An appealing, complex romance infused with magical elements and balancing tension and heart.
Will shared visions of a possible future fate bring two teens together or set them on a course to ruin each other’s lives?
Chanel Cao, daughter of a model and a nightclub-owning billionaire, is the it girl at Beijing’s Airington International Boarding School. Ares Yin is the brooding and mysterious new student who seems “not just intimidating, but actually dangerous.” After Chanel spots Ares sitting alone at an exclusive restaurant one night, she’s intrigued enough to follow him into a park. She approaches him as he stands beside a lake—and when the moonlight shines upon the water’s surface, they both see a vision. Chanel sees her childhood home on fire with her mother inside and Ares standing nearby, holding a lighter; Ares sees his missing brother across the street from the burning house. Each teen becomes convinced that the other is key to their future—saving Chanel’s house and her mother’s life and finding the brother who’s been gone for three years. Chanel, who plots to save her mother by getting Ares to fall in love with her, was a minor character in Liang’s debut, If You Could See the Sun (2022), and this enjoyable stand-alone companion novel gives her room for compelling growth. Liang also explores complicated familial ties with nuance. Ares and Chanel have palpable romantic tension, and the development of their relationship drives a great deal of the story’s momentum.
An appealing, complex romance infused with magical elements and balancing tension and heart. (Speculative romance. 12-18)Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781335014115
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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