An emotional journey from lost to found, featuring engaging characterization.
In Fehlbaum’s YA novel, a troubled teen is taken in by family members she’s never truly known.
Kylie Jean Briscoe dislikes homework, but her assignment on the first day of her sophomore year in Texarkana is the least of her worries. Kylie’s mother, Matilda, is an abusive drug addict who often treats both the teen girl and her beloved little sister, Aliza, as an afterthought, leaving Kylie to scavenge for food and evade nosy neighbors. After law enforcement finally intervenes, Kylie and Aliza are separated: Aliza goes to Louisiana with her biological father, Travis, and his family, and Kylie is sent to Texas with her maternal grandparents, with whom she lived as a toddler. Kylie’s grandmother LeeAnn, grandfather Oliver, and uncle Joey, a police officer, are eager to bring Kylie into their fold, but the teenager is reluctant to make connections—especially with Aliza so far away. Soon Kylie enters the local high school and finds solace in friendship with her English teacher’s son, Ethan, and the school’s creative writing club. However, an alliance with her mysterious, magnetic classmate Casey could prove dangerous to Kylie and those around her. Fehlbaum, a former English and creative writing teacher, notes in her acknowledgments that she drew some inspiration from her students for this novel. Kylie is a well-developed character whose traumatic experiences have, in part, led her to mistrust those who claim to love her. Kylie’s grandparents are fully fleshed out, too—still smarting from the loss of their daughter to drugs, but happy to welcome their granddaughter into their lives. Watching Kylie progress from sad and angry to healthy and fulfilled is often rewarding. However, some readers may find the novel’s use of Southern vernacular a bit exhausting to parse at times: “That little girl ’n me was like peas ’n carrots when she was a young’un.”
An emotional journey from lost to found, featuring engaging characterization.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781958640296
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Progressive Rising Phoenix Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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