A genuinely shocking reveal isn’t enough to save this book.
A grief-stricken Chicago teen finds solace in a meet-cute romance.
After his best friend, Daniel, passes away, Eric finds his life completely uprooted. Instead of attending his first year of college, he fills his days working to avoid his grief, first at a catering company, then in the box office of a prestigious theater. Through frequent flashbacks, Eric’s crush on Daniel plays out alongside their school trip to Japan, where he met the handsome Haru. The two spontaneously wandered together, attending a Star Festival commemorating forbidden lovers. Eric was devastated when he lost Haru’s phone number. Back in the present day, after his sister, Jasmine, announces that she’s leaving for Amsterdam, Eric spirals further. His only solace is Haru’s magical reappearance. As Eric spends time with Haru, he slowly regains his interest in life and filming the world around him. The novel unfortunately requires an immense amount of suspension of disbelief from readers. While the film references and the themes of family and love are intriguing, Haru’s presence detracts from the overarching exploration of grief, and the romance is meandering and difficult to believe in, although it does offer an intriguing commentary on the meet-cute trope. Fortunately, the major plot twist manages to be completely surprising without feeling random, and it brings Eric’s character arc full circle. Eric is Vietnamese American; Daniel is Colombian and white, and Haru is Japanese.
A genuinely shocking reveal isn’t enough to save this book. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781250762061
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
