Interesting but befuddled.
A transplanted Kansas teen tries to make sense of a brutal murder in Brashear’s debut.
Sixteen-year-old Carly narrates the story of a murder that gripped the small Kansas town of Holcomb in 1959, when Herb and Bonnie Clutter, along with their teenage children, Nancy and Kenyon, were killed without obvious motive. Truman Capote would immortalize the subsequent manhunt and trial in his masterpiece In Cold Blood. Brashear chooses to tell the story from the perspective of a presumably fictional white girl who wanted to be—but wasn’t quite—Nancy’s friend. Ex–New Yorker Carly searches for evidence, going so far as to hold a séance at the scene of the crime; she’s interrogated by police and, like everyone else in the town, interviewed by Capote. Kansan Brashear writes smoothly, but her novel is problematic on several fronts. Carly never emerges with a clear motive for her snooping, uncovering nothing of value, and her personal narrative arc seems slight. Worse, modern teens aren’t likely to understand that this is a retelling of a nearly 60-year-old crime story. Without background, Capote and his female friend, Nelle Lee (later author of To Kill a Mockingbird), seem like odd distractions from the main narrative. There’s no author’s note to separate fact from fiction or to inform readers what happened after the trial, and without context the story doesn’t really hold up on its own.
Interesting but befuddled. (map) (Historical fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61695-683-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
A tightly plotted thriller helmed by a firecracker that never loses her spark.
Estranged best friends must come together to survive man-made threats in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.
Maddie and Logan, both white, were best friends at age 10. Maddie’s father’s job was to keep the president safe, and as the president’s son, that meant Logan too. But when Russians attempt an attack on Logan and the first lady, everything changes. Maddie’s father decides they must move somewhere with no phones, no internet, no access. Soon Maddie and Logan are thousands of miles apart, she in rural Alaska and he in the White House. For six years there’s no contact; Maddie spends two years writing to him with no response. She becomes skilled in the ways of the wilderness, her anger at Logan building. His perspective highlights a privileged, reckless life, leading the president to administer a unique punishment: staying with Maddie and her father in Alaska. But Logan brings dangerous baggage with him, and with her father away for the night, it’s up to Maddie to keep them both safe. Maddie’s grit, humor, and cleverness make her an engaging action hero. Logan’s less dynamic, hyperfocused on ensuring Maddie’s safety when she’s not the one who needs saving. Fans of survivalist fiction will be impressed by the well-researched, immersive Alaskan landscape and all its beauty and brutality.
A tightly plotted thriller helmed by a firecracker that never loses her spark. (Thriller. 14-17)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-13414-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar plotline delivers exactly what readers want: sweet, romantic fun.
Evie Clément unexpectedly finds herself up for the coveted title of Bellegarde Bloom while questioning her growing feelings for the boy who got her there as part of a wager.
Each year in Paris, the Court of Flowers selects the Bellegarde Bloom, the most desirable of the marriageable girls at the ball. Seventeen-year-old Evie, the daughter of a baker, is an unlikely candidate. But Beau Bellegarde has accepted a bet from Julien, his half brother, in exchange for Julien’s inheritance, which forms the bulk of their family’s estate. The challenge: that Beau can make any girl into the Bloom—and thanks to Beau’s secret interventions, Evie secures a nomination. What wasn’t in the plans? Their growing feelings for one another and the added complications of Beau’s dishonesty and a duke’s competing interest in Evie. The chapters switch between Evie’s and Beau’s first-person perspectives, helping readers become aware of feelings and plot points that other characters are not privy to. The pre-revolutionary, early modern setting is cued through mentions of Versailles, carriages, and fashions such as powdered hair. This fun and fluffy story wraps up with a satisfying ending. Most characters present White; Evie’s best friend, Josephine, and some other background characters are Black.
A familiar plotline delivers exactly what readers want: sweet, romantic fun. (Romance. 13-17)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780063238398
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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