Kill Creatures – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Secrets, lies, jealousy and revenge.
YA book title: Kill Creatures.
YA author: Rory Power.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Thriller.
Published by: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9780702340277.
Recommended for children aged: 14+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback June 2024.
This YA book is ideal for: KS3 & KS4 children who enjoy fast paced, unfiltered page turners, which keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.
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Our review:
Nan is the only survivor of her friendship group and the only one of her four friends who returns from a boat trip down to the canyon and Devil’s Eye swimming hole one hot afternoon last summer. She is unable to tell the police how or why her three friends disappeared, or where they are now.
A year later, during the community vigil held in memory of her missing friends, a gruesome shadow is spotted in the canyon. Although Nan is hopeful it is the body of Lucy, she is horrified to discover that Lucy is alive, even though Nan is convinced that this would be impossible, especially as she killed her and her other two friends.
In Kill Creatures, Rory Power delivers a mesmerising psychological thriller that twists conventional teenage narratives into something far more unsettling. Power’s razor-sharp prose cuts through the veneer of adolescent drama to expose the raw, sometimes monstrous impulses that lurk beneath.
The novel follows an unreliable narrator whose seemingly ordinary high school experiences – crushes, shifting friendships and petty rivalries – gradually reveal themselves to be pieces of a much darker puzzle. Power expertly navigates the murky waters of teenage emotion, transforming familiar coming-of-age elements into weapons within a meticulously crafted revenge plot.
What distinguishes Kill Creatures is Power’s examination of how trauma and desire can reshape a young mind. The author refuses to romanticise or simplify her protagonist’s journey, instead creating a character study that’s as disturbing as it is compelling.
By the time you reach the book’s devastating conclusion, you’ll realise that Power has been laying traps throughout the narrative – subtle clues and misdirections that culminate in a haunting, twisted ending.
Our verdict:
The novel is a must-read for those who appreciate psychological depth, unreliable narrators, and stories that refuse to provide easy moral answers. Kill Creatures is an essential addition to your reading list.
Many thanks to Scholastic for the review copy.
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