A sweet if somewhat uneven summer romance.
Cayden Maya Jackson is a young witch in Houston, Texas, who’s caught between worlds.
Seventeen-year-old Cayden, who dreams of attending Howard University, helps out at Cayden’s Confections, her father’s bakery, and Lucky Paws, the animal rescue attached to her mother’s veterinary clinic. In a world where witches have lived in the open since 1919, Cayden’s mixed family—she has a witch mom and nonmagical dad—lives outside the exclusionary Coven House system her mother grew up in. Her maternal grandparents, members of the Dallas Coven, still believe in the “separate-from-and-better-than-you model.” After Cayden learns that gentrification has led to rent increases at her parents’ businesses, causing them serious money troubles, she decides to work more hours to help them save on staffing costs. She meets wealthy Khy Carter, a cute boy who’s adopting a dog from Lucky Paws, and after they spend a fun day together, Khy’s status as Coven royalty puts Cayden in the spotlight. Fake dating—because on principle she won’t really date someone as bougie as him—will bring much-needed customers to Cayden’s Confections and help Khy’s reputation following a very public breakup. But real feelings grow, and their different worlds start closing in on them. This well-paced, largely satisfying romance that explores social class features likeable Black characters, but the worldbuilding feels forced and clunky, undermining the attempt to create a whimsical, magical atmosphere.
A sweet if somewhat uneven summer romance. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781547612963
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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
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