Utterly charming and swoonworthy.
Two beloved characters from artist Eunnie’s Instagram feed get a full-length graphic novel treatment.
Readers meet college student Momo just as she’s about to encounter PG for the first time. It’s not an ideal meet-cute, however. Momo is doing her friend Kayla a favor by dropping off some class notes at Kayla’s friend Lea’s dorm room. When scantily clad PG answers the door, Momo is immediately flustered by how gorgeous she is—but she learns that PG has a reputation for seducing women and avoiding serious commitments, the exact opposite of Momo, who’s never dated anyone. Still, after witnessing a fraught situation at a nightclub, Momo overcomes her shyness to check on PG. They have an open conversation and a romantic dance. Running into each other around town turns into texting, which turns into mutual big feelings. Readers will fall in love with both young women as they fall in love with each other. Their conflicts give them depth and feel believable for their stage of life, their different but equally relatable backstories are fleshed out, and the satisfying resolution inspires happiness. Well-developed friendships play smaller but still important roles. The appealing artwork features clean, pastel-tinted backgrounds and doe-eyed characters with expressive faces. Momo has dark brown skin and wavy brown hair; PG is Vietnamese American.
Utterly charming and swoonworthy. (Graphic romance. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780593403228
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
A poignant and romantic coming-of-age tale.
The boy she believed was the fated love of her life dies; now a 17-year-old girl must find a new future—and a new version of herself.
After the death of her boyfriend, Beck, and her military family’s latest move, Amelia Graham tries for a fresh start. On her first day at her new school, she nearly hits fellow senior Paloma with her car but ultimately finds a new friend in her. After months of being depressed and alone, Lia realizes she’s living again. And then there’s the boy. Although she feels an immediate connection, Lia stays away from him, trying to honor her love for Beck. But Isaiah is there when Lia needs support, and she’s increasingly drawn to him. As the past recedes, Lia realizes that who she was with Beck wasn’t all she’ll ever be. Told through Lia’s first-person point of view and moving between past and present, this story covers heartbreak, healing, and learning to live when the person you lived for is gone. Upperman’s writing is engaging, and although the emotions are heavy, an undercurrent of hope snakes through the narrative, growing brighter as Lia comes back to life and begins to see that the future holds multiple possibilities. Central characters present white; Paloma is cued Latine.
A poignant and romantic coming-of-age tale. (A Geographical History of Amelia Graham) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464217784
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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