with the life-changing prize of $50,000. To win, they have to spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park. From dawn to dusk, the only objective is to stay unseen, but what happens if someone’s caught out? When blood and the abandoned belongings of missing participants are found, suspicions arise about how cruel this game could get—and who benefits in the end from these folks staying invisible. Some players find a clever spot to stay safe together, while others risk everything to save one another. The bold art captures the creepy, run-down carny vibe with aplomb, and dramatic coloring (by Andy Fish) punches up action sequences. This Hunger Games–esque saga feels destined for the big screen.