This lyrical coming-of-age story effectively explores the complicated nature of love and grief.
A teen girl finds solace in The Stranger, the New Mexico desert, and a blossoming romance as she struggles to grieve the death of her emotionally abusive mother.
Dani Falls' provocative and cruel single mother, Ruby, is literally mauled to death by a bear in their Florida backyard. After the newsmaking violent death, a social worker informs the white 17-year-old that she's to live with a maternal aunt she's never met in a small New Mexico border town. Accompanied by only a copy of Albert Camus' The Stranger and an obsessive fear that the euthanized bear is going to return for her too, Dani resides in virtual silence, taking long, dangerous walks in the desert sun. Then she stumbles upon Paulo, the movie-loving Mexican-American gas station cashier who helps her, looks out for her, and introduces her to his wise and nurturing grandmother. She starts school. She speaks to her aunt, who shares the tragic secrets of Ruby's past. Although Dani's connection to Meursault, Camus' protagonist, is a major theme, readers don't need to know anything about the French classic to follow Dani's journey. The author's dreamlike language is at once beautiful and brutal, capturing the lows and highs of Dani's journey to figure out how to move forward knowing she both loved and hated her mother.
This lyrical coming-of-age story effectively explores the complicated nature of love and grief. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-55145-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
A strongly plotted romantic comedy with plenty of well-structured, pitch-perfect drama to dig into.
A travel disaster turns into an unexpected adventure in this swoony romantic comedy.
Darcy Milligan is on her way back home to Los Angeles from the Silverspun Music Festival (“the Coachella of Nevada!”). Her phone is dying, and when the bus breaks down, she ends up stranded near the scenic (but desolate and remote) town of Jesse, a couple of hours north of Las Vegas. Enter Russell Henrion, a young man with whom she has a tension-filled, love-at-first-sight moment. He’s an adorable and awkward aspiring musical theater writer who will soon be starting a BFA at the University of Michigan. He also needs to charge his phone. As Darcy and Russell wait for the next morning’s replacement bus, they undertake an emotional journey that’s much more complicated than either of them anticipated. Readers will appreciate how Darcy and Russell’s relationship captures the essence of a dreamy whirlwind romance while addressing the realities of awkward, in-person dating that people who spend so much time online often experience. The quippy dialogue, hilarious jokes, and corny but juicy chemistry will delight those looking for something steamy without explicit on-page sex. Matson has mastered the art of the gradual reveal; she also weaves the transition to college, navigating parental expectations, and explorations of privilege into the story. The main characters read white.
A strongly plotted romantic comedy with plenty of well-structured, pitch-perfect drama to dig into. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781481499019
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
A promising, page-turning romantasy.
An 18-year-old girl’s days of hiding her true supernatural identity are tested when she’s embroiled in the mystery surrounding a prominent professor’s death.
The Palmers are a secretive supernatural family in Cornwall, England. Nicole and her brother, Dylan, pretend to only be Seers like their father and younger sister, Bells, but they’re actually Empyreals—rare, powerful hunters who can shape-shift into any being’s deadliest predator. Nicole knows that if she and Dylan ever transform, the Wake, or shadowy organization that controls the paranormal world and killed their Empyreal mother, will force them to join their ranks or die. Nicole believes she can decode a final message from her mother hidden in The Wild Hunt of Odin, a famous folkloric painting, but after Diana Westmoore, the professor and art collector who owns the painting, dies suddenly, the Wake send their best Empyreal assassin, Kyan McCarter, to retrieve the painting and hunt the supernatural killer. Kyan and Nicole are immediately drawn to each other, even though he’s lived monastically for centuries, and she’s been taught to avoid the Wake at all costs. Their forced proximity causes proverbial sparks to fly. Filled with intriguing worldbuilding, a swoony forbidden romance, and a diverse collection of fascinating mythological creatures who coexist in the human and supernatural worlds, this series opener is ideal for fans of Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, and Sally Green. Main characters are cued white, Dylan is queer, and the supporting cast includes diversity in race and sexual orientation.
A promising, page-turning romantasy. (Fantasy romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781335006950
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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