A richly described coming-of-age romance with plotline that sometimes lags.
A garden of cursed tulips has haunted a Dutch American family for generations.
High school senior Lark Goode anxiously awaits graduation, when she can receive her diploma and leave her childhood home, a rickety house built in a swamp above Forsaken Creek, where she lives alone with her twin brother, Archer. Their mom left the family, and their dad lives and works on a fishing boat. The residents of Cutwater know—and fear—the legend of the Goode family, whose backyard garden blooms with cursed tulips each spring. The flowers make Archer and Lark irresistible and cause others to fall in love with them. But when the magical tulip blossoms are stolen, and hysteria sweeps across the student body of Cutwater High, Lark begins to rely on Oak, a mysterious boy with amber skin, “river-dark” hair, and green eyes who comes from a nearby town and seems unaffected by her family’s curse. While navigating peak tulip season and planning her escape from a community that avoids her in order to avoid falling into a deep, cursed love, auburn-haired Lark unearths old family secrets. This angsty romance is laced with imagery that evokes dark academia and vivid natural elements. The stream-of-consciousness narration drifts into lengthy repetition at times. Nonetheless, the subtle fantasy elements intertwined with complex character relationships make for an entertaining read.
A richly described coming-of-age romance with plotline that sometimes lags. (Fantasy romance. 14-18)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781665900270
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 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
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