THE DARK WON'T WAIT

Fifteen-year-old Dominic Cantrell is focused on baseball, getting his license, the school play he’s (reluctantly) acting in, and spending time with his two best friends, Farhad Shirvani and Mia Stark. That is, until Farhad’s family’s drugstore is burgled and vandalized in what is clearly a hate crime, and the girl Dom is dating turns out to have a complicated connection to a recent murder. These events push Dom into the role of a young Sherlock Holmes, tailing a car at night, recruiting his friends to observe suspicious interactions, and landing himself in extremely dangerous situations. The story moves along quickly, but this pace comes at the expense of details such as robust character development and descriptions. Farhad’s dad is from Pakistan, but this information doesn’t appear until a third of the way into the book (Dom and Mia are white). Deeply important conversations about racism, hate crimes, and depression arise, but the characters discuss the subjects only shallowly. Some of the teenspeak feels inauthentic and cliched. Ultimately, the novel deals with a very adult mystery disappointingly, merely scratching the surface of what could have been a more nuanced, believable story.

Feb 15, 2025 - 07:05

Fifteen-year-old Dominic Cantrell is focused on baseball, getting his license, the school play he’s (reluctantly) acting in, and spending time with his two best friends, Farhad Shirvani and Mia Stark. That is, until Farhad’s family’s drugstore is burgled and vandalized in what is clearly a hate crime, and the girl Dom is dating turns out to have a complicated connection to a recent murder. These events push Dom into the role of a young Sherlock Holmes, tailing a car at night, recruiting his friends to observe suspicious interactions, and landing himself in extremely dangerous situations. The story moves along quickly, but this pace comes at the expense of details such as robust character development and descriptions. Farhad’s dad is from Pakistan, but this information doesn’t appear until a third of the way into the book (Dom and Mia are white). Deeply important conversations about racism, hate crimes, and depression arise, but the characters discuss the subjects only shallowly. Some of the teenspeak feels inauthentic and cliched. Ultimately, the novel deals with a very adult mystery disappointingly, merely scratching the surface of what could have been a more nuanced, believable story.