A romantic thriller that takes “Be Gay, Do Crime” to heart.
In search of autonomy, two teens take desperate action to get away from their terrible families.
After two years of careful planning, research, and Machiavellian orchestration, Maude is now ready to die—or at least to let everyone think she is dead. Then she’ll finally be free to be the person she is supposed to be. But just before her plan comes to fruition, her wealthy stepcousin, Frankie, figures out her plot. Maude thinks her plan has been destroyed, but to her surprise, Frankie just wants in, equally eager to escape their family. Readjustments of the timeline and finances are required before the two embark on a dangerous journey of blood, tears, and love during a family holiday in Hawaii. This fun, dark, fully queer thriller embraces its premise without pulling any punches. The two main characters thirst for revenge, freedom, and self-affirmation in the face of truly horrible families who alienate and oppress them, and they eventually find love and acceptance in one another—all while committing crimes. The story incorporates the protagonists’ welcome awareness of their privilege as financially comfortable White people while exploring their queerness and the oppression they experience because of it (Maude’s aware of her sexuality but not out as a lesbian yet, and Frankie questions their gender identity).
A romantic thriller that takes “Be Gay, Do Crime” to heart. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31041-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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 gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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