The cringe-worthy romantic setup chafes, but on the plus side, this soft science fiction offers intense, nongratuitous...
It’s not exactly a meet-cute.
Despite a cease-fire, the planet of Avon is only a hair’s breadth from tipping into open war, so it’s not surprising that two characters from opposing sides have an unfriendly first encounter when they meet in a bar. It’s unsettling that when Flynn, a white teen from a community of rebels living in hidden caves, uses a gun and gasoline fumes to kidnap Lee, a brown-skinned, partly Chinese military officer with a combat specialty, readers are expected to accept Flynn’s physical dominance. Readers unperturbed by this early dynamic—later, Lee becomes more kickass, and her competence equalizes with Flynn’s—will find a fast-paced adventure, though enjoyment requires accepting that a forceful kidnapping is a fine start to an oh-but-they’re-enemies romance. Alternating first-person narration, Flynn and Lee overcome wariness to work together, coping with barbarous mind manipulation, horrific violence and mysteries—like why Avon’s terraforming never progresses to become an ecosystem and how an unidentified compound of buildings repeatedly vanishes into midair. The bad guy and his methods—mind control of humans via torture of aliens from another realm—carry forward from series opener These Broken Stars (2013), and its protagonists have cameos here.
The cringe-worthy romantic setup chafes, but on the plus side, this soft science fiction offers intense, nongratuitous bloodshed, corporate conspiracy and intriguing explorations of culpability. (Science fiction. 13 & up)Pub Date: Dec. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7103-4
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
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
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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