by Mia Kerick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2015
A compassionate look at the harrowing problem of addiction, anchored by strong characters and a message of hope.
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Two high school seniors grapple with family and school pressures and try to break free of drugs and alcohol in Kerick’s (Come to my Window, 2015, etc.) YA novel.
On the surface, Lanny Keating and Trevor Ladd have nothing in common. Lanny is a star athlete and an excellent student from a good family who’s well on his way to earning a college football scholarship. Underneath his façade of perfection, however, he hides feelings of guilt and remorse; he blames himself for an accident that left his sister, Joelle, with a traumatic brain injury. Trevor is a lackluster student whose legal guardian, Carl, sexually and physically abuses him on a regular basis. Despite their differences, Lanny is drawn to Trevor and the two begin an intense relationship involving sexual exploration and alcohol and drug abuse. As their partying escalates, Lanny’s life falls apart: his grades plummet, he’s kicked off the football team, and he comes perilously close to failing his senior year. Meanwhile, Trevor wants to escape Carl’s abuse and knows that education is the key to a new life. As their senior year draws to a close, they both race against time to graduate and find sobriety. Kerick has crafted a sensitive but unflinching portrait of teenagers struggling to stop the cycle of addiction. The narrative offers well-developed characters and a strong story structure. Although the two young men come from different backgrounds, both turn to self-medication to mask the painful feelings that plague them. The author’s approach to her lead characters successfully conveys the message that their problems aren’t related to their socioeconomic backgrounds. Lanny and Trevor’s relationship never strikes a false note, as the chapters effectively show the events from both characters’ perspectives.
A compassionate look at the harrowing problem of addiction, anchored by strong characters and a message of hope.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 242
Publisher: YoungDudes Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Chloe Walsh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 28, 2023
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship.
A battered girl and an injured rugby star spark up an ill-advised romance at an Irish secondary school.
Beautiful, waiflike, 15-year-old Shannon has lived her entire life in Ballylaggin. Alternately bullied at school and beaten by her ne’er-do-well father, she’s hopeful for a fresh start at Tommen, a private school. Seventeen-year-old Johnny, who has a hair-trigger temper and a severe groin injury, is used to Dublin’s elite-level rugby but, since his family’s move to County Cork, is now stuck captaining Tommen’s middling team. When Johnny angrily kicks a ball and knocks Shannon unconscious (“a soft female groan came from her lips”), a tentative relationship is born. As the two grow closer, Johnny’s past and Shannon’s present become serious obstacles to their budding love, threatening Shannon’s safety. Shannon’s portrayal feels infantilized (“I looked down at the tiny little female under my arm”), while Johnny comes across as borderline obsessive (“I knew I shouldn’t be touching her, but how the hell could I not?”). Uneven pacing and choppy sentences lead to a sudden climax and an unsatisfyingly abrupt ending. Repetitive descriptions, abundant and misogynistic dialogue (Johnny, to his best friend: “who’s the bitch with a vagina now?”), and graphic violence also weigh down this lengthy tome (considerably trimmed down from its original, self-published length). The cast of lively, well-developed supporting characters, especially Johnny’s best friend and Shannon’s protective older brother, is a bright spot. Major characters read white.
A troubling depiction of an unhealthy relationship. (author’s note, pronunciations, glossary, song moments, playlists) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781728299945
Page Count: 626
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
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by Mercedes Ron ; translated by Adrian Nathan West ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 5, 2023
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning.
A romantically entangled stepbrother and stepsister in Los Angeles navigate their tumultuous history and take their relationship to new levels in this translated title by an Argentinian author.
Nick and Noah are madly in love: Their mutual attraction is established as the book opens with Noah’s 18th birthday party, during which she and Nick have an explicitly described sexual encounter behind the pool house. This fiery scene sets the stage for twists and turns in the lovers’ journey, including a separation when Noah is forced to go on a monthlong mother-daughter European tour. But reminders of their pasts (chronicled in the 2023 series opener, My Fault) threaten to undermine their stability. Nick’s wealthy estranged mother makes an unfortunate appearance, while Noah is haunted by the trauma of her father’s violent death. The blend of everyday complications (jealousy, parental disapproval) with frothy visions of high-society life is at once lacking in subtlety and intimately irresistible. The series initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and the novel follows the episodic structure typical of works on that site; sensual encounters occur at reliable intervals. Still, the characters and their milieu feel formulaic, and the writing is stilted. The differences between the two—Nick is five years older and has an office job; Noah has just finished high school—makes their suffocatingly possessive relationship feel particularly squirm-worthy. Nick and Noah and their families read white.
Plenty of heat but not enough substance to keep the fire burning. (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728290768
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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