This second installment in a planned four-book series stands alone well, without a reiteration of the previous plot....
Callie and her friends are trying to survive their freshman year at Harvard while juggling studies with romance and, in Callie’s case, blackmail.
This second installment in a planned four-book series stands alone well, without a reiteration of the previous plot. Callie’s major dilemma involves a sex video starring herself and taped by an old boyfriend without her knowledge that has fallen into the hands of Alexis, her manipulative boss on the campus magazine Callie tries to join. Callie also has roommate problems. Vanessa, her former BFF, flies into destructive rages at imagined slights. Meanwhile, she’s attracted to two handsome boys: Gregory, with whom she had a one-night stand but who misinterprets her welcoming message to him, and Clint, Alexis’ old boyfriend. Kunze and Onur spend some time on Callie’s studies as well as on her social difficulties, diving into literature, economics, justice theory and biochemistry. The authors leave no doubt that these students are at school to learn, a more important activity than even romance. The protagonists take their writing seriously and work overtime to win places as school journalists. Callie’s blackmail problem adds an element of suspense. The book’s hang-fire ending should prompt readers to buy the next sequel. Plenty of visits to businesses in the Harvard neighborhood add local color.Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-196047-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
Would have been truly stellar if not for the missed opportunities for positive representation.
Ava and Gideon are two wounded young people whose unexpected connection provokes the best and worst in each other in this witty Australian import.
Ava is mourning the loss of her best friend, Kelly; Gideon is in the throes of anxiety and depression. As Ava’s life unravels following Kelly’s suicide, Gideon joins her as a fellow employee at The Magic Kebab. The two strike up a bond commiserating over rude customers, Gideon’s poetry, old-fashioned letters they write and mail to one another, and a boss with an unfortunate tattoo. Gideon doesn’t know that Ava is very much involved with her deceased friend’s brother, Lincoln, and Ava doesn’t know how much Gideon is in love with her. Told in alternating voices, this page-turning novel displays a great deal of artful charm. The only low points are the casual amusement Ava displays in response to her Greek immigrant grandmother’s racist remarks. This is particularly troubling as Kelly and Lincoln’s family is Maori (other main characters are white). It also doesn’t help that Lincoln is portrayed negatively, as aggressive and controlling. However, Gideon’s tight-knit family with two loving lesbian moms is a bright spot.
Would have been truly stellar if not for the missed opportunities for positive representation. (Fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-925498-54-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Text
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
Suitable for fans of nonmainstream romances with larger-than-life characters.
Two teens—one girl, one boy—defy gender norms to discover their own brand of love.
When they meet, laid-back Zee and self-professed “biggest personality on the planet” Art are both sure they’re straight despite others’ assumptions that they’re gay because of how they present themselves. It’s infatuation at first sight for Art, who is certain that fellow “mythical creature” Zee will fall for him. Amid tumultuous family circumstances—Zee meets her estranged father after her mother dies of cancer, while Art’s parents’ marriage falls apart—the duo explores their confusing attraction to each other and what it means for their senses of self. This exploration includes sex (masturbation, blow jobs, nights in a motel room, and relationship drama involving other characters). The book’s strength lies in its first-person narration, which alternates between Zee and Art in uber-short chapters full of all-caps, exclamation points, and explanatory pie charts. The ultimate affirmation that love needs no labels or boundaries comes far too late for a story about sexual fluidity; throughout most of the book, Zee and Art subscribe to strongly binary views of gender, sexuality, and gender expression. Art and all other primary characters are presumably white. Zee, jarringly for the daughter of an Iranian father and a very light-skinned white mother, is described as having a very dark complexion.
Suitable for fans of nonmainstream romances with larger-than-life characters. (Fiction. 16-18)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62779-852-5
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
