Darkly thought-provoking reflections on modern gender politics.
Three teen girls come of age during the late 1970s, experiencing and reacting to a culture of threatening misogyny.
Isabel describes the white threesome’s friendship in relationship to their Long Island seashore hometown, noting their shared understanding that the three are not “supposed to be here. They all know it, and that’s why they get each other; that’s why they’re friends.” Readers may find this puzzling, because the town has charming features, making the friends’ daydreams of leaving initially seem like teenage wanderlust. But soon readers see all three subjected to groping at a doughnut shop and physically threatened by men in an alley, and one is brutally date raped. The misogyny continues as Isabel realizes her boyfriend’s expectations of sex: “She is supposed to resist. He is supposed to have to force her.” Ruth observes her mother’s series of abusive boyfriends and understands the open secret that her father is likely a married man in town, a fact for which only her mother seems to receive condemnation. When Magda’s father physically attacks her in public even the witnessing police officers refuse to acknowledge it. The girls’ resulting feelings of powerlessness and simmering anger occasionally erupt in ways that can’t be condoned but that clearly stem from the daily injustices forced upon them.
Darkly thought-provoking reflections on modern gender politics. (Historical fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-247425-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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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