Uneven pacing disappoints, but the emotional journey is satisfying.
Home-schooled 17-year-old Thistle Tate is a celebrated YA author—but she’s wracked with guilt over knowing that she’s a fraud.
Her father, Theo, wrote the Lemonade Skies series himself and pretended to be Thistle in order to get a publishing deal. Meanwhile, Thistle goes on book tours, talks to fans, and even deceives her agent and editor. Her next-door neighbor and best friend, Liam Caruso, is the only one to whom she’s told her secret. She’s been crushing on Liam for years, but her feelings get complicated when she connects with 17-year-old Oliver Flynn, who comes to a book signing on behalf of his younger sister, a superfan who’s sick with Crohn’s disease. The tension ramps up and the lies spiral after her father breaks both his arms falling off a ladder right before the final manuscript is due, and Thistle must figure out how to finish the trilogy herself. Woven throughout are excerpts from the Lemonade Skies series—a fantasy about a girl caught in a love triangle who discovers a portal to the afterworld—which provide an interesting balance as Thistle grapples with budding romance and her unresolved grief over her mother, who died when Thistle was 3. Detweiler (Transcendent, 2016, etc.) delivers an intriguing tale about honesty and family, though the ending drags. All main characters are white.
Uneven pacing disappoints, but the emotional journey is satisfying. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: July 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4239-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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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