A teen melodrama without sufficient depth.
Just as former teen lovers reconnect, a natural disaster rips them apart.
Five months after torching her relationship with Alfie Thanasis; running away from her parents, who divorced following a scandal; and giving up her spot at Sarah Lawrence College, 18-year-old Mia Clementine is crashing in her best friend Simi’s college dorm room in San Francisco and looking for a job. She runs into Alfie in a coffee shop with another girl and flees—but later phones him only to have the call disconnect as a massive earthquake rolls through the city. Mia, initially joined by Simi, embarks on an epic quest through the rubble to find Alfie. As Mia meets people who influence both her physical and spiritual journeys, the trip starts to take on a mythic dimension, while, in alternating chapters, Alfie unspools the tangled story of their relationship. Although religious faith is an important part of the story, both Mia’s parents’ Evangelical Christianity and Alfie’s parents’ Greek Orthodoxy are treated one-dimensionally. It’s initially hard to invest in Mia despite Simi’s and Alfie’s affection for her, so her gradual transformation into a more evolved and aware person isn’t as believable and doesn’t have the emotional impact it should. The tear-jerker ending adds to the overall sense that this is a book to elicit emotion rather than evoke it. Mia and Alfie are White; Simi is a Punjabi Sikh American, and supporting characters reflect the diversity of the setting.
A teen melodrama without sufficient depth. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781665927123
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.
A teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas.
Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression; Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold; and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora; the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.
Despite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-282411-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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