A light romance with a touch of magic.
A teenager accidentally casts a love curse on the school troublemaker, making him fall obsessively in love with her.
High school senior Riya Khan, who’s cued Pakistani American, is the only one of her sisters to have inherited peri magic, which helps people find emotional clarity. It was passed down from her great-great-great-great-grandmother, who encountered a peri, a fairylike djinn (originally from Persian mythology) who possesses an “intoxicating jasmine scent and otherworldly beauty.” Riya has sworn off magic ever since the Incident, devoting her life to order, control, and getting into Caltech for astrophysics. But then her best friend convinces her to use her magic for help with a crush. Unfortunately, Riya gets distracted and instead accidentally puts a love curse on Filipino American bad boy Kian Kho, making him fall hard for her. Even Riya’s rejection and avoidance can’t deter his over-the-top gestures. She must break the curse before the next full moon—or the curse will be permanent. Riya, who’s worked hard on cultivating rationality and emotional distance, must face the unpredictable magic head-on to save them both. This entertaining romantic mystery centers more on Riya’s character growth than the enemies-to-lovers storyline. While there are some moving moments in which she addresses her various broken relationships, the quick resolution may make readers long for her to express more vulnerability and experience more deep, healing connections.
A light romance with a touch of magic. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 14, 2026
ISBN: 9780063251557
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty.
In this retelling of a classic, a drama student’s obsession with beauty leads her down a dark—and possibly deadly—path.
Eighteen-year-old Penny Paxton is beginning her first year at Dorian Drama Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she hopes to follow in her starlet mother’s footsteps—and earn the love that her mother has never seemed to offer. At Dorian, Penny is mentored by Royal Shakespeare Company legend Orlagh Camran, who makes her the compelling offer of a portrait by the Masked Painter, a mysterious artist with the ability to gift his subjects everlasting youth and beauty. But shortly after Penny’s portrait is complete, several of the Masked Painter’s subjects are found murdered. Fearing that she’s made a terrible mistake and may become the next victim, Penny, who’s gay, begins to investigate the murders with the help of an unlikely ally. As she attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the Masked Painter and the murders, she’s forced to reckon with her own toxic obsession with beauty. This chilling, atmospheric novel, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, is entertaining and full of twists, though some of the reveals feel contrived and some questions are left unanswered. The plot unravels at a leisurely pace but eventually builds to an action-packed (if somewhat convoluted) conclusion. Most characters are cued white.
An entertaining and atmospheric, though sometimes clumsy, exploration of the true cost of beauty. (content note, author’s note, bonus scene) (Fantasy thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250346797
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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