Falters under the weight of clunky writing and the uninspired use of familiar tropes.
In this debut, a quartet of British teens discover the usual: They have phenomenal powers and must save the universe from darkness.
Seventeen-year-old Alexis Michaels is doing OK now, but when he was a 6-year-old recent adoptee, he experienced terrible psychosis, with delusions of “the Shadow Man,” who ordered him to hurt people. With the help of medications (which he no longer needs), his mental health stabilized, but for a horrific recurring nightmare. During a school trip with his best friend, Demi, their bus breaks down at Stonehenge. Alexis, Demi, and two classmates are pulled by their matching necklaces through a portal beneath the monument. In an underground laboratory-like space, Alexis, Blaise, Caeli, and Demi (the alphabetical names carry no narrative weight) discover that they’re the Children of the Elements, with powers of earth, air, fire, and water. Although there’s an entire magic society that’s been trained in Elemental powers, these four random teenagers are prophesied to destroy the evil Mortem. The epic battles against monsters are described in overwrought prose. Alexis is the most important, special, and tormented of all. Theo’s author’s note references Alexis’ journey of “living with his mental illness,” but, undercutting psychological realism, instead of his being a boy with a schizophrenia-like illness that gives him delusions of darkness and grandeur, he is a boy with a magical destined darkness and grandeur. Alexis, Caeli, and Demi read white; Blaise is Black.
Falters under the weight of clunky writing and the uninspired use of familiar tropes. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781665979061
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
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
A worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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