A charming romance about gaming, baking, and finding yourself after heartbreak.
When Toronto gamer nerd Samaya meets hockey jock Daniel, sparks fly—but will Samaya’s desire for revenge ruin her happily-ever-after?
After Samaya Janmohammad’s boyfriend, Devin Kapadia, dumps her and sabotages her summer plans, she begins senior year unsure how to get back on track as a top student. When her guidance counselor suggests completing her community service hours by helping with a bake sale to support a family shelter, she meets Daniel Ramos, an athlete with a penchant for baking. When Samaya sees a chance to get back at Devin by proving she’s moved on, she and Daniel make a fake-dating pact: She’ll tutor him in calculus, and he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend. But as Samaya teaches Daniel to be the perfect gamer-nerd boyfriend, and he teaches her how to bake, their relationship begins to feel like it might not be so fake anymore. Heron keeps their sweet romance interesting—Samaya is a perfectly flawed character who eventually realizes her privilege and grows; Daniel, the always smiling loyal hunk with a heartbreaking past, feels a little too perfect, however. Samaya’s Indian grandparents emigrated from Nairobi and are Ismaili Muslim; Devin’s Hindu parents are from Mumbai, and Daniel is Filipino Canadian. Readers familiar with Heron’s 2021 novel, Tahira in Bloom, which centered Samaya’s older sister, will enjoy spending more time with the Janmohammad family.
A charming romance about gaming, baking, and finding yourself after heartbreak. (recipe) (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5420-3608-5
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Skyscape
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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