A winning story about a teenage voice student that hits all the right notes.
Set at a summer music camp in Indiana, this debut YA novel spins a tale of romance and self-discovery.
Seventeen-year-old Tullia Cicero “Kiki” Nichols arrives at Indianapolis’ Krause College for a six-week voice camp determined to be a different girl than she was back home in Chicago. There, she was a “sweatpants enthusiast and perpetual chorus girl” and a huge fan of the sci-fi series Project Earth and its soundtrack of 1990s girl power music. She’s got more friends on Twitter than in real life, especially now that her best pal, Beth, has dumped her out of jealousy that Kiki got into music camp and she didn’t. At camp, Kiki wears twee dresses selected by her older sister, Tina, and conceals her Project Earth fandom—and starts to make new friends, including queen bee soprano Brie, dreamboat Seth Banks, and khaki-clad cutie Jack, who’s attending golf camp at Krause but secretly loves drumming. Kiki, a soprano, knows her parents won’t pay for Krause unless she receives one of seven scholarships awarded at the end of camp—and her best bet at getting one is landing the renowned Greg Bertrand as her voice teacher. But when she’s assigned to his class, he tells her in confidence that she can improve her chances by informing on any classmates behaving inappropriately. For Bertrand, this includes singing pop songs, meaning Kiki’s beloved Lilith Fair music is forbidden. Does Kiki really want to study nothing but opera for four years? And who’s Bertrand’s mole in their midst? Hammerle captures the intoxicating potential of leaving home and trying on a new persona, even as Kiki gradually realizes that she isn’t being true to herself. The author also demonstrates an understanding of how teens use social media—every chapter begins with one of Kiki’s tweets, and her online friendships are as important to her as those offline. Finally, Hammerle resists the urge to couple her protagonist off predictably—when was the last time a YA heroine got to kiss two boys while having a crush on a third without it ending badly for everyone?
A winning story about a teenage voice student that hits all the right notes.Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63375-503-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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