by Lauren Saft ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2015
Saft’s debut develops admirably complex characters but then fails to deliver a plot worthy of them.
Three best friends alternate narration of their junior year of high school as they explore sex, romance, and independence.
Each teen clearly represents a high school stock character—Alex: tomboy with a secret crush on her best male friend; Veronica: proudly promiscuous; and Mollie: willing to sacrifice her sense of self to keep her athlete boyfriend. Outwardly each teen embraces her role in the trio—Veronica’s quick laughter at the slut-shaming jokes her best friends lob at her is actively painful. But the characters transcend stereotypes when their private narrations reveal each girl’s discomfort with her assigned social position in the trio and in the school’s social hierarchy. Their inner musings about the secret jealousies and hurt feelings that exist among the trio combine with the girls’ independent and collective confusion about acceptable sexual roles for women for a disheartening window into modern teens’ identity dilemmas. Unfortunately, after creating interesting characters, Saft forces the trio into a soap opera of secret sexual dalliances with one another’s boyfriends. Eventually a revenge plot involves two of the girls slipping their friend a roofie, after which she is almost sexually assaulted by a teacher. This chilling attempted sexual violence is too easily dismissed during the girls’ quick reconciliation.
Saft’s debut develops admirably complex characters but then fails to deliver a plot worthy of them. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-316-40366-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poppy/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
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
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by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
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
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