Positively movie-ready.
Kelsey has lived her entire 17 years with her mother in a house set up like a fortress. When her agoraphobic mom disappears, Kelsey finds herself in real danger.
Kelsey’s mother was a famous kidnapping victim, and Kelsey is the daughter of the kidnapper. Her mom has no memory of the year she spent confined in a dark basement, but when she escaped she bought an upscale secluded house and rigged it up with a sophisticated security system, complete with barred windows and a panic room. A traffic accident puts the white teen in contact with classmate Ryan, a volunteer firefighter (and also white) who rescues her. On returning home from a ceremony honoring him, Kelsey realizes not only that her mother is missing, but that someone is trying to get into the house, sending her and Ryan into the panic room. Once their ordeal ends, Kelsey’s full of questions about her still-missing mother. All of Kelsey’s life, her mom has taught her to lie. Can it be that her mom has lied to her? Miranda writes some marvelously suspenseful scenes and keeps the story’s pace zooming along at a high clip during extensive action scenes. She keeps an underlying plotline of a romance with Ryan flowing along, and it provides nice relief from the suspense. If Ryan seems a bit too good to be true, fans won’t mind.
Positively movie-ready. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-53751-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
A pleasant romance hindered by some curious choices.
Opposites attract after tragedy strikes.
Autistic white teen David Drucker spends every lunch period eating alone. When Indian-American popular girl Kit Lowell joins him one day she’s just looking for a quiet place to sit. It’s been one month since Kit’s father, a white dentist, died in a terrible car accident, but Kit is still flailing. As the two teens get to know one another and eat lunch together each day, they find themselves bringing out their own best qualities. Slowly but surely, romance blooms. There’s a warmth and ease to their relationship that the author captures effortlessly. Each chapter alternates perspective between Kit and David, and each one is fully rendered. The supporting characters are less well served, particularly Kit’s first-generation-immigrant mother. There are two major complications in Kit’s story, both involving her workaholic mother, and the lack of development defuses some potential fireworks. The central relationship is so charming and engaging that readers will tolerate the adequate tertiary characters. Less tolerable is a late-in-the-game reveal about Dr. Lowell’s accident that shifts the novel’s tone to a down note that juxtaposes poorly with everything that came before. The author pulls out in the final few pages, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
A pleasant romance hindered by some curious choices. (Romance. 12-16)Pub Date: July 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-53568-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
A fiery fantasy that proves that sometimes the most dangerous battles are the ones within.
When fire runs in your blood, destiny will always strike a spark.
Eighteen-year-old Laila Bansal, a descendant of Draupadi (from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata), lives with her three immortal rakshasi aunts and is bound by her bloodline to bear a child before age 25 in order to maintain the cosmic balance. Laila’s masis raised her in remote areas—Mauritius, forests in Indonesia and Germany, and now, a winery in upstate New York. She longs for normality, scrolling social media and envying her friends’ college experiences (she’ll be attending college classes online). Laila’s world explodes when Karan Singh, “descendant of warrior and demigod Karna,” arrives, hunting an asura, or supernatural monster—and their forbidden connection triggers apocalyptic consequences. Sharma authentically integrates Hindu mythology into contemporary settings, drawing from oral traditions and regional variations. The romance develops organically despite the leads’ star-crossed origins, and a late revelation adds layers of tension and tenderness. Central themes of autonomy versus destiny emerge through Laila’s struggle against predetermined motherhood, echoing Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which is her favorite book. The story also explores grief and inherited legacies through sharp dialogue and vivid action sequences. While the pacing occasionally slows during exposition-heavy sections, and the third-person narration feels distant at times, Laila’s journey to self-acceptance and the explosive finale provide readers with a satisfying resolution.
A fiery fantasy that proves that sometimes the most dangerous battles are the ones within. (content warning, author’s note) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781454947776
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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