An intriguing paranormal thriller.
A newbie wolf from St. Augustine, Florida, is out for revenge.
Vanessa and her best friend, Celeste, are out celebrating Vanessa’s 17th birthday when Celeste is murdered by a werewolf and Vanessa is bitten by another one. After her transformation, a heartbroken and angry Vanessa is presented at the Wolf Queen’s Court, which is ruled by the cunning Queen Sybil of the North American Court. These magical wolves possess powers beyond the ability to change at will between human and wolf bodies. Vanessa turns out to be the first known wolf to have purple eyes, and the queen is very interested in how she can use her powers to the court’s advantage. Even as Vanessa tries to solve the mystery of which wolf is responsible for Celeste’s death, she develops a budding romance with Prince Sinclair Severi, the queen’s son. But his interest in her could be dangerous to Vanessa: His engagement to “mean girl” Princess Evelyn Lee of the Asian Court is in the works, and Vanessa must determine whether there’s anyone she can trust in the brutal inner circle of the royal court. Debut author Gray’s worldbuilding is layered and intricate, and the action moves at a brisk pace although some of the dialogue is repetitive and stilted. Vanessa’s single-minded vengeance reverberates throughout, and while some of her choices may frustrate readers, the story is utterly enjoyable. Vanessa and Sinclair read white.
An intriguing paranormal thriller. (hierarchy of the seven werewolf courts) (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780316588430
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
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
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