A tender, honest, heartwarming ode to platonic soul mates.
Enterprising teens moonlight as relationship assassins.
For the past two years, 18-year-old best friends August Mariani and Valentine Sharma have been successfully running their business, Summer Love, Inc., which specializes in breaking up toxic teen relationships at the request of concerned parents and friends. Business is booming, and, with dreams of affording Berkeley in the fall, the duo accept their most challenging—and potentially lucrative—case yet. The Beckers need August and Tiny to orchestrate a breakup between their daughter, Ella, and her controlling boyfriend, Justin, in less than four weeks. Pretending to be cousins, they infiltrate the inner circle of Ella’s prep school friends with a plan to help her see Justin for what he truly is and to realize she deserves better. But as August and Ella connect, the walls he’s carefully constructed after the death of his sister start to crumble—and suddenly, business gets a lot more personal. Not that he can tell Tiny, who for the first time is keeping secrets of her own. Told in alternating perspectives, the plot suffers from an occasional identity crisis; the two storylines don’t always flow harmoniously. Still, Mather’s deft hand at developing characters with rich emotional ranges will leave readers smiling through their tears as she explores themes of grief, family, friendship, and love. Most central characters are cued white; Tiny’s stepdad is Indian. Final art not seen.
A tender, honest, heartwarming ode to platonic soul mates. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9798212417525
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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 lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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