A combination of mystery, burgeoning love, and strong worldbuilding makes for a tempting read.
In this debut that evokes a fantasy Renaissance Florence, 17-year-old Bell tries to use her magical gift to save her city.
Bell first learned she had special abilities when she was 11, after she became overwhelmed by the fragrance of flowers, accidentally fused Magia, and nearly wiped her sister Roza’s mind clean. This incident drastically changed their lives—pale-skinned, golden-haired Roza contracted Lymbodia, or the Burning Blood, and brown-haired Bell became apprenticed to the Maestra of Scents, Agnella. Years later, Roza is engaged to Garam of the noble House Medoro, cementing her family’s place in Bardian society, while Bell is poised to take over from her Maestra. However, there are evil forces working behind the scenes, and Bell doesn’t know whom she can trust. Her mother insists that she give up her scentmaking magic and marry into a powerful family. Roza lives boldly, in defiance of her deadly disease, but she may be at risk from Garam—who is seemingly plotting against all of Bardia. And what of the mysterious dark-skinned Spy for the Seller of Secrets, whom she meets at the Bazaar? Drawing upon the infamous Medici family as inspiration, Yutzy creates a magical world. The story is loaded with intrigue and full of deception, secrets, and a touch of romance, and readers will be drawn in by Bell’s search for the truth.
A combination of mystery, burgeoning love, and strong worldbuilding makes for a tempting read. (map, author’s note, glossary) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798887981697
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Keylight Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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