An uneven but eventually engaging story of first love, family drama and supernatural violence.
“Meet cute” is more like meet violent when Joy Malone gets dragged into supernatural politics and ends up saving the world in this teen paranormal series starter.
Her mom has abandoned the family, her brother is off at college, and she has quit the gymnastics team—all Joy has left is school and her best friend, Monica. When Joy goes to dance her angst away at a nightclub with Monica, she sees the inhuman Indelible Ink and his sister, Invisible Inq—and nobody else does. Her magical Sight makes her a danger to the Scribe siblings, but when Ink attempts to blind her, he accidentally marks her as his own. Taken for Ink’s lehman—a human lover or slave—Joy stumbles into a realm with unwritten rules and an odd courtship with Ink. Initially built on lies, their relationship blossoms, with Joy teaching Ink that there is more to life than duty and Ink showing Joy both magic and love. Their sensual (but not graphic) romance and otherworldly adventures transform Joy from a bland protagonist and a burden into a believable if bewildered heroine. Metcalf does not formally label Ink and his ilk as faeries, but her rich physical descriptions create a complex fey world that coexists uneasily with the industrialized human one.
An uneven but eventually engaging story of first love, family drama and supernatural violence. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)Pub Date: July 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-373-21073-2
Page Count: 382
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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