A music-soaked fantasy whose frenetic plot is overshadowed by tired stereotypes and the sexualization of underage girls.
A teenager finds her world rocked when she auditions to become a member of a brand-new girl group in Cairo’s YA novel.
Fifteen-year-old Garland Fast is a high school student living with her younger sister and a single mother who struggles to make ends meet. She desperately dreams of escaping Milwaukee and starting a new life filled with money and fame—so when her best friend, Candace, mentions auditions for a new girl group at a local recording studio, Garland jumps at the chance. She manages to snag an audition invite from Kendra, a peer Candace refers to as “a bit of a slut.” Despite some obstacles along the way—including the need to convince her mom to sign a parental permission slip to advance in the competition and the increasingly brutal audition process, which involves one-on-one practice with a vocal coach and mastery of recording skills, and choreography—Garland impresses record executive Donnell Booker, who is dazzled by the teenager’s ability to read music. When she discovers she’s included in the final two groups of girls, Garland feels her dream come tantalizingly close: “It would not be accurate to say the following release of nerves was so powerful it bordered on the sexual. It was sexual. There was no bordering about it. Garland was a virgin and didn’t smoke, yet in that moment, she understood the desire for an after-sex cigarette.” Garland and her fellow competitors struggle to stay on top as they are expected to work 12 hours a day, six days per week. A shocking change to the initial concept of a five-person musical group leaves all the girls reeling, and Garland makes a serious mistake that could cost her everything.
Cairo manages to get in some shrewd digs at the music industry as a whole, with Donnell admitting that, while they can’t say it aloud, anyone who is overweight or “not pretty” doesn’t stand a chance at the auditions. The author also offers occasional food for thought when it comes to music’s universal appeal: “Any song could be a girl group song. Any song could be a black song. All that mattered was attitude, passion, and harmony.” Unfortunately, any minor insights that the novel may offer are consistently and thoroughly overshadowed by a host of problematic elements. These include rampant sexism (“What [he] also recognized was the natural jealousy of women. They didn’t operate in the same manner as men”); victim blaming (Donnell admits to sleeping with an underage girl, then claims his “only excuse is her single-mindedness—she doesn’t take no for an answer”); and a graphic, multi-page scene of 16-year-old Garland—who, readers are repeatedly reminded, is a virgin—masturbating to thoughts of her much older mentor while reminiscing about the hardcore rape porn that she likes to watch. The result of all of this is a narrative that feels like a caricature of what teenage girls look like, act like, and feel—with little to no sense of any authenticity. And that presents a huge hurdle when it comes to getting readers to care about what happens to Garland and her friends.
A music-soaked fantasy whose frenetic plot is overshadowed by tired stereotypes and the sexualization of underage girls.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2023
ISBN: 9798986395647
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Richards & Jones
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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