A pleasant read for teens who dream of a glamorous lifestyle.
Eager to leave her small-town life behind, a high schooler embarks on a whirlwind tour as the new lead singer of an established rock band.
Huang’s debut novel delves into the typical turbulent relationships between teens but against an unusual backdrop. Even after losing a reality TV singing competition, Chelsea jumps at the opportunity to replace the lead singer of popular band Melbourne. She’s thrilled about her band’s summer tour but has a tough time breaking into the group’s well-established chemistry. Her new rock-star status earns the attention of teen movie star Lucas, whose narcissism threatens to derail her fragile relationship with her band members. Chelsea is determined to embrace the adrenaline rush, and she has a real passion for performing. However, her growing feelings for a fellow band member make things even more complicated….Huang is married to a music agent, and she draws upon her knowledge of the industry to create a behind-the-scenes look at tour life. This, realistically, includes drinking and sex but more as backdrop than plot elements. Just as Chelsea’s excitement about joining the tour quickly fades when reality sets in, the novel’s glamorous atmosphere loses its luster due to its slow pacing.
A pleasant read for teens who dream of a glamorous lifestyle. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51182-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of action-packed dystopias will enjoy Tavin's attempts not to lose himself in the ferocity of his power, and they will...
An 18-year-old boy doesn't want the phenomenal cosmic power that's turning him into an out-of-control killing machine in this trilogy's middle volume.
Since his capture at the conclusion of Wordless (2014), Tavin has been a prisoner—albeit one kept in luxury—of the Godspeakers. Forced to bear the awesome responsibility of the Word of Death, Tavin wants only to avoid hurting people with the murderous impulses boiling under his skin. His sadistic and manipulative keepers, however, intent on molding him into a killer, force him to gruesomely, though not gratuitously, torture and murder an endless parade of fuzzy animals. Tavin must escape the Godspeakers and their sinister plot to conquer the world, but he and the other adolescent Words are under constant surveillance. Even if he escapes and finds Khaya, the beautiful Word of Life whose escape precipitated Tavin into this life of terrible luxury, can the Word of Death ever be loved by his polar opposite? With the help of the other Words (all thinly characterized if quite likable), Tavin must escape or become the world's most dangerous weapon. Worldbuilding shows its seams: a technologically advanced society relies on the whims of children; generations of cross-national breeding seems always to produce Words who exhibit exactly the most superficial stereotypes of one parent's ethnicity.
Fans of action-packed dystopias will enjoy Tavin's attempts not to lose himself in the ferocity of his power, and they will stay tuned for Volume 3 and its likely romantic angst . (Science fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4222-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A thriller premise with a satisfying shades-of-gray resolution
Raised up by her foster father to become the world's best con artist, Violet's disguised as a girl who's both very rich and very dead.
Ever since Vegas con man Sal found 5-year-old Violet in the foster system, he's raised her to commit the perfect crime. Now that she's 17, it's finally time for Violet to go into deep cover as kidnapped Erica Silverman. Erica, stolen 13 years ago from her kindergarten, is still the subject of her wealthy mother’s relentless search. If Violet can convince Mrs. Silverman she’s her daughter, she'll have one shot at the fabled Silverman painting, a $60 million jackpot. Sal's given Violet a lifetime of training in crime and skullduggery, three plastic surgeries over a mere five years, a bone broken and reset to match an old break of Erica's, even a fake DNA sample. Yet the simple realities of high school are overwhelming for previously home-schooled Violet. To maintain her cover, Violet-as-Erica makes friends and is surprised to find she truly likes them. Realism sometimes takes a back seat to premise (Sal's astronomical resources, connections, and skills apparently don't preclude his raising Violet in poverty), but the focus is more on Violet's moral qualms and the difficulty of maintaining two distinct identities.
A thriller premise with a satisfying shades-of-gray resolution . (Suspense. 14-17)Pub Date: July 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-670-01497-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
