An unremarkable novel for reluctant readers.
A Prince Edward Island teen chooses between popularity and coming out of the closet.
Tage doesn’t like her popular lifestyle or her friends. She doesn’t like her boyfriend, Ben, much either. If she fails to perform as expected, however, she risks letting deeply queerphobic Hayley, leader of their clique, discover that Tage herself is queer. So, Tage is complicit in publicly bullying her secret crush Wren and her fellow cheerleader Rain for being nonbinary. When the pressure gets too much, Tage has an explosive breakup with Ben. A snowstorm leads to her unexpectedly spending the night with Wren—and revealing her feelings to them. A secret relationship ensues between the two, but the cruel actions Tage is forced to commit to fit in socially threaten to drive them apart. The theme of a closeted queer character engaging in oppressive behavior to hide their sexuality has been explored before, and it is not well executed here. Tage engages in bullying her fellow students both on Hayley’s orders and her own initiative; while she does experience a vast amount of guilt, her wishy-washy attitude to owning up to her mistakes and committing to change means her final attempt to do better—which comes very late in the story—may only lead to readers wondering if she will backslide once more. Main characters are cued White.
An unremarkable novel for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781459417250
Page Count: 176
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 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
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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