Guess what: There’s another cliffhanger. Stay tuned. Or not.
The mystery deepens as time-traveling Lydia struggles to set right the past that she inadvertently altered—driving her beloved grandfather insane six years before her birth.
Lydia knows the Montauk Project is no crazy conspiracy theory; her family’s been victimized by it twice now. Worse, she doesn’t know if she will ever see her beloved Wes, a Montauk “recruit,” again. Readers won’t be remotely surprised when he appears and whisks her back to 1989—the year her grandfather in this altered timeline was committed to Bellevue and then disappeared—so they can investigate and perhaps learn how to set history right. Oh, and kiss swooningly, of course. In 1989, Lydia poses as a recruit assigned to investigate, with Wes, a New York City politician who—gasp—has some connection to her grandfather. (How this top-secret, technologically advanced, hyper-regulated operation fails to notice the black sweatpants and hoodie she wears instead of standard-issue shiny black spandex is just one of the many details this novel hand-wavingly dismisses.) The plot juggles three elements: Lydia’s quest to right her timeline; the Montauk Project’s cruelly sinister exploitation of homeless children as time travelers; and Lydia and Wes’ irritating pushmi-pullyu romance, in which either Lydia or Wes continually worries the other’s undying love has suddenly died—a ham-handed contrivance that does not noticeably amp romantic tension.
Guess what: There’s another cliffhanger. Stay tuned. Or not. (Science fiction/romance. 12 & up)Pub Date: July 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-208108-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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