Heavy-handed exposition, flat characters and trite dialogue don't elevate this outing past forgettable.
An unsatisfying blend of science fiction and Gossip Girl marks St. Claire's young adult debut.
Annie Nutter is so invisible no one notices or cares when their backpacks hit her in the face as they climb on the school bus. After her mother reveals that Annie's father could have been Jim Monroe, the billionaire owner of a chain of plastic-surgery clinics, Annie wonders if she'd trade her own father, an inventor with wacky ideas, for a different life. Predictably, one of her father's inventions sends Annie into another universe. Now Annie Nutter is Ayla Monroe: rich, beautiful and A-list. Ayla's friends are shallow shoplifters, and her hot boyfriend just wants sex; Jim Monroe is a mustache-twirling villain. Then Annie falls for Charlie Zelinsky, a genius who was homeless for a short time. The author tries to ground the creaky body-swap concept in real science: When Charlie learns and accepts Annie's story, he implausibly uses physics and long explanations to replicate her father's invention. Of course, this makes Annie question whether she should stay or go.
Heavy-handed exposition, flat characters and trite dialogue don't elevate this outing past forgettable. (Science fiction/chick-lit. 14-17)Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74156-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Only for the largest and most well-used LGBT collections.
Seventeen-year-old twins Andrew and Andrea Morris share everything until Ryder Coltrane arrives on the scene.
In their small New York town, Andrew and Andrea are stars of their respective soccer teams at school and are hoping for scholarships to the same college. Both are popular. Andrew dates a new girl every couple months, but he never feels comfortable in the relationships. Ryder has moved to town to stay with his aunt and uncle while his parents are deployed to Germany, and he joins the twins’ small group of close friends. Andrew notices stirrings of strange feelings when Ryder is near. When Ryder offers a kiss, Andrew takes him up on it, and the two begin a secret relationship. However, secrets are hard to keep in small towns, especially from someone as close as a twin sister. Lavoie’s debut may be well-intentioned, but the tale is buried in pedestrian prose and larded through with details and scenes that do little to nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters. The situations may be realistic, but the characters don’t speak, and often don’t act, like real people.
Only for the largest and most well-used LGBT collections. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60282-743-1
Page Count: 243
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Mafiosa Rosa is rarely likable, but this tough survivor takes control of her own life, determined not to be controlled,...
A shape-shifting Mafia capo insists on romance amid dark family mysteries.
The death of her sister and aunt in Arcadia Awakens (2012) have left Rosa Alcantara the head of a Sicilian Mafia clan. Her love affair with Alessandro, capo of the rival Carnevare family, makes both of them vulnerable to vicious members of their own families. It's bad enough that they lead different Cosa Nostra clans, but their magical abilities are at odds as well. The Alcantaras become giant snakes, while the Carnevares become panthers, leopards and lions. Rosa mostly ignores the family business while she investigates the brutal rape she endured a year and a half before. Her investigations reveal unsettling truths: Nothing in her pre-Mafia past, neither the rape nor the death of her father, is unrelated to Cosa Nostra. Her own family has engaged in heinous crimes against her and the rest of the Mafia. A climactic battle—partially described in a six-page cellphone conversation between Rosa and Alessandro—ties up a few loose ends and leaves the rest for the next volume.
Mafiosa Rosa is rarely likable, but this tough survivor takes control of her own life, determined not to be controlled, assaulted, lied to or—quite literally—devoured . (Paranormal romance. 14-16)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-200608-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
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