A thrilling roller coaster for readers craving “the feels”; a melodramatic slog for the rest.
A tempestuous fantasy debut, the first in a trilogy, adapts the legend of Tristan and Isolde.
“I hate and I love.” Lady Branwen—lady-in-waiting, elder cousin, and best friend to Princess Eseult—is ruled by love for the land of Iveriu and its royal family and loathing toward Kernyv, whose pirates murdered her parents. So why does the Otherworld nudge her to save a shipwrecked Kernyvman whose true identity endangers both kingdoms? Debut author Pérez captures an alternative Ireland and Cornwall rich in authentic medieval details and steeped in Celtic myth. From the Queen who mystically embodies the Land to the princess whose petulant selfishness courts disaster, the female characters are vivid, powerful, and passionate. Branwen especially burns with loyal devotion for her unworthy cousin, near-instantaneous lust for her erstwhile foe, and rage, bitterness, grief, jealousy, and ecstasy as she gradually surrenders to the Otherworld’s purposes. However, Tristan, whose “bronze” complexion (a legacy of African forebears) contrasts markedly with the pale skin of the others, serves mostly as a blandly idealized love interest; the other male characters are all villainous or negligible. The prose wavers between poetic and purple, clogged with metaphor and symbolism. The unrelenting barrage of violence, tenderness, horror, and wonder becomes so exhausting that the heartbreak of the climactic cliffhanger is almost a relief.
A thrilling roller coaster for readers craving “the feels”; a melodramatic slog for the rest. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-13285-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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