An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution.
Lark’s boyfriend, Alec, is injured trying to rescue Annabelle, the 4-year-old Lark used to babysit, and both are drowning; when she’s unable to choose whom to save, Lark’s world splits in two.
Seventeen-year-old Lark and her father still miss her mother, who died from cancer three years ago. Lark’s close cohort of friends include musicians in the band she plays in and writes songs for. For the Lark who chose to save Alec, their relationship quickly becomes all-consuming. She brushes off her friend Lucy and the band to free climb buildings, longboard, and canoodle with Alec. The adrenaline rush helps her cope with little Annabelle’s hospitalization. Visiting Annabelle, now comatose, propels Lark into her alternative self and a world where Alec lies comatose and Annabelle thrives. Here, Lark maintains her friendships and progresses as a songwriter, while her growing shoplifting habit reflects her anxiety about Alec’s dire prognosis. In both worlds, mysterious cellphone messages and videos nudge Lark toward solving the riddle, but time is running out for Alec, whose parents plan to end life support soon. Pedestrian characters reflecting overfamiliar YA stereotypes, Lark especially, weigh down a suspenseful narrative that’s timidly executed just when it needs to take flight. All characters are white except band member Reid, the son of Iraqi refugees.
An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution. (Paranormal romance. 14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0037-0
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Those in need of more dystopian fiction (is there anyone in this glut?) could do worse, but it’s not a first purchase.
In a world where no one can die, murder is the only way out.
In an overcrowded, not-so-distant future Florida, the Initiative keeps a close eye on citizens. Years ago, a plague threatened humanity, but Pins implanted under the skin release nanites that keep everyone healthy. Sixteen-year-old Meadow has been trained by her fisherman father to survive and to kill if necessary. Zephyr, 17, is an orphaned Ward; his job is to clean up the corpses of the victims of the 300-plus murders each month with his only friend, Talan. Zephyr has blackouts and is sure he has killed several people; and sometimes during his blackouts he dreams of a silver-haired girl. When Zephyr and Meadow meet, they set in motion a series of events that will change their world...and maybe the world at large forever. Cummings’ debut, a bloody sci-fi thriller, strains credulity as the plot twists mount and previously held beliefs are shown to be false. Zephyr and Meadow trade off present-tense narration duties in alternating chapters, but their voices are not distinct enough for the device to work well. The world built is interesting enough, but it never comes alive and peters out at the close.
Those in need of more dystopian fiction (is there anyone in this glut?) could do worse, but it’s not a first purchase. (Dystopian romance. 14-17)Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-222000-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
A strangely tame read despite all the sex, drugs and rock-’n’-roll.
Rock music offers four teen girls a much-needed outlet and escape in mid-1980s South Carolina.
The Screaming Divas are an unlikely ensemble. Brought together by Trudy, a magnet for trouble who is fresh out of juvie, the band also includes gorgeous Cassie, a former child-beauty-pageant queen; stoic Harumi, a classically trained violinist who had a meltdown at her Juilliard audition; and shy Esther, who harbors a secret crush on Cassie. The third-person narration rotates through the four members’ viewpoints to show what attracts each girl to the group. Even as the Divas begin to enjoy modest success on Columbia’s club scene, the girls’ rebellious impulses lead them to take other risks, such as moving out of their parents’ homes, experimenting with drugs, and starting romantic relationships with older men and women. At times, the novel feels more like a catalog of teen social issues than a coming-of-age story. Kamata’s (Gadget Girl, 2013) sensitive, restrained prose shines during small character moments—like Cassie’s fierce recitation of Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” during English class—but dulls the impact and energy of the concert scenes.
A strangely tame read despite all the sex, drugs and rock-’n’-roll. (Historical fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4405-7279-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
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