A leaden plot laced with sugary prose.
A young boy struggles to weather his own family tragedies while attempting to save his best friend from an abusive father in Elliott’s novel.
In 1968, Francis Paulson is a 14-year-old boy in St. Paul, Minnesota, on a mission. Izzy, his best friend since the fifth grade—a rambunctiously ungovernable boy—has been terrorized by an abusive father since the tragic death of his brother, Jack, an event that transformed Izzy’s father into a “big fat gambling drunken jackass.” Francis schemes to raise enough funds to finance an adventurous river trip for them in a fit of adolescent wanderlust of the kind imagined by Mark Twain. However, Francis is beleaguered by troubles of his own, hardships so monumental they challenge his very faith: Francis’ beloved grandmother Rose dies of cancer, and his sister Shannon is so badly burned in a fire that she is given up for adoption to a family more capable of caring for her. As a result of the emotional stress, his other sister, Mandy (Shannon’s twin), becomes dangerously obsessed with fire, a condition that cries out for psychological help. When Francis’ newest sister Cynthia arrives stillborn, and Father Joseph explains she is permanently lost in the “limbo” of purgatory, the boy’s Christian faith is profoundly unsettled. Elliott has a finely tuned ear for the melodramas of adolescent life—Francis’ innocent romance with Susan Flannagan, a pretty girl loathed by Izzy, produces a maelstrom of relatable intramural squabbles. Unfortunately, the Job-like travails of the protagonist are buried in treacly sentiment and the author’s indefatigable efforts to tug at the reader’s heartstrings. (Francis’ family owns a failing candy factory, and the novel concludes with recipes for treats like Frank’s hot-lava butter almond toffee.) Sermons like these add a didactic banality to the mix: “They are not lost who find healing and peace by searching for truth, sometimes questioning their faith, and also occasionally indulging in the food of the gods: fine confections.” One wishes the author had lent his impressive talents to a story of rebellious teen adventure rather than this melodramatic morality tale.
A leaden plot laced with sugary prose.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781643436159
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Beavers Pond Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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