Reviewed by: Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Linsmeier, Amanda Starlings. Delacorte, 2023 [336p] Library ed. ISBN 9780593572344 $22.99 Trade ed. ISBN 9780593572337 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593572351 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 7-10 In the wake of her writer father's suicide, seventeen-year-old Kit Starling hopes that a visit to meet Agatha, the grandmother she believed long dead, can bring some closure. All she gets, however, are more questions: Agatha keeps going to mysterious [End Page 295] meetings and returning with bruises, Kit's mother suddenly disappears, and the overly cozy town of Rosemont is wholly occupied with the upcoming Crowning Day Festival. If girls preparing to wear white dresses and flower crowns for a mysterious celebration doesn't clue readers to something creepy going on, the reverence with which the townsfolk treat Agatha and Kit herself certainly will. Sure enough, in the tradition of seemingly perfect towns built on something nasty, generations of Starling women have held to a bargain their settler ancestor made with a malignant being to put an end to rampant fear, madness, and cannibalism that almost ended the town centuries ago. Linsmeier ably builds suspense and thoroughly commits to the concept as Kit discovers she's expected to hew to tradition and sacrifice herself. Human grief blends with supernatural horror, and readers are asked to ponder exactly how much people are willing to exchange for prosperity and comfort—as long as someone else is paying the price. Fans of the protagonists in Ciccarelli's Edgewood (BCCB 12/21) or Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms (BCCB 02/23) will appreciate Kit's determination to dig into the ugly underside of a place that could otherwise offer her a desperately needed sense of community. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois