A reminder, if one is still needed, that it doesn’t pay to be the interloper in a community of rich, upper-crust-society...
In 1976, handsome and charming Gil’s arrival in an exclusive, white, summer-island community inflames two girls’ rivalry with disastrous results.
The novel’s opening scene reveals an unidentified girl on the verge of drowning and surprised that Gil isn’t there to save her. The rest of the novel is a flashback of Gil’s ultimately unsuccessful attempts to juggle the romantic attachments of two island girls. Jean’s family belongs on the island, as proven by the Junior Cup tennis trophy inscribed with her mother’s and sister’s names. So it was bitter for Jean to lose it the previous summer to Fritz, a working-class white girl invited to the island each year by her best friend’s family. Jean’s unhappiness grows when Gil, the long-lost nephew of a prominent islander, arrives and immediately begins dating Fritz, although he’d already met and kissed Jean in New York City. Determined to climb the social ladder using his rich family’s acceptance, Gil treats both girls callously. Even still, Jean constantly schemes to win his affections, poor Fritz falls in love with him, and readers await the approaching, seemingly inevitable tragedy, which unfolds in Griffin’s customarily meticulous prose.
Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61620-675-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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