A concise, bold crime tale that, even in its darkest moments, shines with brilliance.
In this thriller, a missing teen reappears with amnesia and uncovers a host of parlous secrets buried in her gradually returning memory.
When Californian Rachel Evans wakes up in a ditch, it’s been two weeks since she inexplicably disappeared. But Rachel can’t remember the last year of her life. She hardly recognizes herself, surprised by her Goth style and the fact that Dylan McCarthy, the guy she’s been crushing on for years, is apparently her boyfriend. Rachel attracts the attention of FBI agent Ryan Bennet, investigating missing girls who also vanished after school but, unlike Rachel, never came back. Filling in her memory gaps isn’t easy; Rachel gets intermittent flashes, but her so-called friends, including head cheerleader Lauren Maxwell, are reluctant to provide her with specifics. One thing’s for sure: her preference of handling a confrontation with her fists rather than talking it out feels like a fairly new trait. Rachel knows she’s onto something when she finds a list she’d generated of girls’ names and addresses, at least one from Bennet’s case. Following the lead will take Rachel into a seedy underground world that she’s slowly starting to remember. There are individuals, however, who want to keep this world hidden. They have already gone to great lengths—and will again—to ensure it stays that way. Destefano (Fathom, 2012, etc.) sets a near-perfect tempo for her narrative. Rather than saving a hefty twist for the end, she systematically reveals pieces of a mystery as the story progresses. It’s an apt teen drama as well, with the 17-year-old having to mend her friendship with Molly McFadden, whom Rachel, as far as she can tell, abandoned for the popular crowd. Rachel, though, is indelible, favoring commiseration over self-pity—sympathizing with younger brother Kyle’s pain for his then-missing sister. Readers will likely notice a passing resemblance to a well-known novel (divulging its title would be a spoiler), but Destefano doesn’t rehash the plot, opting to reinterpret it for a markedly different protagonist. The payoff isn’t quite as dynamic as its buildup, but the ending more than satisfies, allowing both the book to stand on its own and create potential for a continuation or spinoff.
A concise, bold crime tale that, even in its darkest moments, shines with brilliance.Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63375-605-2
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unexamined toxic masculinity makes this romance anything but.
A girl’s strained relationships with two brothers causes strife in this trilogy opener by Argentinian author Ron that’s translated from Spanish.
In the small American town of Carsville, Kamila Hamilton was friends with her neighbors the Di Bianco brothers. Taylor was Kami’s constant, kind companion; older brother Thiago grew increasingly antagonistic. When she was 10 and a half and he was 12, Thiago coerced Kami into her first kiss. Following the revelation of a family secret, the Di Biancos moved away, but a restraining order against Thiago led them to return to their old home after eight years without contact. But 20-year-old Thiago’s new job as assistant basketball coach at the high school where Taylor is on the team and 17-year-old Kami is a cheerleader brings the white-presenting trio into close contact, leading to tense confrontations over past events. Thiago and Kami’s interactions are marked by antagonism and lust (Thiago: “Accumulated rage, bitterness, hatred, and arousal….I could have taken her then and there, not even thinking of the consequences”; Kami: “I felt like a small, defenseless animal being hunted by a beast”). The softer and more empathetic Taylor tries to smooth things over. Thiago’s abuse of power—he uses his role as coach to confront and bully Kami—is uncomfortable and feels like a misguided attempt by the pair to process their traumatic history, which Ron purposefully reveals, making this overall read more cringeworthy than romantic.
Unexamined toxic masculinity makes this romance anything but. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781464234279
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.
In O’Gorman’s YA debut, two best friends try to fool people into thinking that they’re in love—and then discover a new facet of their relationship.
Sally Spitz is a frizzy-haired 17-year-old girl with a charming zeal for three things: Harry Potter (she’s a Gryffindor), Star Wars, and getting into Duke University. During her senior year of high school, she goes on a slew of miserable dates, set up by her mother and her own second-best–friend–turned-matchmaker, Lillian Hooker. Sally refuses to admit to anyone that she’s actually head over Converses in love with her longtime best friend, a boy named Baldwin Eugene Charles Kent, aka “Becks.” After a particularly awkward date, Sally devises a plan to end Lillian’s matchmaking attempts; specifically, she plans to hire someone to act as her fake boyfriend, or “F.B.F.” But before Sally can put her plan into action, a rumor circulates that Sally and Becks are already dating. Becks agrees to act as Sally’s F.B.F. in exchange for a box of Goobers and Sally’s doing his calculus homework for a month. Later, as they hold hands in the hall and “practice” make-out sessions in Becks’ bedroom, their friendship heads into unfamiliar territory. Over the course of this novel, O’Gorman presents an inviting and enjoyable account of lifelong friendship transforming into young love. Though the author’s reliance on familiar tropes may be comforting to a casual reader, it may frustrate those who may be looking for a more substantial and less predictable plot. A number of ancillary characters lack very much complexity, and the story, overall, would have benefited from an added twist or two. Even so, however, this remains a largely engaging and often endearing debut.
A familiar but heartfelt romance for easygoing readers.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-759-7
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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