A timely and absorbing character study of a sexual assault survivor.
A field hockey captain guides her tightknit team in secret missions to save girls from predatory boys.
In this contemporary feminist debut, Zoe Alamandar is a disciplined, goal-oriented team captain with an ambitious plan for her junior year: lead her team to the New York State Field Hockey Championship, garner the attention of college scouts, and earn a scholarship to UNC Chapel Hill, which has a top-ranked team. Zoe; her co-captain, Ava; and their hand-picked team are off to a strong start when Zoe is sexually assaulted at a football player’s alcohol-fueled party. At first, Zoe doesn’t tell Liv, her best friend and teammate—and she doesn’t want to burden her parents, who are dealing with her father’s chronic pain from a serious accident. Instead, she channels her confusion, hurt, and anger into the team’s parkour sessions and late-night expeditions to rescue girls from would-be abusers at parties. The exploration of Zoe’s post-assault behavior is thoughtful and believable, particularly how she distances herself from a crush, fixates on saving other girls from the same fate, and raises awareness about toxic masculinity and rape culture. The author’s frequent use of curse-word stand-ins—fockey, fock, focking, and absofockinglutely—come to feel distracting and corny with repetition. Zoe is White; their names cue Ava as Latinx and Liv as Chinese American.
A timely and absorbing character study of a sexual assault survivor. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-75048-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
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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