Readers will drown in this finely crafted, atmospheric book.
A teen finds love and danger in a cursed Pacific coast town.
Two hundred years ago, the townsfolk of all-white Sparrow, Oregon, found the three beautiful Swan sisters guilty of witchcraft and executed them by drowning. Ever since, the town has suffered through Swan season: on June 1, the vengeful sisters return from their watery graves to possess the bodies of local girls and lure boys to watery deaths. In response to the inevitability of the three to six deaths each June, the locals have built traditions, even celebrations, around it, and morbid, thrill-seeking tourists come to see the curse in action. Penny Talbot lives on the lighthouse island just off the coast, and she might stay forever in order to care for her mother, who had a breakdown after Penny’s father vanished years ago. The day before Swan season, a cute boy comes into town seeking work and a place to stay. Even though Penny knows he’s hiding something, she’s attracted to him and wants to protect him from the murderous curse. Some readers won’t like how quickly they fall deeply in love, but the characters’ chemistry and connection anchor the mystery and give them a reason to fight against the curse. Penny’s first-person narration is interspersed with third-person snippets of the sisters’ history, effective for pacing and provoking curiosity in this stand-alone.
Readers will drown in this finely crafted, atmospheric book. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9734-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters.
When star hockey player Alec Barczewski’s estranged childhood friend, Dani Collins, moves to town, they end up in a mutually beneficial fake-dating relationship that reignites old feelings.
Following her parents’ divorce, Dani and her mom move in with Dani’s hockey legend grandfather in Southview, Minnesota, where she spent a month every summer as a child and where her friendship with Alec grew. Between visits, the two were pen pals, but they eventually fell out of touch. Despite some tensions over their loss of friendship, the high school seniors reconnect. Desperate to get off Harvard’s waitlist, Dani needs another extracurricular activity, while Alec—whose reputation took a hit when a photo of him holding a bong appeared on social media—is eager to improve his tarnished image for NHL scouts. The pair strike a deal: They’ll fake date, making Alec look like a stable guy whose academically gifted girlfriend is related to hockey royalty, and in exchange, he’ll get Dani a team manager position that will catch the eye of Harvard’s admissions officers. Eventually, complicated feelings about their past, stressful family relationships, and their brewing romance boil over. Romance fans will love the deliciously tension-filled scenes between Alec and Dani, who are believable friends with heavy demands weighing on them. They feel like real teenagers, and readers will enjoy rooting for them as the well-paced story unfolds. Main characters present white.
A compelling romance inhabited by complex and appealing characters. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665921268
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
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