A light read for those looking for a meet-cute with a twist.
A girl with the ability to read people’s emotions meets a boy who defies her expectations in this debut novel.
Eva Walker, a white math genius and loner, has an inexplicable power: she sees visions of people’s emotions and the histories behind them whenever she touches a person or objects they have handled. For this reason, she avoids tactile contact with people so that she is not affected by their emotional distresses and the subsequent feelings of helplessness they inspire in her. She plans to go to college to study neuroscience so she can discover the reasons behind her mysterious condition and lead a normal life. Her plans almost get derailed, however, when she meets Zenn, a cute new boy with dark looks (he is a quarter Vietnamese and three-quarters unspecified), while tutoring math. Though accidentally touching Zenn’s jacket gives Eva a powerful and disturbing vision, their mutual attraction grows and intensifies. They learn through a series of dei ex machina that they are actually entwined in a shared tragic history, which may explain their unique connection. Though their romance is sweet, the plot that carries it forward is frequently contrived. The author’s voice comes through too often to find Eva’s voice entirely convincing, and her character development near the end feels rushed and forced.
A light read for those looking for a meet-cute with a twist. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77138-792-7
Page Count: 332
Publisher: KCP Loft/Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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
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
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