Will cast a spell on romance fans.
A stealth witch and a devout witch hunter are forced to marry.
In this French-flavored fantasy world, witches are hunted down by the Church’s Chasseurs and burned at the stake; they retaliate against this genocidal crusade through vicious terrorist attacks. Thief Louise le Blanc wants none of that—she’s left her witch life behind. But Lou ends up on Chasseur captain Reid Diggory’s radar when a heist goes bad; his attempt to catch her lands them in a situation so compromising that the archbishop suggests marriage to save face. Lou’s initial priority is self-protection—wanting to avoid both fallout from the heist and a dangerous figure from her past—and she’s fine with using Reid. The slow-burn, opposites-attract romance between crass, irreverent Lou and prim and proper Reid gets very hot and sexy once it ignites. Lou sees firsthand the damages some witches do to innocents, has her presumptions about individual Chasseurs challenged, and also sees up close the horrors Chasseurs perpetrate. Despite occasional pacing hiccups and an easily guessed twist, the secondary characters will charm readers, and the story picks up when Lou’s past dangerously catches up to her, revealing the true stakes. Though at heart a romance, rich second-tier characters round out the shades-of-gray, morality-and-empathy themes. Witches, Chasseurs, and some secondary characters come in all colors; the leads appear white. The ending screams sequel.
Will cast a spell on romance fans. (Fantasy. 15-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-287802-1
Page Count: 528
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Melodramatic, without redeeming character development.
Following the events of the series opener, 18-year-old Kamila Hamilton continues to try to reconcile her relationships with two brothers.
Kami’s family is struggling financially and her parents have decided to divorce. Kami blames her mother for the split, adding to the strain between them. Making matters worse, Kami is blamed for acts of vandalism and hateful Instagram comments directed against her classmates, isolating her from friends. She finds comfort in her romantic relationship with Taylor Di Bianco and friendship with Julian, a gay boy who continues to stick by her. But Kami still can’t shake her attraction to Taylor’s older brother, Thiago, who broke things off with her. He’s now working as a PE teacher at the nearby elementary school. Struggling to navigate their history and proximity, Kami and Thiago attempt to project an appearance of just being friends for Taylor’s sake while still secretly feeling anguish and lusting after each other. After the trio agrees to unearth a time capsule they buried eight years ago, the letters from their past selves trigger events that change everything. Continuing in the same vein as the earlier entry, this uncredited translation of a work by Argentinian author Ron, which was originally self-published in 2020, centers on explorations of indecision and guilt. The mystery surrounding who’s framing Kami brings some depth to the story, but the pedestrian writing and shallowly drawn characters undermine engagement. The central characters read white.
Melodramatic, without redeeming character development. (content warning) (Romance. 16-18)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781464234309
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloom Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues...
He’s in remission from the osteosarcoma that took one of his legs. She’s fighting the brown fluid in her lungs caused by tumors. Both know that their time is limited.
Sparks fly when Hazel Grace Lancaster spies Augustus “Gus” Waters checking her out across the room in a group-therapy session for teens living with cancer. He’s a gorgeous, confident, intelligent amputee who always loses video games because he tries to save everyone. She’s smart, snarky and 16; she goes to community college and jokingly calls Peter Van Houten, the author of her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, her only friend besides her parents. He asks her over, and they swap novels. He agrees to read the Van Houten and she agrees to read his—based on his favorite bloodbath-filled video game. The two become connected at the hip, and what follows is a smartly crafted intellectual explosion of a romance. From their trip to Amsterdam to meet the reclusive Van Houten to their hilariously flirty repartee, readers will swoon on nearly every page. Green’s signature style shines: His carefully structured dialogue and razor-sharp characters brim with genuine intellect, humor and desire. He takes on Big Questions that might feel heavy-handed in the words of any other author: What do oblivion and living mean? Then he deftly parries them with humor: “My nostalgia is so extreme that I am capable of missing a swing my butt never actually touched.” Dog-earing of pages will no doubt ensue.
Green seamlessly bridges the gap between the present and the existential, and readers will need more than one box of tissues to make it through Hazel and Gus’ poignant journey. (Fiction. 15 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-525-47881-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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