Readers will quickly become frustrated by the uneven plot and the setting of summer camp, which never makes it past cliché.
Three sisters try to figure out themselves and their relationships with each other during their last summer together at Camp Callanwolde.
Calla is ambitious, smart and obsessed with her longtime crush and never boyfriend, Duncan. Violet is artistic, confident and head over heels with James, who is definitely off-limits. Daisy is athletic and taken by surprise by Joel, who is as intriguing as he is confusing. Everything seems on course for it to be the best summer ever, when Brynn, a girl who is determined to make things happen, turns all their lives upside down. Brynn is sometimes a catalyst for good, encouraging Daisy to try the zip line and to stand up to the girls intent on bullying her. However, in the midst of her shenanigans she nearly destroys the bonds of trust that exist between the sisters. Rather than forging their own summer experiences, the sisters seem at the mercy of their circumstances, a lack of growth that makes the story unsatisfying. The sisters’ three stories merge and separate as the point of view shifts from one sister to the next with each new chapter. Shifting narrators, a too-large cast and competing, rather than complementing, story lines keep this tale from ever finding its legs.
Readers will quickly become frustrated by the uneven plot and the setting of summer camp, which never makes it past cliché. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0213-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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
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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