A thematically powerful ride.
While threats still loom after Zodiac (2014), vilified Rho must pick up the pieces.
On a Cancrian colony on the surface of the Capricorns’ planet, Rho is haunted by both the deaths she’s seen and the ones she feels responsible for, as well as dealing with the dramatic reversal of public opinion toward her. She also learns the reason why the armada fell apart: sabotage by Risers, those born in one House who shift to another. Furthermore, the Riser population is rising. The Risers—mentioned in the first book—become a major plot point here, leading to thought-provoking dilemmas about how to handle violence coming from oppressed minorities. Rho—still flawed and nuanced, a delightfully conflicted reluctant leader—struggles to find her voice again after having been so thoroughly shut down. Making it difficult is what she has to report: nemesis Ophiuchus reaches out to her with a terrible warning, as well as an offer, and Rho doesn’t know if she should trust him. She doesn’t have much time to decide; terrorist group Marad is ramping up the violence and the brutality. While this story unfolds, Rho pieces her way through the Trinary Axis chapter of Zodiac history that was hinted at as terrible in the first installment, finding parallels that help shape her character development. After twists, action, and heartbreak, the ending sets up the next in the series.
A thematically powerful ride. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-743-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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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