A sweet, escapist romance that stumbles due to some inconsistencies.
A 17-year-old Black American girl is determined to have the best love-free semester in Paris possible with the help of her extensive bucket list and a grudging tour guide.
Aspiring triple threat Whitney Curry is finally living her dreams in Paris. Despite the city’s reputation for romance, she’s determined to eschew love in favor of sightseeing and doing research for her senior thesis, a one-woman play about the life of her idol, Josephine Baker. But the perfect start she imagined is immediately derailed. Whitney alienates her roommates, Belgian Nora and Swiss Sophie, clashes with her (unfairly) handsome and grumpy French tutor, Thierry, and finds her classes more intimidating than expected. So when Thierry rescues her from a sticky situation, Whitney sees her chance to salvage her semester with a deal: If he guides her around Paris, she’ll write the good tutoring review he needs to end his suspension from his soccer team. The added bonus? His grumpiness will make it easy to keep him at arm’s length—or so she thinks. Whitney and Thierry are easy to root for: Their romance is sweet, and the story is suitably escapist, reminiscent of ’90s rom-coms. But the imbalance in time devoted to their relationship versus Whitney’s project, combined with various underdeveloped themes, all results in a final act that feels rushed, confusing, and unearned. Several main characters are Black, including Thierry; Sophie is implied to be queer.
A sweet, escapist romance that stumbles due to some inconsistencies. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780593571545
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Joy Revolution
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
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
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
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