Four personalities in two bodies (and plenty of sexual tension) make for a wild ride in one stolen vehicle after another,...
Bonnie and Clyde have languished in Limbo for decades, but thanks to a teenage girl on probation who touches the bullets that mowed them down, they have a chance to rekindle their romance.
Monroe’s father has added to his collection of gangster memorabilia five slugs from the outlaws’ final shootout. After pocketing two of the slugs, Monroe hears a voice in her head with a Southern accent and becomes convinced that she’s possessed by Bonnie. Monroe meets Jack at a party and lets him hold the slugs; soon, he’s possessed by Clyde. Chapters alternate between Monroe, who’s trying to keep Bonnie from taking over, and Clyde, who’s more successful at controlling Jack and restarting his crime spree—a technique that meets with only mixed success. Monroe’s foulmouthed, bad-girl persona and snarky attitude are unconvincing, as are the shallow characterizations of high school life. Clyde’s more compelling narrative, written in dialect, is rich in humor and colloquialisms from the 1930s as he confronts life in 21st-century Chicago. Plot points arise and are dropped without ceremony, like a skateboarder with an otherworldly message for Monroe and a stereotypical deer-hunting redneck who nearly sidetracks Monroe’s efforts to get to Bonnie and Clyde’s memorial in Louisiana.
Four personalities in two bodies (and plenty of sexual tension) make for a wild ride in one stolen vehicle after another, but uneven quality in the writing weakens the overall effect. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: June 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4405-7057-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar plotline delivers exactly what readers want: sweet, romantic fun.
Evie Clément unexpectedly finds herself up for the coveted title of Bellegarde Bloom while questioning her growing feelings for the boy who got her there as part of a wager.
Each year in Paris, the Court of Flowers selects the Bellegarde Bloom, the most desirable of the marriageable girls at the ball. Seventeen-year-old Evie, the daughter of a baker, is an unlikely candidate. But Beau Bellegarde has accepted a bet from Julien, his half brother, in exchange for Julien’s inheritance, which forms the bulk of their family’s estate. The challenge: that Beau can make any girl into the Bloom—and thanks to Beau’s secret interventions, Evie secures a nomination. What wasn’t in the plans? Their growing feelings for one another and the added complications of Beau’s dishonesty and a duke’s competing interest in Evie. The chapters switch between Evie’s and Beau’s first-person perspectives, helping readers become aware of feelings and plot points that other characters are not privy to. The pre-revolutionary, early modern setting is cued through mentions of Versailles, carriages, and fashions such as powdered hair. This fun and fluffy story wraps up with a satisfying ending. Most characters present White; Evie’s best friend, Josephine, and some other background characters are Black.
A familiar plotline delivers exactly what readers want: sweet, romantic fun. (Romance. 13-17)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9780063238398
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
A purple page turner.
This sequel to Clockwork Angel (2010) pits gorgeous, attractively broken teens against a menacing evil.
There's betrayal, mayhem and clockwork monstrosities, and the Shadowhunters have only two weeks to discover—oh, who are we kidding? The plot is only surprisingly tasty icing on this cupcake of a melodramatic love triangle. Our heroes are Tessa, who may or may not be a warlock, and the beautiful Shadowhunter warrior boys who are moths to her forbidden flame. It's not always clear why Tessa prefers Will to his beloved (and only) friend Jem, the dying, silver-eyed, biracial sweetheart with the face of an angel. Jem, after all, is gentle and kind, her dearest confidante; Will is unpleasant to everyone around him. But poor, wretched Will—who "would have been pretty if he had not been so tall and so muscular"—has a deep, dark, thoroughly emo secret. His trauma puts all previous romantic difficulties to shame, from the Capulet/Montague feud all the way to Edward Cullen's desire to chomp on Bella Swan. Somehow there's room for an interesting steampunk mystery amid all this angst. The supporting characters (unusually well-developed for a love-triangle romance) include multiple compelling young women who show strength in myriad ways. So what if there are anachronisms, character inconsistencies and weird tonal slips? There's too much overwrought fun to care.
A purple page turner. (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7588-5
Page Count: 528
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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