A complex, witty page-turner, ideal for YA fans of scandal and romance.
This hilarious, dark YA novel, the first in Wolf’s (Disarranged, 2013, etc.) Lovely Vicious series, examines the difficulties of love and high school through the scornful eyes of a teenager who’s droll beyond her years.
Isis Blake is a clever, feisty, and seemingly confident teenage girl starting her senior year of high school in Northplains, Ohio, far away from her old life in Florida. She has a secret past full of bullying and heartbreak, and she’s riddled with obsessive thoughts of a boy whom she can only refer to as “Nameless.” As a result, she’s decided to swear off love for the rest of her life, declaring, “Love…is the enemy. Do not consort with the enemy.” She encounters Jack Hunter, a guy who “talks like an Einstein clone and looks like an underwear ad,” and punches him in the face at a party for insulting her new friend Kayla, who reminds her of her former self. She soon finds herself at war with Jack, nicknamed “The Ice Prince” by other teenagers who are hopelessly in love with him, and will stop at nothing to ruin his reputation as the mystifying, self-possessed Adonis of East Summit High. This YA novel is a juicy, enthralling read, driven by a devious, over-the-top war of wits between Jack and Isis. Through Isis’ first-person perspective, Wolf perfectly captures the frenzied stream of consciousness of an eccentric 17-year-old girl who aims to humiliate a boy in order to avenge the broken part of herself. However, it’s Isis’ depth that makes her a remarkable character. Her self-deprecating sense of humor and relentless one-liner retorts hide her insecurities; as the novel unfurls, so does her innermost self. Her dedication to her emotionally wounded mother is also commendable and illustrates that Isis is mature beyond her years. The mysteries surrounding her past heartbreak, Jack’s true emotions, and a disturbing revenge prank gone horribly wrong propel a narrative that’s quite difficult to put down.
A complex, witty page-turner, ideal for YA fans of scandal and romance.Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63375-229-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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