A thoughtful if flawed thriller.
When Autumn Casterly disappears, only her younger sister, Ivy, believes something is wrong.
Everybody knows Autumn is a bad girl, a drug dealer who often spends the night away. So when Autumn doesn’t come home one day after a drug deal gone wrong, no one bats an eye apart from Ivy. With the help of her close-knit group of friends, the Nerd Herd Club, Ivy starts to search—eventually unveiling the truth behind her sister’s deceptively strong facade. What Ivy doesn’t know is that the clock is ticking, and while Autumn’s body lies broken and hostage, her spirit has been trying to communicate with Ivy. The narrative alternates between Autumn’s violent story and Ivy’s determined search in a story about two sisters that blends the mundane with the supernatural. The ill effects of rape culture and the systemic lack of support for survivors are deftly explored, but the novel’s impact is ultimately marred by a contrived resolution. The fractured tonal shift between Autumn’s and Ivy’s narratives is an interesting, if jarring, choice (it’s hard to care about Ivy’s sweet but silly love triangle when readers know Autumn could soon be dead). The two main characters are white, and the novel has well-developed nonwhite and LGBTQIA characters. Ivy is fat and confident in her size; the fat-shaming she faces at school is addressed head-on.
A thoughtful if flawed thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-1349-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist.
The mother Annabel Price thought was dead returns with a story about where she’s been—but 18-year-old Bel knows she’s lying.
Ever since Rachel Price’s unexplained disappearance 16 years ago, true-crime fans have come up with plentiful theories about what happened. Bel and her family members, who are white, cobbled together lives for themselves after a jury found Bel’s father, Charlie, not guilty of murdering his wife. Beset with medical bills for his elderly father, Charlie recently agreed to participate in a documentary about the unsolved mystery. Black British filmmaker Ramsey Lee is well into the process of interviewing the Prices when his project gets an unanticipated boost after an exhausted, disheveled Rachel staggers back into town. Rachel is eager to resume her role in the family, but the inconsistencies in her accounts raise alarms for Bel. With the help of the youngest member of the filmmaking team, Bel sets out to learn what really happened. Along the way, someone else disappears, and Bel uncovers a tangle of lies that make it impossible for her to trust people she thought she knew. When things come to a head the night of her grandfather’s 85th birthday party, Bel ends up in a race for her life. The last quarter of the novel tears along at a breakneck pace before arriving at a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.
Readers will be captivated by this twisty thriller and its uncompromising protagonist. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593374207
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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