An intricate psychological page-turner that explores the darker side of vengeance and reads like Gone Girl through a teen...
Within the crumbling city of Detroit, two grief-stricken teens discover a tenuous thread that ties their personal tragedies together and concoct a sinister plan for vengeance.
Johnny is a handsome, olive-skinned, Mexican jock who excels at sports but has difficulties academically. Becca is a fair, red-haired honor student whose brilliance is overshadowed by her lack of social skills. The two, with seemingly nothing in common, meet coincidentally at a crash site where Becca's twin sister, Brit, and Johnny’s mother both died in a head-on collision. Becca, believing that the accident was anything but, befriends Johnny and convinces him to help her exact a plan for revenge. Their friendship deepens into romance, as does her control over him. When their plan goes horribly wrong—though wrong apparently only to Johnny—he begins to question the truth about Becca, their relationship, and their jointly diabolical plot for retribution. The story is told in short, keep-the-pages-flying, alternating chapters by Johnny and Becca, allowing readers to get into their heads as the intensity of their relationship ratchets to a darkly dangerous climax. Rife with angst and twists, Becca and Johnny's machinations seem to come to a somewhat far-reaching end; however, with the intense pacing and plotting, this should be easily forgiven.
An intricate psychological page-turner that explores the darker side of vengeance and reads like Gone Girl through a teen lens. (Thriller. 13 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4599-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
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