A truly beautiful story about passionately falling in love with another and learning to love and share your true self.
Benedict Pendleton and Penelope Lupo are the unlikeliest of unlikely high school couples.
Intelligent and painfully socially awkward, 16-year-old Benedict lives life perfectly, as described by his father in his bestselling book, Being a Perfect Person. Foulmouthed, 16-year-old Pen is a cool girl with tight, black clothes and a popular boyfriend. Only this isn’t who they really are at all. It is only when fate intervenes and the two wind up at the same resort over winter vacation that dark-olive–skinned Pen and white Benedict both find each other and find themselves. Told in alternating and delightfully distinct first-person chapters, this novel is a profoundly open and honest exploration of teen identity, sexuality, and connection. There is also plenty of humor, particularly when it comes to Benedict’s inability to filter his thoughts and words. Secondary characters, such as Pen’s mother and Benedict’s father, add depth and will leave some readers reaching toward the pages looking for a neck to throttle. This is a novel that will surely arouse emotion. It will offend some who may not be prepared to embrace a young woman openly obsessed with sex, particularly with pleasuring herself. Some may be disturbed by the frank descriptions of sexual interactions between teen partners. Those readers are missing the point and depriving themselves.
A truly beautiful story about passionately falling in love with another and learning to love and share your true self. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-850-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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 lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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