The thin plot spreads itself across nearly 400 pages, and characters spend more time discussing what to do than actually...
Like its heroine, this series conclusion never quite comes to life.
Back in Oklahoma from New Orleans, Amelia retains partial corporeality; she can eat and manipulate objects, but she can’t make physical contact with the living—even romantic interest Joshua Mayhew. His sister, Jillian, wheedles Amelia into attending a party crashed by evil Kade and his dead cohorts, who announce they’ll kill one person a week until Amelia joins them in their grim afterworld. A failed plan to blow up the bridge that serves as gateway between worlds prompts the evil ones to speed up their timeline. Beyond vague biblical allusions, what motivates the nonliving, good or evil, remains unclear; the quasi-religious worldbuilding doesn’t reference or build on familiar myths or paradigms that resonate with readers. As the title suggests, the pace is funereal, and pausing to take in mundane events like prom squanders needed momentum. The issue of whether Amelia and Josh will finally “do it” aims to build suspense but seems borrowed from a story with lower stakes. Scenes in the evil afterworld and its gateway bring the novel to intermittent, imaginative life, but it’s not enough to keep readers’ attention.
The thin plot spreads itself across nearly 400 pages, and characters spend more time discussing what to do than actually doing it: a miss. (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-202681-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
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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