No aquatic frolic but a moody meditation on loss and love.
A young woman encounters first love and family secrets in this lyrical debut.
Lorelei Felson lives a quiet life—literally, as her German-immigrant parents forbid music in their Venice, California, house and are mysteriously silent about their pasts. Workaholic Petra and bemused husband Henry leave the child-rearing of Lorelei and her older twin brothers, Nik and Jens, to stern grandmother Oma, but Oma’s death derails the dysfunctional family. Blonde, white sophomore Lorelei rebels by falling for rocker senior Chris Paulson, also white, but their relationship remains unofficial and riddled with lies due to Chris’ allegedly co-dependent mom and fickle band mates. Like her olive-skinned friend Zoe Soroush, Lorelei navigates typical teen trials—first boyfriend, first chance at sex, first breakup—but Lorelei also discovers that she is a siren. Grieving and in love, Lorelei accidentally, then intentionally sings to compel and control those around her until she must take responsibility for her recklessness. Romanoff’s writing is both artistically impressionistic and raw with emotion; the pace is slow, plot minimal, and secondary characters inscrutable, but the protagonist is often entrancing. Lorelei’s angst-y self-discovery best reads as a coming-of-age allegory with a superfluous supernatural twist.
No aquatic frolic but a moody meditation on loss and love. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93879-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Summery fun and games with feeling.
A summer trip helps break 18-year-old Meredith Fox out of a haze of mourning.
Her cousin’s wedding means a return to Martha’s Vineyard, a well-loved destination but one filled with bittersweet memories. It’s been a year and a half since the sudden loss of Meredith’s sister, Claire, and the grief remains strong. Meredith, though, resolves to take this time to celebrate family and bridge the rifts resulting from ghosting friends. She didn’t plan on a meet-cute/embarrassing encounter with the groom’s stepbrother, Wit. Nor did she expect a wedding-week game of Assassin, a water-gun–fueled family tradition. What starts off as a pact of sharing strategic information with Wit grows into something more as the flirting and feelings develop. Only one person can win, though, and any alliance has an expiration date. To win and honor Claire, who was a master of the game, Meredith must keep her eye on the prize. Taking place over the course of a week, the narrative is tight with well-paced reveals that disrupt predictability and keep the plot moving. Early details are picked back up, and many elements come satisfyingly full circle. The short time frame also heightens the tension of this summer romance: What will happen when they leave the bubble of the Vineyard? The mix of budding romance, competitive hijinks, a close-knit circle, as well as dealing with loss make for a satisfying read. The main cast is White.
Summery fun and games with feeling. (family tree) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72821-029-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)
In the three years following Eden’s brutal rape by her brother’s best friend, Kevin, she descends into anger, isolation, and promiscuity.
Eden’s silence about the assault is cemented by both Kevin’s confident assurance that if she tells anyone, “No one will ever believe you. You know that. No one. Not ever,” and a chillingly believable death threat. For the remainder of Eden’s freshman year, she withdraws from her family and becomes increasingly full of hatred for Kevin and the world she feels failed to protect her. But when a friend mentions that she’s “reinventing” herself, Eden embarks on a hopeful plan to do the same. She begins her sophomore year with new clothes and friendly smiles for her fellow students, which attract the romantic attentions of a kind senior athlete. But, bizarrely, Kevin’s younger sister goes on a smear campaign to label Eden a “totally slutty disgusting whore,” which sends Eden back toward self-destruction. Eden narrates in a tightly focused present tense how she withdraws again from nearly everyone and attempts to find comfort (or at least oblivion) through a series of nearly anonymous sexual encounters. This self-centeredness makes her relationships with other characters feel underdeveloped and even puzzling at times. Absent ethnic and cultural markers, Eden and her family and classmates are likely default white.
Eden’s emotionally raw narration is compelling despite its solipsism. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4935-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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