A beautiful and entertaining blend of family, romance, and self-discovery.
Rika sets out to find the truth about her mother.
Rika Rakuyama has never felt like she wholly belonged anywhere. Being half Japanese and half White, Rika doesn’t feel completely accepted in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, where tradition is everything. Her mother’s sister took her in when her teenage mom died, and now Rika lives with Auntie Suzy and her wife, Auntie Och. Rika is not #TeamPrincess like her cousins; she feels full of rage like a nure-onna or mythological Japanese snake-woman...until she meets popular rom-com actress Grace Kimura in a bizarre encounter and becomes convinced that Grace is actually her long-lost mother. With the help of cute Chinese Filipino rising star Hank Chen, Rika sets off on a whirlwind adventure through Los Angeles, hoping to learn more about her mother; the book highlights the magic of various locations around the city. As she and Hank spend more time together and unravel the truth, Rika gets drawn into the life she could have, but she struggles to open up fully to her own happy ending. Rika and other characters struggle with who they are because people gossip about and comment on their race, sexuality (Rika’s cousin Belle is pansexual), and mental health and judge them according to ethnic stereotypes. Written like a modern fairy tale, this is a thoughtful exploration of finding one’s full identity and sense of place and community.
A beautiful and entertaining blend of family, romance, and self-discovery. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-32748-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
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
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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