An often moving portrait of brotherly love.
Two brothers began a cross-country journey to find their lost mother in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in Marcus’ YA novel.
Wolfgang and Van Gogh are uncommonly close siblings. Narrator Wolfgang is a bookish 14-year-old, shy and reserved, while 16-year-old Van Gogh is a born leader, self-assured and deeply protective. After finding their father dead from Covid-19, Van Gogh ushers Wolfgang into an urgent, cross-country trip to find their mother who left them, for unknown reasons, many years ago. Van Gogh is afraid that the pair will end up separated in foster care, so he shows an iron resolve as he compels his brother forward. When Van Gogh saves Wolfgang from an attempted gas-station robbery, however, the resulting viral video gets the attention of authorities, even after Van Gogh has the insight to throw their phones away to avoid detection. The opening chapters progress at an almost implausibly brisk pace, but the narrative stabilizes once the brothers settle into their road trip. Throughout, Marcus peppers the story with details from the boys’ youth as they struggle to get along with their deeply conservative father who shares few of their values; at one point, she notably recounts the tragic story of the White father’s racist intolerance of Van Gogh’s Black girlfriend, Janelle, which caused a permanent rift in the family. In such rare moments, readers see compelling accounts of the dynamics of the siblings’ family. Throughout their journey, they also try to piece together the mysteries of their mother’s life from keepsakes and letters from a box she left behind; these moments account for most of the novel’s most memorable passages. The story also presents aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic with care and clarity. As the brothers’ quest bring them closer to their mom’s last known address, an unexpected obstacle makes their futures even more uncertain. All Wolfgang can do is hold firm to the only memory of his mother he has—her mantra to “breathe deep and swim.”
An often moving portrait of brotherly love.Pub Date: April 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64704-313-1
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Bublish, Incorporated
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans.
Romantic complications between a trained killer and one of her captors drive this sequel to Watch Me (2025).
Appealing to readers who prefer their romantic dramas to be light on action and heavy on long passages of banter, bitter sibling arguments, and tortured reflections, Mafi continues the tale of Rosabelle Wolff, the flaxen-haired assassin from the dystopic Reestablishment, and magnetic, “impossibly stunning” James Anderson, her nemesis-turned-lover who’s still trying to take down the regime. Now desperate to accomplish several secret missions, Rosa easily escapes from one of The New Republic’s prisons, where she was left in the series opener, and, dressed in “a little kid’s cat onesie,” eludes all pursuers except for James, who can seemingly find her at will. Enigmatic Rosa responds unpredictably to many human contacts—including with violence, temporary death (one of her abilities), or a sudden panic attack. Along with the central pair of rivals and lovers, James’ older brother, Aaron, shares the narration. Bestseller Mafi tucks in several subplots, including, notably, a cameo from Juliette Ferrars, the protagonist of the original Shatter Me series, who’s undergoing a scarily difficult pregnancy. Amid the slowly simmering rising action, the author delivers a revelation and a twist that set up a potential series climax. Some ethnic diversity is present in the supporting cast.
A character-focused entry that will satisfy fans. (Dystopian. 14-adult)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9780063419056
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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