A solid rom-com.
This enemies-to-lovers romance includes a business rivalry, a deadbeat mom, and a last-gasp attempt to save a family store.
Recent high school graduate Madeline Moore has grown up working at Books & Moore, her family’s bookstore, and she would love nothing more than to take over running it after college. She and Benny, her half brother, have been raised in Pennsylvania by their maternal aunt, Astrid, and Benny’s father, Sterling, who lives in the area. Astrid manages the bookstore while the teens’ flaky mother is off trying to become an actress in California. The store’s livelihood is threatened when chain bookstore Prologue opens up across the street, quickly becoming Madeline’s nemesis. After an encounter with maddeningly attractive local boy Jasper Hamada leaves Madeline swooning, she discovers that his family owns Prologue, and he works there—which leads to a series of sabotaging pranks between the two. Madeline’s world collapses after her aunt announces that due to financial problems, the store is going to close at the end of the summer—and that her mom is moving back. The plot moves along briskly with romantic tension, sex-positive moments, comedic beats, and Madeline’s determination to save the store. Madeline has been bullied for her weight and expresses internalized fatphobia. She, her aunt, and her mother are cued as White; Benny has brown skin (he and Sterling are of indeterminate ethnicity) and Jasper is Japanese American.
A solid rom-com. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-299446-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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 heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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