A well-intentioned story of trust, love, and family.
A high school romance full of love—and turbulence.
When new boy Jamie, a Californian transplanted to Texas, strolls into the high school cafeteria, Cara immediately falls for him, and when their eyes meet, he also feels their instant connection. Over the span of the school year, the two lovebirds experience classic high school romance milestones, from meeting each other’s parents and attending a party with underage drinking to navigating friendship drama. Throughout it all, Cara and Jamie learn how to navigate their relationship. The story opens with the dramatic moment when a young woman, whom readers will quickly recognize is Cara, frantically calls 911 and tells the dispatcher that although she did not realize she was pregnant, she has just given birth to a baby boy at home alone. The narrative then moves back in time seven months, to that fateful day in the cafeteria, with the storyline unfolding in alternating first-person narration from Cara and Jamie. Combining lighter teen romance moments, such as stolen kisses by a locker, with heavier content around the pregnancy and its attendant fallout, the novel highlights different family dynamics that readers may resonate with, but depth is undermined by a lack of subtlety in the way characters’ innermost thoughts and feelings are continually explicitly spelled out. While sincere and earnest, the writing is unpolished and the dialogue awkward. Main characters default to White; there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast.
A well-intentioned story of trust, love, and family. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-990158-74-2
Page Count: 334
Publisher: 5310 Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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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