A good bet for readers mostly interested in the romance.
Fasten your seatbelts, lower your expectations, then sit back and enjoy the modest pleasures of this mostly smooth sequel.
Kate has graduated to deity status and married Henry (Hades, Titan-born Greek deity of the Underworld, reconfigured as a category-romance hero). She looks forward to her coronation as Queen of the Underworld, but Calliope (Hera) has other plans. She awakens her father, head Titan Cronus, enlisting his aid in a scheme to take down her victorious rival and promising his release from captivity in return. For that, she’ll need help from her fellow deities, and there’ll be collateral damage—destroying the Olympians and wiping out humanity. This may strike readers as overkill (and a shameless Rick Riordan retread), but it makes a nifty plot complication. Kate chafes at being left behind when the top Olympians leave to prevent catastrophe. She feels responsible, and, worse, Henry is in danger. Joined by Ava (Aphrodite) and James (Hermes), her trek to rescue Henry is the tale’s main event. Henry remains the series’ weakest link—less intriguingly mysterious than exasperatingly vague. Kate spends much of the text pondering and misinterpreting his intentions, but one can hardly blame her; this is a marriage badly in need of intervention from Deborah Tannen (You Just Don't Understand, 1990, etc.).
A good bet for readers mostly interested in the romance. (Fantasy. 12 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-373-21045-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
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
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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