While the love is so at-first-sight as to be clichéd and the cultural issues problematic, this debut is otherwise sensitive,...
Time-slips on a time crunch give a teenage girl a long shot at love.
Natalie had thought therapy had banished her favorite hallucination, a mysteriously knowing old woman who calls herself Grandmother and tells Natalie world creation tales and Native American legends. But now she’s returned, with a cryptic message: Natalie only has three months to save an unknown “him.” Before Natalie can puzzle this out, she starts experiencing strange time-slips into an alternate reality where small things are different, centering on a handsome boy who disappears and reappears, a boy to whom Natalie feels an immediate connection. But these moments are unpredictable and disturbing, and Grandmother’s warning hangs overhead, forcing Natalie to spend her last summer before college trying to solve a mystery rooted in suppressed trauma from her past. Natalie, a Native American adoptee, already deals with identity issues that parallel the split worlds she finds herself bouncing between. Moments of introspection are balanced by fully realized secondary characters and occasional moments of hilarity. The story begins slowly but picks up speed and intensity as the clock runs out, ending in a conclusion of intricate twists. Natalie’s specific tribal heritage is unknown, and her search for identity informs the plot in artful ways; although issues surrounding the ethics of cross-cultural adoption and cultural appropriation are carefully touched upon, it’s still hard not to see Natalie’s background as a plot device more than anything else.
While the love is so at-first-sight as to be clichéd and the cultural issues problematic, this debut is otherwise sensitive, lyrical, and deftly plotted. (Speculative fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59514-850-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
A promising premise that’s lacking in spice.
A fall romance with a New England backdrop.
Autumn leaves aren’t the only stunning thing to hit the town of Briar Glen—so has good-looking new boy Jack Harper, and Lucy Kane is enamored with both. Her new crush is the perfect thing to take her mind off the fact that Java Junction, part of a global chain, is opening across the street from Cup o’ Jo, Lucy’s mother’s coffee shop, where they take pride in baking everything from scratch and avoiding artificial ingredients. But there’s more than coincidence in the timing of the arrivals of both Jack and Java Junction: The Harper family moved to Briar Glen specifically to open this franchise location, which will bring competition that threatens Cup o’ Jo. This scenario has the makings of a perfect autumnal adversaries-to-lovers romance, but the writing lacks charm and chemistry. Jack seems to be completely enamored with Lucy, but her character isn’t sufficiently developed to warrant his attention. Lucy’s friends are continually supportive of her but have few distinguishing characteristics, and the story is weakened by confusing timelines and repetitive elements. The resolution relies upon successes that come too easily and do not feel earned. Major characters are cued white.
A promising premise that’s lacking in spice. (Romance. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781339030753
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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