A melancholy and thoughtful debut.
Three small-town teens navigate sea changes both personal and environmental.
After another storm in West Finch, Maine, withdrawn artist Tommy MacQueen attempts suicide while on a swim. His survival triggers events that change both his future and those of his confident twin, Ellis, a bisexual amputee and track star, and Ellis’ best friend, activist Harlow Prout. Estranged ever since Harlow entered their lives and drawn further apart by Tommy’s depression, the MacQueen brothers struggle to regain their childhood bond. Harlow begins a secret relationship with Tommy out of pity, but what’s meant as a distraction becomes a tender romance between the formerly bitter enemies. Harlow and Ellis’ volatile friendship is given equal weight in the narrative: Vacillating between codependency and profound devotion, their relationship is the novel’s heart. Insular West Finch is as atmospheric and colorful as Tommy’s paintings, overshadowed by the acceptance of its own eventual destruction through coastal erosion. Hartt is uninterested in easy answers, unspooling mysteries and emotions that shift what we thought we knew about characters caught in realistically nonlinear growth. The points of view are specific and well realized, with belligerent, loving Harlow, a fixer unable to stop breaking things, being a particular standout. Tommy’s recovery proceeds in complicated fits and starts; his depression is portrayed with sensitivity. Main characters default to White.
A melancholy and thoughtful debut. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-61924-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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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