Tag: HP Lovecraft

Posted in Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Cosmic horror lets loose in the Hamptons?! You’ve Awoken Her

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

You’ve Awoken Her, by Ann Dávila Cardinal, (June 2025, HarperCollins), $19.99, ISBN: 9780063299559

Ages 12+

HOLY COW, folks, you are going to love this book. I’ve been on a bit of a spooky kick for a little bit, and this tale was everything I needed between two tidy covers. Gabriel – Gabi to his friends – is a kid living in Astoria, Queens. His best friend, Ruthie, has moved away and is living the posh life in the Hamptons, and he’s on his way to spend some time with her, despite a warning from a complete stranger on the train platform that “they’ve awoken her”. It’s New York, he figures it’s nonsense – despite that creepy feeling in his gut – and heads to the Hamptons, where he sees Ruthie is a party girl and so different from the girl he knew. And he’s not thrilled with her smug rich-boy boyfriend, Frost, either. When a woman drowns by the water at one of Frost’s parties, AND he sees what looks suspiciously like a tentacle near the drowning woman – he starts digging into the town’s secrets. When more residents start dying, Gabi knows that his discomfort is about so much more than Hamptons society: he’s sure Frost is behind this somehow. Now, he just has to convince Ruthie that he’s not jealous of her new boyfriend or new lifestyle. Cardinal hooks readers from page one and doesn’t let up, introducing exciting characters and creepy scenarios. She also takes on Lovecraft by reframing cosmic horror in an inclusive, diverse lens: Gabi is Puerto Rican; there are LGBTQ+ characters in the story. More importantly, Cardinal addresses Lovecraft’s shortcomings within the story while creating a new way of reading and enjoying works influenced by his ideas. Don’t miss this book – it’s a good one.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen

Fathomless – Lovecraft-inspired fantasy

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

9780765335906_be583Fathomless (Redemption’s Heir, #2), by Anne M. Pillsworth (Oct. 2015, Tor Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780765335906

Recommended for ages 13+

The second book in Anne M. Pillsworth’s Lovecraft-inspired Redemption’s Heir series, Fathomless, picks up where Summoned leaves off. Sean, having learned his magical heritage, is studying magic with his friend, Eddy, and a new classmate, Daniel, who has secrets of his own. The last time Sean played around with magic, though, all hell broke loose – it turns out that HP Lovecraft was writing fiction based on some pretty real happenings – so his teachers are a bit worried about Sean’s desire to jump right back into spellcasting, especially when an ever darker branch on his family tree makes itself known.

As Eddy and Sean become closer friends with Daniel, though, they find themselves mired deeper and deeper in magic and intrigue. Sean ultimately turns to Reverend Orne one more time for help – the same Reverend Orne who was responsible for Sean’s magical awakening and the fallout that followed. Family secrets and Lovecraftian beings abound in this continuing story, with plenty of intrigue and magic for everyone. If your teens have moved on from Harry Potter but haven’t dipped a toe into Lev Grossman’s The Magicians yet, this is the book for them. It’s Arkham without the mind-bending madness.

Sean is an interesting character. He’s a kid trying to figure out his place in the magical world, and he’s fully aware that the grownups in his life are either keeping things from him or holding him back. Eddy is a good sidekick – she’s more reasonable but isn’t above bending a rule or two to help her friends out, and Daniel’s the most intriguing character of all, with a family history shrouded in secrecy and magic and a conflicted relationship with both parents for very different reasons. I’d love to see a book focus on Daniel’s beginnings,  maybe even a short story, along the lines of “Geldman’s Pharmacy”, set in the same world as the Redemption’s Heir adventures. (nudge, nudge)

A familiarity with HP Lovecraft isn’t necessary to enjoy this book, but reading the first book in the series is recommended. Definitely have some HP Lovecraft on hand for readers who want to learn more – his work is available for free via the H.P. Lovecraft Archive, and any library worth its salt will have at least one copy of his work.