This attempt at a rags-to-riches tale of a wannabe pop superstar delivers more whining than wailing.
Blessed with an impressive four-octave vocal range, 17-year-old Marisol Reyes is ready to make a name for herself in the glamorous and perilous world of the music industry.
When a YouTube video of Marisol goes viral, she soon finds herself performing and partying with top stars, many of whom are drawn from current pop culture (Jay-Z and Beyoncé make cameos, for instance). Her ambition leads to jealousy among her friends and tension in her on-again, off-again relationship with her high school boyfriend. As Marisol inches closer to realizing her dream, she discovers that the music business has its own rules. Despite tedious stretches of song lyrics, the plot in Menna’s debut moves quickly, with short chapters full of frenemies, fashion, relationship status changes and sexual innuendo. Marisol flip-flops between independence and naïveté as she navigates how much of herself she is willing to compromise in order to get ahead. Unfortunately, her self-centeredness makes it difficult to empathize with her struggle. She is scathingly judgmental of the people around her yet easily intimidated by those whom she perceives as powerful, especially men. With so many strong female protagonists in young-adult literature, one wonders if today’s teen readers will be willing to endure Marisol’s constant pouting.
This attempt at a rags-to-riches tale of a wannabe pop superstar delivers more whining than wailing. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: June 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4405-6105-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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
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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