Girl power tackles sexism, stigma, and peer pressure in the age of social media.
A white high school senior sets out to change her school’s culture of misogyny after a case of mistaken identity damages her reputation.
Eighteen-year-old Brynn attends prestigious Greenlough Academy on a scholarship. She’s earned a reputation as a “serial dater” due to her tendency for brief, casual relationships. She’s managed to parlay this experience into a side hustle as a flirting coach: She charges a fee for advising her peers on how best to communicate with their crushes and score dates. But Brynn is devastated to find her much-needed income source in jeopardy when a video circulates on social media of a girl dressed in an identical Halloween costume to the one she was wearing performing oral sex on her popular ex–best friend’s boyfriend. Everyone assumes the mystery girl in the banana costume must be Brynn—and it’s her reputation that suffers, not the boy’s. Determined to find a way to shift her classmates’ perspectives, Brynn and her friends form a club to bring about a “femolution,” denouncing sexism in their school community. Brynn’s diverse social group—including a trans girl; a pansexual, hijabi, Lebanese American girl; and a pregnant biracial (Persian and white) classmate who’s been ostracized—get to lead club discussions on topics and stigmas that affect them. These messages are powerful, but it’s Brynn’s inner monologue that has center stage, and it loses some of its initial impact because of its repetitiveness.
Girl power tackles sexism, stigma, and peer pressure in the age of social media. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593528303
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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
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