An engaging story of personal growth and a second-chance romance.
The senior prank at Ames, an upscale Rhode Island boarding school, reignites romance and conflict for Lily Hopper and ex-boyfriend Tag Swell.
Their relationship lasted nearly two years before Lily broke it off. Her feelings for Tag remain intense—but so is her jealousy over his girl admirers, especially valedictorian Blair Greenberg, whom he dated next. After Tag and Blair’s split, Lily keeps her distance until she’s tapped to join the senior prank, an invitation that secretly comes from Tag himself. They are setting up student body president Daniel Rivera—whose promposal Lily regrets accepting—by hiding the new yearbooks he’s scheduled to hand out in two days. Planting a trail of clues for Daniel across campus at night, Lily and Tag revisit their history and feelings; the one obstacle to their happiness was Lily’s insecurity, the plot’s linchpin. Athletic and an accomplished dancer, she’s the class salutatorian and bound for Georgetown University, but attending Ames for free as the daughter of one of the most popular teachers on campus and surrounded by students who are far wealthier, she is acutely self-conscious of her “fac-brat” status, has always played it safe, and struggles with self-doubt. Rehashing their past through flashbacks, Lily faces difficult emotional truths. Tag’s Type 1 diabetes is well described and woven into the story without being the focus of his characterization. Lily and Tag read White; surnames cue ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.
An engaging story of personal growth and a second-chance romance. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781728263137
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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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