A joyous experience awaits. Read it. Learn it. Love it.
This honest and unflinching story of toil, tears, and triumph is a musical love letter that proves literary lightning does indeed strike twice.
Thomas’ (The Hate U Give, 2017) sophomore novel returns to Garden Heights, but while Brianna may live in Starr's old neighborhood, their experiences couldn't differ more. Raised by a widowed mother, a recovering drug addict, Bri attends an arts school while dreaming of becoming a famous rapper, as her father was before gang violence ended his life. Her struggles within the music industry and in school highlight the humiliations and injustices that remain an indelible part of the African American story while also showcasing rap’s undeniable lyrical power as a language through which to find strength. Bri's journey is deeply personal: small in scope and edgy in tone. When Bri raps, the prose sings on the page as she uses it to voice her frustration at being stigmatized as “hood” at school, her humiliation at being unable to pay the bills, and her yearning to succeed in the music world on her own merit. Most importantly, the novel gives voice to teens whose lives diverge from middle-class Americana. Bri wrestles with parent relationships and boy drama—and a trip to the food bank so they don’t starve during Christmas. The rawness of Bri's narrative demonstrates Thomas’ undeniable storytelling prowess as she tells truths that are neither pretty nor necessarily universally relatable.
A joyous experience awaits. Read it. Learn it. Love it. (Fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-249856-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With appeal to cynics and romantics alike, this profound exploration of life and love tempers harsh realities with the...
Natasha and Daniel meet, get existential, and fall in love during 12 intense hours in New York City.
Natasha believes in science and facts, things she can quantify. Fact: undocumented immigrants in the U.S., her family is being deported to Jamaica in a matter of hours. Daniel’s a poet who believes in love, something that can’t be explained. Fact: his parents, Korean immigrants, expect him to attend an Ivy League school and become an M.D. When Natasha and Daniel meet, Natasha’s understandably distracted—and doesn’t want to be distracted by Daniel. Daniel feels what in Japanese is called koi no yokan, “the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them.” The narrative alternates between the pair, their first-person accounts punctuated by musings that include compelling character histories. Daniel—sure they’re meant to be—is determined to get Natasha to fall in love with him (using a scientific list). Meanwhile, Natasha desperately attempts to forestall her family’s deportation and, despite herself, begins to fall for sweet, disarmingly earnest Daniel. This could be a sappy, saccharine story of love conquering all, but Yoon’s lush prose chronicles an authentic romance that’s also a meditation on family, immigration, and fate.
With appeal to cynics and romantics alike, this profound exploration of life and love tempers harsh realities with the beauty of hope in a way that is both deeply moving and satisfying. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-49668-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
PROFILES
A promising premise subverted by the execution.
A restless AcroYoga influencer pursues love and money on reality TV.
Twenty-three-year-old Orielle Lennox’s post-college life has stalled out. Unhappy in a lackluster relationship and fueled by her older sister’s criticisms that she’s passive and codependent, Orie tries to jump-start her future by answering a casting call for the reality TV show Survivor. Discovering her father’s gambling problem and being dumped by her boyfriend shortly before leaving for Fiji to film make Orie all the more eager to dive headlong into the competition as an escape from her problems. Upon arrival, Orie (who’s cued white) and the nine other contestants—a racially diverse group of young, fit older teens and 20-somethings—find out that they’re actually on a new reality spinoff called Attached at the Hip. Furthermore, each participant has been carefully selected as a possible love or friendship match for several other competitors. Orie quickly allies with Remy, an Italian American gym bro who also happens to be her unrequited high school crush. But as the days of sun and starvation wear on and new connections form, Orie starts to question Remy’s motives and wonders who, if anyone, she can trust. Unfortunately, Orie comes across as frustratingly impulsive and immature rather than quirky and lovably offbeat. And, although moments of situational hilarity keep the story light, readers may get bogged down in the inane dialogue and the abundance of pop-culture references.
A promising premise subverted by the execution. (Fiction. 15-18)Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781250760098
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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