A fascinating world with twists that will keep readers enthralled.
Wanting to follow in her father’s footsteps as an engineer, a girl disguises herself as a boy and travels to the city in this Chinese-inspired silkpunk fantasy.
Aihui Ying’s world is shattered when she witnesses the murder of her father. Although the elite Engineers Guild only accepts boys, she longs to become an engineer’s apprentice. Ying seizes the opportunity to leave her small village and head to Fei, capital of the Antaran territories. There, she’ll attempt to enter the guild’s annual trial and find A-ma’s killer. Although A-ma’s dying wish was for Ying to burn his journal without reading it, she takes it with her to Fei. Along the way, she makes an ally in Aogiya Ye-yang, son of the High Commander, who helps her secure a spot in the guild’s test. Ye-yang promises to keep her identity as a girl a secret, and an attraction grows between them. Ying also forges a solid friendship with another trial candidate with something to hide. As Ying and her new friend work through the various challenges the guild poses, the narrative hints at political upheaval stemming from the High Commander’s desire to overcome their enemy, the Great Jade Empire and its Qirin royal family. Ye-yang’s personal ambitions also increasingly strain his blossoming relationship with Ying. As secrets unravel and conflict erupts in this absorbing, deftly written story, Ying must question her own motivations.
A fascinating world with twists that will keep readers enthralled. (Fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9780593622759
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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 worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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