Though not as suspenseful as the ingredients would suggest, it’s still an amusing and engaging romance with the added spice...
The dead of winter in a Maine inn, a hunky guy who’s interesting and interested, a pair of young ghosts and a 16-year-old girl on her own—the perfect ingredients for a creepy paranormal romance.
Abandoned once again by her irresponsible mother, who is off hunting ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, Penny is sent to spend the Christmas holiday with her mother’s old friend who runs an inn and is helped out by her handsome, college-age adoptive son, George. Penny’s mother has never had much success with ghost hunting, but Penny immediately spots a pair of them: benevolent and good-looking young Blue, who teaches Penny how to “dream journey”—travel into the past by spirit—and angry, vengeful Starla. As George and Penny’s evolving relationship gets physical, jealous Starla exacts near-lethal revenge, although her ire appears out of proportion to any particular justification beyond death-addled suspicions. Penny’s evidently attracted to Blue as well as George, but the paranormal relationship seems oddly attenuated, suggested but never sufficiently developed. After Penny’s mother lets her down yet again, the teen realistically has to find ways to cope, all revealed in her believable, mildly snarky first-person narration.
Though not as suspenseful as the ingredients would suggest, it’s still an amusing and engaging romance with the added spice only a pair of specters can add. (Paranormal romance. 11-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-935955-79-5
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
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
Exactly what the title promises.
A grieving teen’s devotion to romance films might ruin her chances at actual romance.
Liz Buxbaum has always adored rom-coms, not least for helping her still feel close to her screenwriter mother, who died when she was little. Liz hopes that her senior year might turn into a real-life romantic fantasy, as an old crush has moved back to town, cuter and nicer than ever. Surely she can get Michael to ask her to prom. If only Wes, the annoying boy next door, would help her with her scheming! This charming, fluffy concoction manages to pack into one goofy plot every conceivable trope, from fake dating to the makeover to the big misunderstanding. Creative, quirky, daydreaming Liz is just shy of an annoying stereotype, saved by a dry wit and unresolved grief and anger. Wes makes for a delightful bad boy with a good heart, and supporting characters—including a sassy best friend, a perfect popular rival, even a (not really) evil stepmother—all get the opportunity to transcend their roles. The only villain here is Liz’s lovelorn imagination, provoking her into foolish lies that cause actual hurt feelings; but she is sufficiently self-aware to make amends just in time for the most important trope of all: a blissfully happy ending. All characters seem to be White by default.
Exactly what the title promises. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6762-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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