(3) YA After learning that her archaeologist father's death was faked by "crazy-pants cultists" hell-bent on resurrecting the Egyptian god of chaos, eighteen-year-old Memphis ("M") races to locate ancient artifacts to trade for her father's life. Smart and spunky, M jets around the world--and shares narration--with Ash Sood, a member of a rival cult. Mythology, religion, and magic broaden this international adventure novel.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Cult leader Jonathan Thorne dupes Gabe and his friends into merging the hellish dimension of Arcadia with San Francisco. Thorne's victory seems inevitable, but the young elementalists have one last chance to prevent the villain from transforming the entire world. This finale maintains the series hallmarks of multifaceted characters and astonishing powers but is hampered by an overly long climactic battle.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) YA Things didn't end well (in Blood and Salt) between Ash and her blood-bonded love, Dane. But when he returns with an ambitious plan that involves finding her missing twin brother, Ash agrees to help. In spite of some flat secondary characters, this atmospheric tale's exploration of alchemy, fate, and the Gothic mystery at its center should enthrall fans of tortured romances.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(3) 4-6 In this origin story, future Black Panther T'Challa is twelve and attending middle school in Chicago while his father the king deals with a hostile invasion of Wakanda. From this unlikely premise Smith weaves a taut and nuanced tale as T'Challa must keep his identity secret, negotiate a new culture, make friends, and uncover and foil the scheme of a dangerous dark-magic cult.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) YA Because Rooney's mother truly believes that she'll be departing Earth with the Next World Society this November, it's up to high-school senior Rooney to navigate the pressures of this world for her younger brother and herself. Van Dam thoughtfully considers how mental illness interacts with the scariness of the modern world while simultaneously honoring how hard it is just to get through high school.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(2) YA In this hair-raising Australian import, the Special Ones live on a secluded farm, brainwashed into believing they have been reincarnated; their main task is providing spiritual guidance to their internet followers. A sharp (clearly intentional) midpoint plot-turn helps define the book as an affecting study of psychological manipulation and emotional resilience. Bailey's latest thriller features an impressively eerie tone, goosebumps-inducing atmosphere, and genuine surprises.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(4) YA Seventeen-year-old Van and her caretaker, Ida, have always lived a peripatetic existence thanks to Van's mother, an inspired businesswoman prone to erraticism. When the trio arrives in Las Vegas, Van begins to forge her own identity in a rock band. This moving coming-of-age story unfortunately veers off course when Van's mother disappears into the desert with a cult and the teen must bring her home.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Having escaped the Eternal Dawn on Alcatraz, Gabe and his fellow child-elementalists (The Emerald Tablet) must combine their powers to destroy the hellish dimension of Arcadia. While the Dawn cultists work to merge Earth with Arcadia and to resurrect their leader, a traitor close to Gabe could ruin everything. Despite overdone gore and a convoluted plot, the novel's deepening character relationships and stunning magic will satisfy fans.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) YA After his father dies, Clay can't ignore signs of devil worship in his small Oklahoma town. As fellow teens start dying, Clay has to figure out what's real and what's his own delusion. Clay's unreliable narration is the source of much of the tension. Readers interested in religious horror may be able to look past the jumbled plot to follow the mystery.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) YA Cara has always been the one organizing her best friend Mailee's life; but when Cara gets swept up in a remote-Montana commune that seems more like a cult, Mailee must take charge for a change to save her friend. A riveting premise, topical issues, and a realistic portrayal of teen friendship are pluses, but the story is marred by its far-fetched climax.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) 4-6 Taken from a constantly illuminated cult compound, Zylynn seeks to return by her thirteenth birthday, before she misses her "Rite of Passage" and the outside "Darkness" consumes her. The possibility of a new start--with color, shampoo, and other seeming luxuries--is tempting, but Zylynn resists reintegration into the outside world. Her internal conflict grounds an affecting exploration of truth, belief, and family.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. When Gabe and his three friends enact a binding ritual (thinking it will secure their friendship forever), they inadvertently join themselves to mystical powers. Together with a ghostly boy, they must use their new abilities to stop a cult bent on fusing Earth with a hellish parallel dimension. Surprisingly gruesome at times, the convoluted story is bolstered by complex characters and dazzling elemental powers.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(2) YA Bex does not consider herself a survivalist. She's "about the prep, not the politics or racist bullshit"; a "realist who plans to survive" whatever disaster occurs. But when closeted lesbian Bex meets Lucy and they start a relationship, Bex's world becomes infinitely more complicated. Readers are sure to be drawn in by Bex's unusual perspective and her heart-wrenching, timely story.

Reviewer: Kazia Berkley-Cramer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(3) YA Breezy knows she's undead but not much else. Why can she identify murderers, kill with a touch, and steal memories? Breezy explores the grim world of paranormal creatures--including monsters worse than herself--but can't progress in her new existence until she faces the truth about her death. Wallace tenderly herds Breezy from avoidance to acceptance in a satisfyingly bittersweet ending.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(4) YA Stephen moves to uber-rural Michigan, where his increasingly sinister new friends believe in the local legend of the "Winged Ones," monsters who periodically demand human sacrifice. Brewer effectively mines the gray area between supernatural and psychological explanations for each strange occurrence, but the stereotypical depiction of rural residents as either ignorant bigots or psychopathic nonconformists mars the narrative.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(2) YA The cultish Church of America has converted masses into Believers anticipating the Rapture. Sixteen-year-old Vivian and best friend Harp throw an ironic Rapture party; the next morning Vivian discovers her Believer parents have vanished along with thousands of others. Determined to track them down, she embarks on a daring road trip. Coyle's debut is a unique, unpredictable apocalypse story starring a relatable protagonist.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2015

(2) YA In Vivian Apple at the End of the World, Vivian discovered that the cultlike Church of America staged the supposed Rapture. Set on bringing down the Church with this knowledge, Viv and best friend Harp join an extreme militia of anti-Church revolutionaries of which Viv's long-lost sister Winnie is a leader. Nonstop twists and breathless action are just part of this sequel's appeal.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(4) YA As a member of Righteous Path, a polygamist cult, fourteen-year-old Eva desires to be an obedient follower. When she's allowed to venture out into the heathen world, however, she begins questioning everything she's been taught. Sections of awkward dialogue and forced plot points detract from the story, but the fascinating premise will draw readers in.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(2) YA Seventeen-year-old Brother Jacob lives inside Nodd, twelve square miles of fenced-in land in Montana where "the Grace" await the End Days. Two Worldly outsiders--Lynna, who lives on a neighboring ranch, and Tobias, an angry new arrival in Nodd--push Jacob to question everything he believes in. Jacob's emotional turmoil is hauntingly believable, and the examination of religious faith and fervor is wholly absorbing.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2015

(4) YA Fifteen-year-old Pearl is ecstatic to have changed from "a child to a woman"--she can now be a Companion to the all-powerful patriarch, Papa S. But with her new status comes a more sinister view of the cult community of Seed. Pearl is occasionally an unsympathetic protagonist, but this debut novel's well-paced plot, stirring climax, and provocative concept compensate.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano