A sweet story of discovering your own worth and finding someone worthy of you.
Everyone should dream, but Korean American adoptee Jasmine holds herself back.
After high school graduation, she plans to move in with her long-term boyfriend, Paul, and get her nursing degree. But if Jaz let herself dream, she would move to Paris to pursue a culinary career. Her practical plan crumbles when she catches Paul cheating and allows him to talk her into an open relationship. While she is devastated, Jaz’s family sees this as an opportunity. Her large, lively Italian and Filipino extended family, plus ethnically diverse siblings and friends, knows she can do better than settle for Paul, so they decide to secretly stage a competition in the style of The Bachelorette, complete with podcast. They advertise on social media and narrow down the list to three bachelors: former boy next door Justin Michael, minor league baseball player Aaron, and aspiring chef Eugene. As Jaz starts having supposedly chance meetups with the guys, she starts falling for one even as Paul realizes his mistake. Will Jaz returned to Paul and the life she had carefully planned or throw out the script and dare to dream? Occasional plot points around the messy, entertaining, and loving extended family dynamics feel inconsistent and require suspension of disbelief, but Ireland’s charming and fun debut, told through traditional narration with text messages and podcast transcripts peppered throughout, ends on a satisfyingly positive note.
A sweet story of discovering your own worth and finding someone worthy of you. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-7702-5
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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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