An allusion-heavy story that’s ultimately compelling and absorbing.
In Hagood’s novel, a young aspiring artist loses her father but not before he tells her a long-held secret that sets her on a quest for the truth.
Dylan Cyllene, a Brooklyn-based high school student and amateur artist, is hit with two bombshells: First, she finds out that her beloved father is terminally ill with cancer; second, before he dies, he tells her that he’s not her biological parent. Thus begins a whirlwind tale of Dylan’s search for her birth father and her reparation of a fractured relationship with her mother, an artist whose emotional state is erratic at best. Meanwhile, renowned photographer Simon Ambrogio, whose work also includes monster references, comes to give a lecture to her class. This leads Dylan to new revelations. At the same time, she builds a romantic relationship with fellow student Shay, a girl who shares her love for “filthy creations” of the artistic kind. A massive art installation made of discarded car parts eventually offers clarity to Dylan on all fronts. Hagood’s book is part coming-of-age novel, part mystery, part family drama, and part queer romance; it hits a lot of notes, and most are the right ones. Its title comes from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), a favorite of Dylan’s that informs her artwork, and the allusions to that classic work eventually become repetitive. However, Hagood has crafted an engrossing story with vivid characters; Dylan, Shay, and Simon are effectively revealed as artists who are dedicated to a fault, going to extremes for inspiration and creation. At one point, for instance, Shay even jumps into the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge, which gets Dylan’s creativity flowing as she jumps after her: “I felt I might just sink to the bottom. Shay and I could both live down there together, surviving on a diet of only ships.” Other over-the-top plot elements include the repeated use of monster masks and a scene involving a visit to a cockfight, but these are believable in the context of the lives of artists who feel their work so deeply.
An allusion-heavy story that’s ultimately compelling and absorbing.Pub Date: May 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781952335563
Page Count: 254
Publisher: MadHat Press
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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