Readers who want the answer will have to wait for the sequel.
The undemanding sequel to Incarnate (2012) goes down slow but easy, leaving characters poised for a third book.
Singular newsoul Ana finds herself increasingly isolated in the wake of the catastrophic Templedark her biological father engineered, in which almost 80 souls were permanently killed after thousands of years of reincarnation. Far too many of the remaining oldsouls have grown increasingly distrustful of Ana, even becoming violent. When more newsouls are born to fill the new void in souls, they attract hostility as well. The romantic tension established between Ana and guardian/not-quite-lover Sam in the first book continues, with lots of steamy kissing and little else, as angst (Ana: can a newsoul truly love? what about all his lovers from his many past lives? Sam: he’s meant to be Ana’s guardian, not her lover) predictably ends the consummating clinch over and over. Things are brought to a head by the escalating violence against pregnant women and baby newsouls, sending a reluctant Ana back into the Temple to confront the godlike, hostile entity Janan to find answers. A recognizable, modern-day question of ethics threads its way through the pedestrian prose of Ana’s first-person narration: Is the unborn soul more or less worthy of life than the one that is already in the world?
Readers who want the answer will have to wait for the sequel. (Dystopian romance. 13 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-206078-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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