Teen drama abounds in this story about loss and love.
A group of high school seniors become orphans after a deadly plane crash.
Dayana Calderón was home, cyberstalking old friends during a pharma-induced high the night of the accident. Popular twins Josie and Jack Clay were throwing “the biggest blowout River Bank High School had ever seen.” It was a total fluke that Archie Gallagher, with his ever present sketchbook and dorky glasses, was there along with the socially awkward Harrison Rebkin, who has frequent panic attacks. The former preschool buddies had long since grown apart, but their parents were vacationing together when tragedy struck. Josie is a gorgeous blonde haunted by memories of childhood sexual abuse. “Ginormous shaved-headed” Jack is a white football star with ADHD and a demanding father. Dayana is Costa Rican and has a penchant for purple hair and facial piercings. Archie, a self-proclaimed “black art nerd,” has white adoptive parents and a younger brother—his parents’ biological child—who is a well-adjusted, gay teen. Harrison, who is white and Jewish, struggles with pressure from his single mother’s high expectations. These estranged friends grieve together, discover romance and long-lost friendships—and stumble across dark secrets. It’s a lot to unpack, as debut novelist Kreizman front-loads the book with a dense and soapy premise. Some readers will love the melodrama, but others may sense bathos in the contrast between the tremendous tragedy and the more quotidian high school concerns.
Teen drama abounds in this story about loss and love. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: July 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-17987-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story.
Is an exuberant extended family the cure for a breakup? Sophie is about to find out.
When Sophie unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend, she isn’t thrilled about spending the holidays at her grandparents’ house instead of with him. And when her grandmother forms a plan to distract Sophie from her broken heart—10 blind dates, each set up by different family members—she’s even less thrilled. Everyone gets involved with the matchmaking, even forming a betting pool on the success of each date. But will Sophie really find someone to fill the space left by her ex? Will her ex get wind of Sophie’s dating spree via social media and want them to get back together? Is that what she even wants anymore? This is a fun story of finding love, getting to know yourself, and getting to know your family. The pace is quick and light, though the characters are fairly shallow and occasionally feel interchangeable, especially with so many names involved. A Christmas tale, the plot is a fast-paced series of dinners, parties, and games, relayed in both narrative form and via texts, though the humor occasionally feels stiff and overwrought. The ending is satisfying, though largely unsurprising. Most characters default to white as members of Sophie’s Italian American extended family, although one of her cousins has a Filipina mother. One uncle is gay.
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-02749-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway.
Stephanie and her family move into an old mansion rumored to have been put under a curse after a turn-of-the-20th-century rich boy meddled with an Egyptian mummy.
After her young sister complains about strange events, high school student Stephanie befriends Lucas, a geeky, good-looking boy, and meets the other members of SPOoKy, the Scientific Paranormal Organization of Kentucky: Charlotte, Wes, and Patrick. Stephanie learns the history of her new home from Lucas, who attracts her romantic attention, but the usually levelheaded girl is soon drawn to Erik, the handsome phantom who first comes to her in dreams. The story is told in chapters narrated by Stephanie, Lucas, and Zedok, whose identity is initially a source of confusion to Stephanie. Zedok appears wearing different masks, “personified slivers” of his soul, representing states of mind such as Wrath, Madness, and Valor. Meanwhile, until gifted singer Stephanie came along and he could write songs for her, Erik’s dreams were thwarted; he wanted to be a composer but his family expected him to become a doctor. In the gothic horror tradition, Erik’s full background and connection with Zedok are slowly revealed. Romantic dream sequences are lush and swoon-y, but the long, drawn-out battle to end the curse, aided by a celebrity clairvoyant, is tedious, and the constant introduction of Erik’s different personae is confusing. Most characters default to White; Patrick is Black.
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway. (Horror. 13-16)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11604-3
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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