Fast-paced with a vivid setting and strong focus on music, Kiebel’s novel will appeal to YA readers looking for a...
In Kiebel’s debut YA novel, a talented young singer learns that her gift is part of an astonishing family lineage.
Lorelei Clark is an aspiring singer attending a prestigious conservatory. Her decision to leave her home in Colorado to study music in Maine caused a rift with her mother, Cassandra, but she’s retained the love and support of her father, Andy. Tragedy strikes Lorelei’s family when Andy is hit by a car and killed while on a trip to visit Lorelei. While her father lies dying, Lorelei is overcome with an urge to sing to him. Following her father’s funeral, she receives a letter from Helen Deleaux, a great aunt on her mother’s side of the family. Helen invites Lorelei to spend time at her home in Chatham, Massachusetts, where she meets Helen’s niece, Calliope Deleaux, and a distant cousin named Deidre Malone. The visit goes well until the night Lorelei wakes up and sees the three women emerge from a fog hovering over the sea, singing in unison. When Lorelei asks Helen to explain what she saw, Helen tells her that all three women are sirens, mythological women who sing to sailors, luring them to their deaths. As Lorelei explores her gift, she faces a challenge that puts her life in danger. Kiebel’s fantasy boasts an intriguing premise and irresistible setting bolstered by an appealing heroine and well-drawn supporting characters. The use of music is especially effective. From the pieces Lorelei sings at the conservatory to the songs the sirens sing to the dying sailors, the music helps establish a solid tone that Kiebel maintains throughout the narrative. In addition to Lorelei, the sirens are intriguing and dynamic characters, especially Calliope, whose secret past with Lorelei’s mother could affect Lorelei’s future. The settings, just as important as the music, come alive in clever ways, including an exciting chase scene through the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland.
Fast-paced with a vivid setting and strong focus on music, Kiebel’s novel will appeal to YA readers looking for a well-developed romantic fantasy.Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1940716046
Page Count: 358
Publisher: SparkPress
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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
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