Intriguing and imaginative.
Marie Antoinette, 1,000 years in the future.
It’s 3070. Seventeen-year-old Maria Antonia leaves the Austro Lands, where her mother is empress, to marry Louis-Auguste, dauphin of the Franc Kingdom and “a total mystery with almost zero social media presence” who may have sent her some anonymous texts. Due to a catastrophic climate-changing Event that killed half the world’s population, current humanity is mostly cut off from information about the past, but vestiges of former glory remain at Versailles, a crumbing ancient palace where the quickly married, newly Franc Marie Antoinette must navigate her shy new husband, an unfamiliar society, hidden turmoil, and social inequalities she was never taught to recognize, let alone address. Dahlin reimagines the French Revolution in all its complexity while sharpening the pace by compressing the timeline from years to months. The futuristic technology seems much like our own, but the parallels between the historic past and this future work well. The humanity of Dahlin’s characters, particularly Marie and Louis, shines, and the slow blossoming of the royal romance will break readers’ hearts. Even if they are not familiar with individuals such as the Princess de Lamballe or Robespierre, the characters are developed enough to feel like real people rather than just names from history. Cast members read as White by default.
Intriguing and imaginative. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-309677-6
Page Count: 464
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Han’s impressive ear for and pitch-perfect reproduction of the interactions between not-quite-adult older teens make this an...
Can teenage love ever be forever?
Isabel (Belly) from The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009) and It’s Not Summer Without You (2010) finishes up her freshman year at college somewhat unconvincingly committed to Jeremiah Fisher, one of the two brothers with whom she has spent summers since she was small. Isabel becomes furious to learn that Jeremiah had sex with another girl from their college in Cabo on spring break, but he wins back her affections with a grand gesture: a proposal of marriage. Caught up in the idea—she will plan a summer wedding! they will attend college as a married couple!—Isabel tries ignores her misgivings about Jeremiah, the appalled silence of her mother and her own still-strong feelings for Jeremiah’s older brother, Conrad. It’s both funny and believable when Jeremiah insists he wants to dance the wedding dance to “You Never Can Tell” from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Han gives a satisfying nod to wedding-planning fantasies even while revealing their flimsy basis for an actual marriage. A final chapter in 23-year-old Isabel’s voice reveals the not-so-surprising happy ending.
Han’s impressive ear for and pitch-perfect reproduction of the interactions between not-quite-adult older teens make this an appealing conclusion to this trilogy romance among bright middle-class young people. (Fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9558-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful.
A college-bound teen with cerebral palsy learns to advocate for herself.
Even though her friends are buzzing about senior year and their college plans, Greek American Euphemia Galanos can’t muster the same enthusiasm. For Effie, an aspiring journalist, choosing a college is fraught with additional variables: Are the dorms wheelchair accessible? How easily can she navigate campus? Such concerns threaten to derail her dream of attending New York’s prestigious Prospect University, home to an excellent journalism program…and the choice of her crush, Wilder. As if Effie doesn’t have enough on her plate, she faces discrimination from Mill City High’s administration—and this time, her mother insists she manage things herself. But Effie isn’t used to speaking up, and her efforts go awry. How can she show her mom she can handle moving from Minnesota to New York if she can’t be assertive? And will she ever get the chance to tell Wilder how she feels? Forrest, also a wheelchair user with CP, explores the role of media representation in developing self-confidence and refreshingly highlights the importance of disabled peers. Readers will appreciate Effie’s conflicted, insightful introspection and appraisals of her options; those who struggle to speak up will empathize as she finds her voice. Supportive friends and family and a sweet romance add warmth. Wilder reads White; there’s some racial diversity among the supporting cast members.
Affirming, uplifting, and thoughtful. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781338813838
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
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