A salaciously entertaining debut that is also a disturbing and often depressing look at celebrity obsession, scandal, and...
Jaded teens, tabloid travails, and murder, oh my!
Early in Lisbon’s novel it’s clear that 17-year-old former child star Eva-Kate Kelly is dead, and 16-year-old Justine Childs, obsessive Taylor Swift fan and daughter of a celebrity therapist, wants readers to know that she didn’t do it. Justine has lightly rubbed elbows with celebrities all her life, but to her enduring agony, she’s never truly been a part of that world. When emancipated Eva-Kate becomes her new Venice Beach neighbor, star-struck Justine, whose mom is on vacation, is free to enter Eva-Kate’s world—and it’s a strange one. Eva-Kate makes Justine her new bestie, introduces her to oodles of drugs and alcohol, and plays plenty of mind games. The alternately naïve and world-weary Justine is enthralled with the dynamic Eva-Kate and may not be a trustworthy narrator. After all, Justine mentions that she’s on medication and has spent time in a psychiatric ward, although she elaborates little. Of course, Justine discovers that Eva-Kate has been keeping an explosive secret. Soon after, Eva-Kate is dead, and Justine is the main suspect. Frustratingly, readers hoping to delve into Eva-Kate’s murder and the aftermath will have to wait until the next book. All main characters assume a white default.
A salaciously entertaining debut that is also a disturbing and often depressing look at celebrity obsession, scandal, and teen angst, lit with a lurid sheen of Hollywood noir. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-15629-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging
Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, would rather perform autopsies in her uncle’s dark laboratory than find a suitable husband, as is the socially acceptable rite of passage for a young, white British lady in the late 1800s.
The story immediately brings Audrey into a fractious pairing with her uncle’s young assistant, Thomas Cresswell. The two engage in predictable rounds of “I’m smarter than you are” banter, while Audrey’s older brother, Nathaniel, taunts her for being a girl out of her place. Horrific murders of prostitutes whose identities point to associations with the Wadsworth estate prompt Audrey to start her own investigation, with Thomas as her sidekick. Audrey’s narration is both ponderous and polemical, as she sees her pursuit of her goals and this investigation as part of a crusade for women. She declares that the slain aren’t merely prostitutes but “daughters and wives and mothers,” but she’s also made it a point to deny any alignment with the profiled victims: “I am not going as a prostitute. I am simply blending in.” Audrey also expresses a narrow view of her desired gender role, asserting that “I was determined to be both pretty and fierce,” as if to say that physical beauty and liking “girly” things are integral to feminism. The graphic descriptions of mutilated women don’t do much to speed the pace.
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging . (Historical thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-27349-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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