Ambitious, but sadly disconnected and undeveloped.
Fifteen-year-old Reena dreams of graduating early from high school and studying at Northwestern to become a travel writer, but all that takes a back seat when her forever crush, Sawyer LeGrande, turns his green-eyed gaze on her.
Reena, a self-professed ice queen, has managed to keep her feelings about Sawyer to herself, but when he begins dating her best friend, Allie, everything comes rushing to the surface. A tragic event nearly derails Reena and Sawyer’s romance before it can begin, but an irresistible chemistry pulls them together despite their sorrow. Reena falls fast and hard for Sawyer, but he is caught in a downward spiral of addiction that threatens to pull both of them under. Believing a separation is best for them both, Sawyer disappears for two years, leaving Reena alone and pregnant. “Before” chapters chronicle Reena and Sawyer’s tumultuous romance, while “After” chapters tell of Sawyer’s return and Reena’s simultaneous attempts to punish him or forgive him. The clunky back-and-forth construction robs the story of its heart, throwing Reena’s emotional stagnation and Sawyer’s complete turnaround into question. The undeniably passionate relationship feels as flat and immature in the end as when it began.
Ambitious, but sadly disconnected and undeveloped. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-221635-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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