A laugh-out-loud, tender, and wholly satisfying read.
Can you fake your way into the heart of the person you want?
Hopeless romantic Nozomi Nagai is a queer, Japanese American 17-year-old from Glenview, Illinois. Over the summer, she and her older brother, Max, are interning at their gay uncle Stephen’s museum in San Francisco and spending quality time with Baba, their aging grandmother who has dementia. Riddled with insecurity from a humiliating rejection by her back-at-home crush, Nozomi is determined to have a transformational summer romance. She instantly crushes on gorgeous Willow—“like a teenage Gemma Chan”—who works in the museum’s gift shop. Trouble is, Willow is heartbroken: She was just dumped by Arden, an equally gorgeous Black girl who has moved on to be with Dela, a teenage White/Japanese artist with an installation at the museum. When ambiguous comments between Nozomi and Willow leave their social media followers speculating, Nozomi instigates a fake romance in hopes that it will eventually become real. What ensues are hilarious and often cringeworthy situations that Sugiura imbues with depth. By giving voice to Nozomi’s internal struggles with her parents’ pending divorce, strained relationship with her mom, and fear of rejection by homophobic Baba, she layers a complex rom-com plot with deep insights about honest and patient love. That Nozomi’s racial and sexual identities aren’t treated as issues but simply parts of who she is is also refreshing.
A laugh-out-loud, tender, and wholly satisfying read. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-299123-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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