An entertaining fantasy with a dash of macabre eroticism.
A woman’s dead-end life is disrupted by a case of child abuse and her own scandalous relationship with a preternaturally mature teenager in Delorme’s occult/mystery/romance novel.
In the year 2025, Sarah Baker is a smart but unappreciated 47-year-old Brooklyn paralegal whom everyone treats like “the wallpaper.” Especially dismissive are her boyfriend, Karl, a lawyer and all-around creep (“She will have the grilled chicken salad because she could do to lose a few pounds,” he tells a waiter) whom she tolerates because he pays her mortgage, and the voices in her head, including those of her mother, father, and dead husband, who insist that she can’t make it on her own. Intrigue surfaces when Sarah gets a case in which Andrew Davies, her firm’s smarmy client, fights his ex-wife for custody of their sons; her internet sleuthing and the kids’ cryptic comments hint at sexual improprieties involving 16-year-old Alex and his bombshell stepmother. Sarah’s outrage is complicated by her own inappropriate attachment to Caio, a 16-year-old Brazilian-born boy she encounters at a playground where he is shooting hoops. He seems to be the perfect lover: a great cook, raptly attuned to her feelings, and, when he expertly seduces her, fabulous in bed. Sarah is guilt-stricken over the apparent statutory rape, but Caio’s quirks, like his possession of a driver’s license stating that he was born in 1956, undermine that narrative while suggesting stranger possibilities. This first book in the author’s Limerent series mixes a realistic portrait of middle-aged despair with a sharply observed legal procedural that shades into a supernatural thriller, all while condemning—and glamorizing—ephebophilia. Her evocative prose remains psychologically subtle and naturalistic while conjuring spooky atmospherics (“Taking the blade gingerly between her fingers, Sarah pushed one corner of it against the skin of her forearm. At first, she felt nothing but a slight resistance. She pushed a little bit harder, and was rewarded with the feeling of a prick followed by a bit of red that appeared under the brightness of the blade”). The result is a somewhat queasy but well-written and captivating melodrama.
An entertaining fantasy with a dash of macabre eroticism.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2023
ISBN: 9798987488003
Page Count: 294
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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