Read a comic instead.
Two heirs to a comics franchise find love and low-stakes drama in a small Nova Scotia town.
Quiet Miriam works in a down-and-out comic-book store to save money for college. Cute rebel Weldon walks in one day and buys a painting depicting the Marvel-esque TomorrowMen. Awkward sparks fizz between them, but it’s soon revealed that they’re the heirs to a years-old family dispute. Miriam’s grandfather helped create the TomorrowMen but signed a bad contract with his co-creator—Weldon’s grandfather. The two men spent the rest of their lives in a legal battle over the rights to their characters, which eventually resulted in Weldon’s father’s taking the creative helm and Miriam’s mother’s accepting a settlement. Even though the issue is largely settled, both teens still feel the need to exorcise their family demons, at least long enough to delay their happy ending for a few hundred pages. The family drama and resulting tension between Miriam and Weldon never feel substantial, with little risk involved for either of them; misunderstandings work mostly to beef up the plot and are tritely brushed aside in an underwhelming climax at Comic-Con. All major characters are white. The narration feels flat and strained throughout, with none of the rich color and movement that explodes out of the superhero genre that provides this story’s backdrop.
Read a comic instead. (Romance. 12-15)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62672-364-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Teens who have outgrown Percy Jackson and moved into the paranormal-romance phase won't mind the amateurish prose; they'll...
What if Bella Swan were a demigod?
Helen is the loveliest girl on Nantucket, but until the sexy Delos family comes to the island, she's always tried to stay under the radar. It's not just her looks that attract attention; Helen knows her strength, speed and hearing all approach superpower levels. But she can't stay hidden in the presence of the Delos cousins, Jason, Hector, Cassandra, Ariadne and the sexiest one, Lucas—yes, Lucas. (Some complicated handwaving explains why he is named Lucas instead of—as was intended—Paris.) Readers trained on trendy Greek mythological fantasy won't be surprised to learn both Helen and the newcomers are demigods. In their blonde beauty (really!), they look exactly like their quasi-mythological ancestors and are cursed by the Furies and the gods to replay ancient dramas across history. Lucas and Helen are both drawn together and forced apart by fate and desire. The cousins, meanwhile, help Helen develop her powerful demigod abilities while tutoring her on the massive forces arrayed against her. Though weirdly inconsistent perspective, startling shifts of voice and scenes that feel like they've been copied almost directly from Twilight break the flow, the drama's epic scale complements the love story's pacing. A refreshingly strong heroine carries readers into the setup for book two.
Teens who have outgrown Percy Jackson and moved into the paranormal-romance phase won't mind the amateurish prose; they'll be caught up in the we-must-we-can't sexual tension. (Paranormal romance. 13-15)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-201199-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
A pleasant, if gimmicky, romantic comedy.
A teenager fed up with the consequences of her actions creates an anonymous blog and asks readers to take control of her life choices.
As a toddler, Brooklyn Pierce followed a lizard into a mineshaft, and her multi-day rescue operation received national television coverage. Now, having just burned down her realtor mother's model home in an ill-fated drunken party, Brooklyn is grounded, socially exiled and sentenced to 200 hours of community service. That decision-making is the issue at hand is impressed on readers at every corner, from the police officer who says of her mineshaft misstep, “I bet you regret that decision, huh?” to the You Choose the Story novels Brooklyn reads to Miss Moody, a cantankerous resident at the assisted-living facility where Brooklyn does her community service. Putting her every decision to a vote on her blog forces Brooklyn into new territory: She joins the debate team, hangs out with nerds to whom she has previously given the cold shoulder and forgoes sneaking out despite an invitation from a hot newcomer. That her blog becomes popular enough to go viral is difficult to believe, but the tugs she feels between her new life and her old one, her own decision-making and her readers', create engaging drama.
A pleasant, if gimmicky, romantic comedy. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-39905-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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