Thrilling mysteries from Argentina, Denmark and Korea – World Kid Lit
Today we introduce three great YA novels that will keep you turning the pages including The Darkness of Color, winner of the 2025 Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated Young Adult Prize and translated by Claire Storey, our former co-editor.
By Catherine Venner
Imagine you’ve never really fitted in; that all your life, you have stood out, and been the subject of both fear and ridicule. And then one morning, a letter arrives inviting you to attend a test for admission to an exclusive finishing school. This is precisely what happens to the four heroines in the first book of Gry Kappel Jensen’s Rosenholm Trilogy.
However, there is a snag: each of the girls has an innate power belonging to one of the four elements of magic that they must learn to control at Rosenholm Academy. The girls, whose backgrounds are as different as their magical skills, are assigned to be roommates and despite their initial differences over the course of the year become loyal friends.
Boys and girls are kept strictly apart in school, but that does not stop romance blossoming; Kirstine, who is slightly older than the others, falls for her teacher, while Victoria catches the eye of one of the older boys, a shapeshifter whose magic is so powerful it may destroy the school. After a death occurs at the school and the spirit of an old pupil tries to contact them, the girls must pool all their skills to prevent another killing and to save the school in a dramatic conclusion.
Told alternately from the perspectives of all four girls, and interspersed with lines of poetry, letters and mysterious text messages, Gry Kappel Jensen taps into the feelings and fears of young adults creating a relatable world despite being based in the realms of fantasy. And although romance is a feature, the theme of friendship is strong.
Translated from Danish by Sharon E. Rhodes, Roses and Violets is suitable for young adult readers.
In the Darkness of Colours we travel back to Argentina at the turn of the 20th century. We meet Alejandro, a journalist who is asked to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy businessman’s daughter, who was taken from their home as a baby and has now mysteriously reappeared, apparently with no memory of the last 25 years. Alejandro takes on the case and meets with the beautiful Amira but is also unable to tease any memory from her.
Seeking new ways to help Amira, he attends a public talk by the hypnotist Máximo Landore, who he then engages to hypnotise Amira. Under hypnosis Amira describes one of her kidnappers as a sailor. Alejandro seeks him out, but is attacked at the harbour. The next day, the body of the sailor is discovered, having been brutally murdered and then artistically arranged. More murders of a similar nature occur, and it becomes clear they are connected to the five missing children.
Interspersed among the narrative are excerpts from the diary of J.F. Andrew, a scientist running experiments on five kidnapped babies. He keeps them in isolation, subjects them to various conditions and refers to them by the name of colours. The only exception is White, who he allows to live a normal life as the “control subject”.
As we follow Alejandro’s investigations and read more passages of J.F. Andrew’s diary, the pieces of the mysterious puzzle slowly come together. The fast-paced thriller comes to an end when Alejandro is faced with a dramatic choice: will he allow one of the characters to live? Or should revenge be allowed to run its course?
Martín Blasco’s YA novel delves into the nature versus nurture debate and makes us ask ourselves what are our innate human qualities. Played out against a period setting and in Claire Storey’s smooth translation, The Darkness of Colours will keep young adult readers gripped.
Chobahm lives with her mother, grandmother and brother in a frozen world, in which the only source of employment is at the factory generating energy to power “Snowglobe”, a world full of luxury where each inhabitant stars in their own reality TV series. Although life is hard and food is in short supply, Chobahm finds solace in these shows, in particular those centring around the Goh family, whose daughter, Hari, bares a striking resemblance to Chobahm.
Chobahm’s dream is to become a director, so when the great Director Cha visits her and asks for a favour, Chobahm cannot refuse. However, Chobahm is to take Hari’s place in the reality show for a couple of months while Hari recovers from an undisclosed illness.
Transported to a world of glitz and glamour, Chobahm discovers she, or rather Hari, has been given the prestigious job of weather reader enabling her to pick the weather that will be engineered in the Snowglobe the next day. However, she soon discovers not all is as it seems. During the brief camera breaks, the seemingly perfect Goh family reveals its teeth. On visiting the presidential palace, she gets lost, is transported through mirrors and catches a disturbing glimpse of prisoners working below the surface to create energy.
After a chance meeting, Chobahm slowly begins to suspect that she is not the only Hari look-alike but she is then sent to live with Director Cha’s sister outside Snowglobe. Chobahm discovers that there are other look-alikes in all districts thanks to a state-sponsored project and soon Chobahm is plotting to expose all to the public in a daring take-over of the TV station. But what are the consequences of the big reveal? Readers are left on tenterhooks to discover what happens next in the sequel (to be released May 2025).
Snowglobe is a fast-paced dystopian thriller that feeds the imagination and taps into the obsession with reality TV. There are twists around every corner and the writing is both concise and evocative, leaving the reader desperate to read more. Chobahm is a worthy heroine, with likable and identifiable traits and ambitions. Joungmin Lee Comfort’s translation keeps the pace of the novel going, providing a great escapist read for young adults.
Catherine Venner is a translator from German, and occasionally Swedish. She loves reading in a variety of languages and has a particular weakness for young adult mysteries. When she is not reading or translating, she can be found with the three Cs: her cat, a bar of chocolate and a crochet project.
