Disappointingly shallow.
A prospective Oxford student must solve her best friend’s murder before she becomes the next target.
Seventeen-year-old Eva Dawkins, who’s the mixed-race Black daughter of a police inspector, is about to realize her—and her late mum’s—lifelong dream: attending Oxford University. Even better, once she and George Danvers, the white boy who’s her best friend, ace Beecham College’s interview week, they can finally become official and take their relationship to the next level. But George, typically spirited and unbothered, starts acting strangely, even more so after the arrival of rival interviewees from the ultra-posh private school Reapington Manor College. He’s hiding something, but before she can figure out what, Eva finds George dead in front of the controversial statue of the alumnus, an enslaver and sugar plantation owner, that stands in Beecham’s quad. As secrets come to light, Eva starts questioning everything she thought she knew about George. But when the police target her as the prime suspect in his murder, Eva must race to find the truth. The premise is intriguing, but the story stumbles in execution due to the inconsistent and sometimes surface-level writing and one-dimensional characters who often feel like they exist in service of the plot. Themes about grief, racism, and classism are underdeveloped, although Davis-Featherstone handles an incident of sexual assault with care. While the story gestures toward dark academia, its core leans more toward Gossip Girl, and readers who like drama may enjoy this.
Disappointingly shallow. (Mystery. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781250342300
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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
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