Suitabook

Another Jekyll, another Hyde

Daniel Nayeri

Reading: Read alongside the young reader if the combination of family change, substance-related disorientation and attacks may need discussion. Pause after major revelations to separate what Thomas knows, suspects and remembers.
Themes: Responsibility under uncertainty: Thomas is presumed guilty, thought to be constantly intoxicated, affected by blackouts and trying to understand what has happened to him. The story appears to test how responsibility is judged when a person’s perception and behaviour are difficult to interpret.
Family change and trust: Thomas’s father remarries, and Thomas suspects his stepmother is involved in a supernatural plan while family circumstances become strained. The family relationship functions as part of the mystery and may invite questions about trust when adults’ motives are unclear.
Supernatural explanations for inner conflict: The book presents Thomas’s internal conflicts as becoming external in a Jekyll-and-Hyde-style situation, alongside magic and supernatural plans. The supernatural framework gives a literal form to inner conflict, allowing readers to compare magical transformation with ordinary emotional turmoil.
Worth knowing: Before reading, mention that the story includes a break-up, a parent’s remarriage, a mystery drug, blackouts, a vicious crime and students being attacked. The extent and detail of these scenes remain unclear.