Though flawed, the story provides a thought-provoking metaphor for crucial conflicts of adolescence, as have its...
Does identity come from biology, upbringing or our own choices? The question becomes urgently concrete in the bleak final entry of this blockbuster dystopian trilogy.
After the explosive climax of Insurgent (2012), Tris, Tobias (or “Four”) and their friends manage to escape a city torn between the tyranny of the factionless and the uprising of the Allegiant, who want to restore virtue-based divisions. Once outside, they run into the Bureau, which secretly controls the city as a generations-long experiment in healing “genetic damage.” Revelations pile upon revolutions, revenge fights with reconciliation, until Tris and Tobias are each led to their ultimate choices—where courage, selflessness, peace, wisdom and truth converge into love. Tris and Tobias alternate narrating brief chapters in unfortunately indistinguishable voices. Their choppy, staccato prose, interspersed with occasional arresting images, is a style well suited to the opening and closing sections of dramatic action but only accentuates the dragging pace of the repetitive, overstuffed middle. While the “science” behind the Bureau’s machinations is impossible gobbledygook, the corrosive effects of bigotry ring painfully true. The tragic conclusion, although shocking, is thematically consistent; the bittersweet epilogue offers a poignant hope.
Though flawed, the story provides a thought-provoking metaphor for crucial conflicts of adolescence, as have its predecessors. (Dystopian adventure. 12 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-202406-0
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2013
An aching story of love, loss, and learning to look forward.
This companion to 2021’s bestselling You’ve Reached Sam explores first love, grief, and what remains after saying goodbye.
Nearly a year after the death of Sam, his best friend and secret crush, Oliver, a gay first-year college student, sends Sam one final text—only to receive a reply from the stranger who now has Sam’s old number. What begins as an accidental exchange evolves into a warm and unexpected connection, told in self-reflective first-person prose interspersed with text conversations. The prose blends dreamy flashbacks with present-day scenes showing Oliver’s loneliness, juxtaposing vivid memories of love unspoken with the tentative beginning of something new. The scenes move fluidly across time, showing prom, Halloween, a spring bonfire, and quiet cafe moments, all of which underscore the intensity of Oliver’s love and longing, while his banter-filled messages and blossoming rapport with the stranger he’s texting with offer glimmers of healing. His grief is messy and nonlinear, and the story doesn’t rush his recovery. Thao’s writing is intimate and vulnerable, balancing humor and heartbreak with emotional honesty. Touchstones like white roses, playlists, and quiet nights on campus recur throughout, grounding Oliver’s journey in sensory detail. This poignant story offers a nuanced depiction of grieving and embracing romantic possibilities. In the earlier book, Oliver presented white, and Sam was cued Japanese American.
An aching story of love, loss, and learning to look forward. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780593858479
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A thoughtful, realistically messy emotional wallop that destigmatizes mental disorders.
Andy and Shelbi find love while navigating mental health challenges in suburban Georgia.
It all starts when 18-year-old Andy Criddle drunkenly texts the wrong number. The mistaken recipient ends up offering him emotional support and asks him not to drive drunk. Despite agreeing, he gets behind the wheel—and into an accident. After being charged with a DUI, Andy, the son of a congresswoman running for Senate, is barred from attending his graduation and shamed in the press. Meanwhile, 16-year-old AP physics student Shelbi Augustine, who finds car crashes interesting for scientific reasons, picks up Andy’s wallet at the scene of the wreck. She returns it to him in class and gives him a pep talk before nervously rushing away. The judge orders Andy to complete community service at a soup kitchen where Shelbi regularly volunteers, and when their paths cross again, she confesses that she was the person he was texting. As they grow closer, Shelbi, who has bipolar depression, has Andy sign a friendship agreement. Rule No. 6 reads, “Do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with Shelbi.” Naturally, this is a rule destined to be broken. The comfort and ease the two have are mirrored by Stone’s breezy writing. Her casual tone acts as a potent salve for the heart-wrenching scenes and the searing portrayal of healing. Most characters are Black; Andy’s dad is White, and Shelbi’s paternal grandmother is from India.
A thoughtful, realistically messy emotional wallop that destigmatizes mental disorders. (author’s note) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-30770-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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