One to read on a rainy day when nothing but chocolate and a (mostly) lighthearted romance will do.
Hopeless romantic Emma butts heads with cynical Sophia over love and filmmaking.
Emma and her friends enter a short film contest in the hopes of winning college scholarships. The only issue is Sophia—who, before moving away, was the only other out queer girl in their grade. She’s back in town, and everyone seems to expect them to end up together. They are resistant, but the film and their mutual friend group keep dragging them together. Tensions rise, as Emma wants to make the gay rom-com of her dreams while Sophia thinks an avant-garde piece is the way to go. Emma is the quintessential romance enthusiast while Sophia has soured entirely on the concept of romantic love. The interplay between these two attitudes serves to form the bulk of the plot as the two find their ideas about love growing closer to a middle ground in tandem with their growing feelings for one another. In terms of style and plot beats, the novel reads like a rom-com film distilled into book format; it is easy to imagine these characters acting out their lives on screen. The queer romance and the narrative’s determination not to shy away from discussing attitudes of entitlement distinguish this title. Emma and Sophia read as White.
One to read on a rainy day when nothing but chocolate and a (mostly) lighthearted romance will do. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-17976-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Underlined
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence.
As Emberfall and Syhl Shallow prepare a Royal Challenge to promote unity between their countries, the vocally anti-magic Truthbringers conspire to turn public favor against King Grey.
Set four years after Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker trilogy, this timely, nuanced series opener introduces teen narrators Callyn, Jax, and Tycho, whose alternating perspectives navigate moral ambiguities and confront past and present traumas. Baker Callyn and blacksmith Jax have supported one another through many hardships: the accident that claimed one of Jax’s feet, the loss of Callyn’s parents, and the ongoing physical abuse Jax sustains from his father. Pushed to the point of desperation, Jax and Callyn accept a dangerous but well-paid job conveying potentially treasonous messages for the Truthbringers—but after a chance encounter with Tycho, the King’s Courier, the friends realize they’re in way over their heads. Notably, despite widespread distrust of magic, Tycho and others in Grey’s inner circle wear rings of Iishellasan steel that allow them to borrow his power, foreshadowing further revelations about how the magic functions. Tycho also faces scrutiny for his growing friendship with Jax and Callyn, and as the first Royal Challenge approaches, political and romantic intrigue abound. Both primary romances offer a masterclass in organic yet explicit depictions of consent, including a smoldering queer romance that’s profound in its treatment of intimacy with a sexual assault survivor. Major characters default to White.
A fiercely hopeful exploration of loyalty, perception, and agency in the face of fear, misinformation, and violence. (map, character list) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0912-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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