This engaging Martian romance will keep readers glued to the page.
Two teens are trapped on a hijacked Mars station in bestseller Kaufman’s latest.
Eighteen-year-old Hunter Graves is the heir to GravesUP Industries, the most powerful corporation in the solar system. His billionaire family is responsible for the colonization of Mars. Hunter is handsome, charming, and the embodiment of everything that scrappy 17-year-old hitcher Cleo thinks is wrong with the world. When Pax Station is suddenly evacuated and Cleo, who stowed away to get there, is left behind in the chaos with Hunter, they’re forced to become a team. The stakes rise when a mysterious hostile force takes over Pax, and the teens realize that the evacuation was a setup. As Hunter and Cleo work together to thwart the invaders, their romantic chemistry builds and their bond becomes one of genuine connection. All the while, Cleo’s criminal past becomes harder to keep secret. The story takes place over the course of eight hours, enhancing its tension and fast pace. The romance has a rocky start, thanks to sheltered Hunter’s classist belief system, but it evolves into something that’s grounded and believable. The futuristic setting allows for some pointed social commentary on the state of our capitalist, corporatist society. GravesUP Industries itself features some notable parallels to the contemporary privatization of space travel. Cleo, who’s queer, is cued white, and Hunter has brown skin.
This engaging Martian romance will keep readers glued to the page. (timeline) (Science fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9798217029013
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
