An enjoyable debut.
A small-town coming-out story.
Taylor Garland is the star of Hopuonk, Massachusetts, and the newly crowned homecoming queen—just like her mother was in 1978. With features that are “impossibly perfect” and a mystery dad who may or may not be a famous actor, she is an object of desire. Taylor has chosen homecoming king Brad, but the only reason she’s with Brad is because he is attractive to girls and she’s attracted to them. Taylor has been in love with one girl in particular since middle school—her best friend, Susan, and Susan has liked Brad for the same amount of time. It’s senior year, and Taylor’s life is full of uncertainties: sex with Brad, telling Susan the truth about her feelings, coming out. Even graduation isn’t a given because she is struggling to keep her grades up. The one thing she is certain about is her need to get out of Hopuonk. Since the story is set in 1999, readers may not recognize some of the references. The storyline involving the identity of Taylor’s father feels like a plot device that ultimately serves no purpose. All characters are assumed white, and character development of the supporting cast is weak, with many of them fitting high school stereotypes. However, the coming-of-age lesbian aspect of the novel is explored with humor and tenderness.
An enjoyable debut. (Fiction. 16-18)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-3853-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing.
For the second time in her life, Leo must choose between her family and true love.
Nineteen-year-old Princess Leonie Kolburg’s royal family is bankrupt. In order to salvage the fortune they accrued before humans fled the frozen Earth 170 years ago, Leonie’s father is forcing her to participate in the Valg Season, an elaborate set of matchmaking events held to facilitate the marriages of rich and royal teens. Leo grudgingly joins in even though she has other ideas: She’s invented a water filtration system that, if patented, could provide a steady income—that is if Leo’s calculating Aunt Freja, the Captain of the ship hosting the festivities, stops blocking her at every turn. Just as Leo is about to give up hope, her long-lost love, Elliot, suddenly appears onboard three years after Leo’s family forced her to break off their engagement. Donne (Brightly Burning, 2018) returns to space, this time examining the fascinatingly twisted world of the rich and famous. Leo and her peers are nuanced, deeply felt, and diverse in terms of sexuality but not race, which may be a function of the realities of wealth and power. The plot is fast paced although somewhat uneven: Most of the action resolves in the last quarter of the book, which makes the resolutions to drawn-out conflicts feel rushed.
A thrilling romance that could use more even pacing. (Science fiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-94894-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
Unexamined toxic masculinity makes this romance anything but.
A girl’s strained relationships with two brothers causes strife in this trilogy opener by Argentinian author Ron that’s translated from Spanish.
In the small American town of Carsville, Kamila Hamilton was friends with her neighbors the Di Bianco brothers. Taylor was Kami’s constant, kind companion; older brother Thiago grew increasingly antagonistic. When she was 10 and a half and he was 12, Thiago coerced Kami into her first kiss. Following the revelation of a family secret, the Di Biancos moved away, but a restraining order against Thiago led them to return to their old home after eight years without contact. But 20-year-old Thiago’s new job as assistant basketball coach at the high school where Taylor is on the team and 17-year-old Kami is a cheerleader brings the white-presenting trio into close contact, leading to tense confrontations over past events. Thiago and Kami’s interactions are marked by antagonism and lust (Thiago: “Accumulated rage, bitterness, hatred, and arousal….I could have taken her then and there, not even thinking of the consequences”; Kami: “I felt like a small, defenseless animal being hunted by a beast”). The softer and more empathetic Taylor tries to smooth things over. Thiago’s abuse of power—he uses his role as coach to confront and bully Kami—is uncomfortable and feels like a misguided attempt by the pair to process their traumatic history, which Ron purposefully reveals, making this overall read more cringeworthy than romantic.
Unexamined toxic masculinity makes this romance anything but. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781464234279
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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