Readers may pick it up for the reimagined fairy tale, but they’ll remember it for Rachel.
A contemporary retelling of “Rapunzel” overcomes a somewhat connect-the-dots feel with its gentle, spirited heroine.
The tale is told in two voices: Rachel’s, the blonde girl in the tower, and Wyatt’s, a boy with a secret sorrow. Wyatt has been sent to upstate New York to stay with the mother of an old friend of his mom’s, Mrs. Greenwood, to heal from something readers don’t learn about until halfway through the story. Meanwhile Rachel, who loves the woman she calls “Mama” although she knows her real mother is dead, begins to chafe against her confinement and her loneliness, although Mama visits her each day with food, books and art supplies. Wyatt finds the diary of Mrs. Greenwood’s daughter Danielle, presumed long-dead, and begins to tie together strands that include missing teens, drug addiction, demon lovers and tears that heal. Flinn’s “towering” achievement here is Rachel. She makes readers believe in a character educated only on books brought to her and who has not been outside in years. Readers will understand how she reacts as she does to a cellphone, to walking in snow and to hair that grows so fast she can see it, and they will find her both intelligent and resourceful. Rachel and Wyatt’s romantic encounters are tender and utterly implicit.
Readers may pick it up for the reimagined fairy tale, but they’ll remember it for Rachel. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-202417-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
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 heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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