Slightly less rizz than its predecessor, but still worth the ride.
Queer teens reprise their James Bond–inspired hijinks.
Only 19 days after their wedding, 17-year-old newlyweds Nico Hall and Sam Solomon are already keeping secrets. Since their breakout mission in A Different Kind of Brave (2024), both white-presenting boys have been recruited as spies, but they can’t reveal this fact to each other. Their mission focuses on an anomaly that’s on a collision path with Earth—and the six-day countdown to the expected impact is on. Field agent Nico—code name “Parkour”—ends up in Hawai‘i, verifying the danger with an optical telescope. Meanwhile, Sam—aka “the Knitter”—is tasked with thinking up contingencies as an analyst for a “sensitive and compartmented information facility.” Dangers surrounding the pair escalate while things also heat up between them, as Sam worries that Nico still hasn’t said “I love you” back. Luckily, their missions eventually bring them closer to finding out the truth—in more ways than one. But can they “pull the wig off this whole thing,” save the world, and save their marriage? Amid the heavy flirting and passion, the lovelorn spies have a meaningful conversation about monogamy. The alternating third-person narration effectively builds tension, but for such high stakes as mass destruction, the resolution’s payoff falls a little short. Still, the Bond references and cool gadgetry abound in this fast-paced sequel—this time, notably including some AI.
Slightly less rizz than its predecessor, but still worth the ride. (author’s note) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9780897336444
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Duet
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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