An adorkable love story about being true to yourself.
Evie Whitmore has a lot of secrets.
She doesn’t need the allergy pills she keeps in her bag, she has no idea what she wants to do with her life, and she’s a die-hard fan and closeted cosplayer of the Elven Realms book series. When she goes on a senior class trip to Venice with her Art and Architecture Club, she knows she should concentrate on the project she’s doing with her reluctant, brooding partner, Gabriel Martinez, but Elven Realms, which is set in Venezari, an alternate Venice, has a secret fan club—and Evie’s determined to find it. She’s always been a rule follower, but sneaking out every night to find the club is worth the risk. When she meets a mysterious masked boy who’s on the same mission, they click. Evie attempts to balance her nightly escapades with daytime tours and research, falling for both Gabe and the mystery boy, all while trying to keep her fandom tendencies a secret. This solid if predictable love story will engage romance readers and cosplayers alike with its enjoyably nerdy capers. The logistics of the Elven Realms club, which is located in a formerly abandoned palace that the series’ author helped purchase and is run by volunteers who hold nightly events, requires some suspension of disbelief but adds to the overall magic of the sweet romance. Evie is cued white, and Gabriel presents Latine.
An adorkable love story about being true to yourself. (Evie’s Guide to the Elven Realms) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780593647875
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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