A potentially STEAM-y romance, but the code could use some debugging.
To escape her small town and attend a prestigious summer tech program, a Chinese American teen switches coasts.
In Chinook Shore, Oregon, Charise Tang’s life is at a standstill. Her stepfather has taken her savings, her white sort-of boyfriend persists in making microaggressive comments, and even Zach Torres, the valedictorian who escaped the town and its limited opportunities, has returned, on academic probation from Vanderbilt. After being accepted into an all-expenses-paid summer program at MIT for “the next generation of tech leaders,” Char tries to leave without telling her family. When she’s caught, her stepfather, a white Iraq War veteran, declares that she’s never allowed to return. In Cambridge, she has a quintessential meet-cute involving spilled coffee with Khoi Astor, a Vietnamese American boy who happens to be in the same program. Khoi and Char team up for the program’s hackathon, both hoping that the prize will provide Char with the financial safety net she desperately needs. Despite the sweet blossoming romance, the couple’s dynamic often feels imbalanced: Khoi feels overly perfect, while Char’s acerbic and bitter tone can become tiring. Khoi’s epilepsy mostly serves as a plot device. However, through Char’s Chinese immigrant mother and Khoi’s Vietnamese parents (one a refugee and one a transracial adoptee) the narrative effectively conveys the isolation experienced by many immigrants.
A potentially STEAM-y romance, but the code could use some debugging. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781534488519
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
