Suspenseful, poignant, and romantic: well worth the read
Mystery, romance, time travel, and danger…this one has it all.
Cassandra would rather be home alone in Ohio or gallivanting around Europe with her best friend, but she’s stuck in a snooty beach town in Massachusetts on a family vacation. It’s not that she doesn’t love her family; it’s just that there’s absolutely nothing and no one she wants to relate to here. Until she steps onto the private beach attached to their rented house and meets Lawrence, that is. Handsome, courtly, interested in her, and generating an immediate attraction, Lawrence comes from a different world—quite literally: the past. Living in the same house but separated by almost 100 years, Cass and Lawrence fall head over heels for each other, even if they can’t see each other except on their isolated stretch of beach. With access to the Internet, Cass looks into Lawrence’s life only to discover that in his time, he is due to be murdered in a matter of days. Alternating narration between her protagonists, Collins gives her characters voices that evoke their respective times, Cass’ modern, slightly snarky voice contrasting with Lawrence’s formal cadences. Their present-tense accounts present an interesting, often amusing intersection of the Roaring ’20s and the 21st century.
Suspenseful, poignant, and romantic: well worth the read . (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4926-2116-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
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
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
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