Fresh and compelling.
A teenage girl must decide between normalcy and being true to herself.
Hattie Tilney has been a skeptic since her ghost-loving father died right before the family moved to Northanger Abbey boarding school, a hotbed for supposed paranormal activity where her mother became headmistress. All Hattie wants is to have a normal senior year with her friends and get into a good college, but when she’s assigned by her mom to be school ambassador to disarming transfer student Kit Morland, Hattie is horrified to find out that he is a ghost hunter on a scholarship from the National Paranormal Society of Investigators. Worse, Hattie must partner with Kit for their journalism class to investigate claims about paranormal activity at Northanger. Still grieving and determined to avoid anything to do with the paranormal world her dad loved, Hattie agrees to the project under one condition: Kit will try to prove the stories are true, and she will try to debunk them. It isn’t long before Hattie finds her feelings for Kit growing as he pulls her into exploring subjects she has avoided for several years. In her second novel inspired by a Jane Austen classic, Quain draws a realistic portrait of a young person struggling with loss, social pressures, and familial expectations. Readers need not be familiar with the original to appreciate this retelling with a supernatural twist. Main characters read White; there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
Fresh and compelling. (Paranormal romance. 13-18)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781250865076
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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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