Publisher's Weekly Review
Rhuday-Perkovich (Operation Sisterhood) pens a darkly atmospheric love letter to siblinghood in this speculative foray into processing grief, guilt, and shame. Following an argument between the siblings, 14-year-old Nigerian American Harriet Adu's older brother Tunde dies in a school shooting, leaving Harriet with the sharp guilt of having wished his death upon him that same day. Admitting her remorse in Catholic confessionals throughout New York City has yet to resolve any of the lingering shame, and she lashes out at her cousin Nikka and Tunde's best friend, Luke, who are both Black. Attempting to rekindle their friendship, the trio visit a local pool where Harriet finds catharsis in swimming. But an intrusive, biting voice, coupled with terrifying hallucinations, glimpses of Tunde's ghost, and an unearthly near-drowning, shatters Harriet's peaceful release. After she receives cryptic information about a haunted underground world, Harriet realizes that the horrifying events at the pool may be connected. With Nikka and Luke, Harriet ventures into the mysterious realm beneath the city, seeking answers and--hopefully--absolution. Uneven pacing sometimes detracts from the captivating premise. Rhuday-Perkovich nevertheless employs Harriet's resolute narrative voice to relay the fantastical happenings, as well as her determined steps toward healing, with careful sensitivity and refreshing creativity. Ages 12--up. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Jan.)
Horn Book Review
Fourteen-year-old Harriet is convinced she's responsible for her older brother Tunde's tragic death and wishes more than anything that she could take back the cruel words she spoke to him that fateful morning. Others' efforts to surround Harriet with community (her mother transfers her to her cousin Nikka's school) and to look out for her (Tunde's friend Luke promised to) prove less than helpful. Harriet's solace is swimming, but that small joy is shattered when she begins to see her brother's face in the pool and is pulled underwater by an unknown force. New classmate Alisia seems to be an ally, but there's something strange about her. In an attempt to discover the truth, Nikka and Luke join Harriet in an underground journey into a fantasy world. As the line between what's real and what isn't begins to blur in Harriet's mind, she dreams of a new world for herself -- one where she is forgiven. In this moving work, Rhuday-Perkovich has created characters whose internal struggles are palpable and an intriguing narrative with both tension and introspection that delves into themes of guilt, redemption, and the possibility of second chances. Eboni NjokuMarch/April 2024 p.100 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A guilt-stricken 14-year-old Nigerian American girl in Harlem travels with her cousin and her brother's best friend on an underground odyssey as she tries to make sense of her grief. The murder of Harriet Adu's older brother, Tunde, in a shooting at their old school fractured her family. Attending a new school, where her reputation as "The Girl Whose Brother Died" follows her, hasn't made Harriet feel any less lonely. Even the presence of Nikka (her cousin) and attempts by Luke (Tunde's best friend) to support her can't blot out the guilt she feels over the last words she said to her brother during a fight on the morning of the day he died: "I wish you were dead." The swimming pool, once the only place where Harriet felt safe, becomes strangely malevolent when an unseen force attacks her in the water. Soon after, a new classmate named Alisia arrives and, with her talk of people living in subway tunnels and stories that are "different the second time around," seemingly offers Harriet a pathway to the absolution that she seeks. Visions of Tunde and a near-drowning lead Luke and Nikka to help Harriet figure out what's going on. Although the backstory of the underground world isn't sufficiently revealed, the genre-crossing elements and the story's surreal fun house vibe will keep readers on the edges of their seats. A highly original tale exploring grief and weaving together the realistic and fantastical. (Speculative fiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After her brother dies at the hands of a school shooter, Harriet can only think of how she had wished death upon him earlier that morning. Her friends and family have tried to support her through the tragedy, but she keeps them distant. A conversation with a mysterious girl at school provides a ray of hope: an underground magic school beneath the streets of New York City that could help Harriet save her brother--for a price. What follows is an odyssey, both physical and metaphysical, into the bowels of the city--and of Harriet's own soul--to grapple with her role in her brother's death. While this novel begins conventionally, it reveals itself as an avant-garde piece of literature with the introduction of the underground. Passages and even whole chapters take on a decidedly surreal, fever-dream quality to match the confusion Harriet feels in the wake of her brother's senseless murder. This may be a challenging text for some readers; nevertheless, its raw, intense, and utterly unique exploration of grief and guilt is well worth the effort.
