Potentially weighty explorations of relationships and responsibility are managed with a light touch in this pleasant romance.
A challenge unlike any she has experienced before awaits Jade this summer—staying in one place long enough to possibly fall in love.
Jade is the quintessential contemporary white hipster—vegan, independent, and just the right amount of nerdy. Her 17 years have been spent on the road while her mom’s successful rock band tours the globe. Rather than going to the same school with the same people, Jade has been home-schooled, exploring new cities and constantly making new friends. All that changes when Jade decides to stay in California with her aunt for a summer. To her mother she frames the decision as an opportunity to experience normal teen life, but her ulterior motive is to track down the father she’s never met. She is responsible, quietly confident, and accustomed to freedom; meeting gorgeous and slightly mysterious Quentin, who is also white, leaves the typically unflappable Jade flustered. As the two enjoy a protracted and playful summer flirtation, Jade can’t shake the feeling that there is something that Quentin isn’t telling her. Ancillary to the love drama are several subplots about family relationships, particularly fathers and daughters. Jade and Quentin are empathetic and enjoyable characters. Though their burgeoning relationship is the central story, Jade’s close connection with her unwaveringly supportive mother is perhaps the more interesting.
Potentially weighty explorations of relationships and responsibility are managed with a light touch in this pleasant romance. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-553-49881-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasant read for teens who dream of a glamorous lifestyle.
Eager to leave her small-town life behind, a high schooler embarks on a whirlwind tour as the new lead singer of an established rock band.
Huang’s debut novel delves into the typical turbulent relationships between teens but against an unusual backdrop. Even after losing a reality TV singing competition, Chelsea jumps at the opportunity to replace the lead singer of popular band Melbourne. She’s thrilled about her band’s summer tour but has a tough time breaking into the group’s well-established chemistry. Her new rock-star status earns the attention of teen movie star Lucas, whose narcissism threatens to derail her fragile relationship with her band members. Chelsea is determined to embrace the adrenaline rush, and she has a real passion for performing. However, her growing feelings for a fellow band member make things even more complicated….Huang is married to a music agent, and she draws upon her knowledge of the industry to create a behind-the-scenes look at tour life. This, realistically, includes drinking and sex but more as backdrop than plot elements. Just as Chelsea’s excitement about joining the tour quickly fades when reality sets in, the novel’s glamorous atmosphere loses its luster due to its slow pacing.
A pleasant read for teens who dream of a glamorous lifestyle. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51182-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A page-turning mystery with a bit of hipsterism and an onion’s worth of layers.
Unable to recall what scarred her face a few months ago, a teen tries using documentary filmmaking to make sense of her life—and uncovers layers of horror.
Theo combs her hair in front of the scar left by a 4-inch gash on her jaw. Is it from an accident? An assault? She has no idea. Avoiding her friends, she sits in a cafe clandestinely filming a strange boy using a button cam and an iPhone. Theo and Andy—the unknowing documentary subject—meet and travel all around New York City, ostensibly trying to track down a girl he’s in love with yet somehow barely knows. In reality, they’re peeling off layer after layer of Theo’s own past. Theo and Andy both seem to be in trauma-induced fugue states, an unlikely coincidence; Theo’s confusion and desperation could also be coming from popping Lexapro at several times her prescribed dosage and barely sleeping. Her thoughts “riddle [her] head like machine-gun fire and zoom off in a trail of smoke before [she] can make sense of them”; her “shaky, electric, fuck-you energy” quivers with naiveté, her first-person narration as unreliable to herself as to readers. The horrific truth gets worse until the very end, when the puzzle pieces slam into place.
A page-turning mystery with a bit of hipsterism and an onion’s worth of layers. (Mystery. 14-17)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61695-194-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Soho Teen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
