Individual elements are appealing, but sometimes the novel feels like an awfully long setup for a sequel.
Five teens experience emotional ruin resulting from the rigid socio-economic caste system that rules their futuristic vertical city—a 1,000-story residential/retail tower—in the year 2118.
The novel’s vivid prologue depicts an unnamed girl falling to her death from the tower’s roof. The novel then begins two months earlier, exploring how these five teens’ decisions led to the tragedy. The suggestion that one of them may even be the victim adds delicious tension, though drawing the uncertainty out for 400-plus pages may be a stretch for some readers. Juggling the large cast of characters and storylines results in early uneven pacing and erratic character development, both of which improve in the novel’s latter portion. The characters’ web of secrets, misunderstandings, jealousies, and unrequited loves may engage patient readers, especially as the novel suggests that technological advances will not necessarily improve human nature. However, the futuristic setting won’t offer enough innovative details to satisfy serious science-fiction fans, instead relying heavily on the predictable narrative of rich girls with emotional problems that money can’t solve. And while there is ethnic diversity—including a character of Iranian descent and another of Korean descent—the conflicts focus primarily on the challenges of romance between members of different economic stations.
Individual elements are appealing, but sometimes the novel feels like an awfully long setup for a sequel. (Dystopian romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-241859-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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
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
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