An original twist on a well-grounded romantic storyline.
For Phoebe Mendel, it’s been Aug. 6 for a month.
That situation doesn’t look like it will change any time soon. Trapped in a seemingly endless time loop that begins in the morning of that sweltering, miserable Florida day and ends with a major flare-up of her severe irritable bowel syndrome, Phoebe is miserable and lonely—until the arrival of childhood friend Jess Friedman. Jess, who’s nonbinary and has oligoarthritis for which they use mobility aids, is a brash, fearless, and fun free spirit who is also trapped in the time loop. Determined to live each consequence-free repeated day to the fullest, Jess convinces Phoebe to embark on hijinks and adventures. The pair grow and change but cannot escape the complications of their usual lives and selves. Phoebe and Jess’ slow-burn romance is carefully developed and believable—an opposites-attract connection that’s built on shared experiences as disabled Jewish lesbians in an unwelcoming town. Greenfield captures well the existential horror of the loop while finding believable ways for the protagonists to seek enjoyment and growth within it, ensuring that familiar genre tropes don’t feel stale. Often-passive Phoebe feels less vibrantly portrayed than the supporting cast; however, her struggles with pain, insecurity, and anxiety are sympathetically shown, and her role as a fat romantic lead coming into her own is much needed. The supporting cast includes queer and racially diverse characters.
An original twist on a well-grounded romantic storyline. (Speculative romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781547613908
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans.
Romantic complications between a trained killer and one of her captors drive this sequel to Watch Me (2025).
Appealing to readers who prefer their romantic dramas to be light on action and heavy on long passages of banter, bitter sibling arguments, and tortured reflections, Mafi continues the tale of Rosabelle Wolff, the flaxen-haired assassin from the dystopic Reestablishment, and magnetic, “impossibly stunning” James Anderson, her nemesis-turned-lover who’s still trying to take down the regime. Now desperate to accomplish several secret missions, Rosa easily escapes from one of The New Republic’s prisons, where she was left in the series opener, and, dressed in “a little kid’s cat onesie,” eludes all pursuers except for James, who can seemingly find her at will. Enigmatic Rosa responds unpredictably to many human contacts—including with violence, temporary death (one of her abilities), or a sudden panic attack. Along with the central pair of rivals and lovers, James’ older brother, Aaron, shares the narration. Bestseller Mafi tucks in several subplots, including, notably, a cameo from Juliette Ferrars, the protagonist of the original Shatter Me series, who’s undergoing a scarily difficult pregnancy. Amid the slowly simmering rising action, the author delivers a revelation and a twist that set up a potential series climax. Some ethnic diversity is present in the supporting cast.
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans. (Dystopian. 14-adult)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780063419056
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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