A clever tale about breaking free from the past that falls short on secondary character development.
Is a 17-year-old student’s acceptance to NYU’s elite art program a lucky break or preordained?
Rather than returning to high school for his senior year, Evan Kiernan is settling into college, thanks to a portfolio that included an impressive oil painting he did called The Green-Eyed Girl. During his first week in New York, a sudden rainstorm leads a stranger to share his umbrella—a green-eyed stranger who looks exactly like the girl he painted from his imagination. Evan and Mara Cassidy feel an immediate connection that strengthens as they spend time together. Mara’s physical likeness to the painting isn’t the only strange coincidence, however. At a Coney Island gallery, Evan finds a 1911 photograph of a young man—one of the people with unusual physical traits who was on display at an amusement park. Apart from his numerous tattoos, the young man looks exactly like Evan. Flashbacks send Evan back in time to the amusement park and even to the Puritan witch trials; each time, he encounters Mara. Interspersed among Evan’s narrative are entries written by a certain Kieran Flynn from the Kings Park Asylum in 1911. Readers will enjoy spotting parallels between the characters across the different time periods, and Evan is engaging as he tries to solve the puzzle. For all her charm, Mara, a drummer in a rock band, remains woefully passive and underdeveloped. Main characters present white.
A clever tale about breaking free from the past that falls short on secondary character development. (playlist) (Fantasy romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780744310849
Page Count: 368
Publisher: CamCat Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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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