Teen Hyde

Gr 8 Up—This series installment reimagines another classic horror novel in small-town Texas, reframing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as a story about trauma and vengeance. Cassidy Hyde has already gone through a major transformation, changing her identity from a chubby mathlete to the most popular girl in school. She has sunk into a deep depression, though, that everyone assumes is the result of the events outlined in the previous installment, Teen Frankenstein, but it is actually the fallout of a brutal gang rape that she hasn't told anyone about. After Cassidy is introduced to a new party drug that makes her feel like her old self, she quickly becomes dependent on it. The side effects, which her dealer repeatedly tells her no one else experiences, are lengthy nighttime blackouts. During those times, Cassidy transforms into Marcy, a violent killer who starts picking off the rapists one by one. The chapters alternate between Cassidy and Marcy from the beginning, so readers know the score long before the characters do, zapping some propulsive energy from the book. Also distracting are the dangling plot threads surrounding the drug and its connection to the protagonist's dual personality, although Cassidy's extreme trauma could explain some of those unanswered questions. Readers looking for gruesomely described murders and a satisfying ending will find them here, but the real terror comes from the roving group of serial rapists, and the combination of sensational horror and assault trauma comes off as a little uneven.