A family novel that doesn’t compel.
For two white sisters, their relationship might be more important than survival.
Moving between the present and the past, readers meet Emma, who loves her older sister at the expense of her own self-development. In Emma’s eyes, Henri—a too-precious nickname for Henrietta—is a dynamo who can get any guy she wants (including a young teacher at their school and Latino next-door-neighbor Jesse, whom Emma loves). Although Henri loves Emma, it doesn’t change her boy-chasing behavior, which is implied to have become worse since their father left. Meanwhile, Emma has buried all her desires in order to serve her sister’s, but such behavior is unsustainable, and Emma finally cracks, in a way that Henri cannot forgive. Their relationship shattered, the two sisters are made to go to Puerto Rico with their mother, where Emma flirts with a white boy named Alex, the kind of boy Henri would want. A boat trip with Alex ends in disaster when they’re shipwrecked on an uncharted island: the book’s starting point, before it flashes back to the events that brought them there. Survival and rescue from the island become but a metaphor for Emma and Henri’s healing—but with a new dynamic. The scenes from the past do not provide enough information to fully explain Emma’s or Henri’s psychology, making their choices in the present somewhat confounding—and amazingly, making the survival plot less interesting.
A family novel that doesn’t compel. (Fiction. 14-16)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2811-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Smoothly written and packed with (perhaps too many) challenging issues, Hoyle’s debut may feel a bit glib and predictable to...
A teenager with epilepsy who has recently lost her father to cancer overcomes the depression induced by grief and illness as she acclimates to attending public school for the first time in several years and finds a boyfriend.
Home-schooled and reluctant to engage with strangers, Emilie spends her spare time reading, cuddling with her therapy dog, Hitch, and playing board games with Cindy, her 8-year-old neighbor. Forced to begin classes at the local high school, Emilie is determined to remain aloof. A smart, creative girl named Ayla and a hot (and very nice) boy named Chatham befriend her, making it hard to stay distant and self-contained. Conflicts with her mother, who is just beginning to date, and concern about the potential embarrassment of having a seizure at school further complicate Emilie’s life. Miserable and self-absorbed, Emilie is exceedingly articulate. Indeed, her first-person narration sometimes sounds older than her years, particularly when describing her crush. Extended metaphors abound, most involving water. That’s logical given the Outer Banks setting and Emilie’s fears, but they slow the flow of the plot and contribute to the not entirely believable tone. Emilie seems to be white, and so does her world, aside from the occasional student of color.
Smoothly written and packed with (perhaps too many) challenging issues, Hoyle’s debut may feel a bit glib and predictable to some readers; others will swoon over the dreamy Chatham and root for Emilie to come out of her shell. (Romance. 14-16)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-310-75851-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Bloody? Yes. Scary? No.
Someone is murdering high school students. Most freeze in fear, but a brave few try to stop the killings.
Senior Makani Young has been living in corn-obsessed Nebraska for just a little over a year. She has developed a crush and made some friends, but a dark secret keeps her from truly opening up to those around her. As the only half–African-American and half–Native Hawaiian student in her school, she already stands out, but as the killing spree continues, the press descends, and rumors fly, Makani is increasingly nervous that her past will be exposed. However, the charming and incredibly shy Ollie, a white boy with hot-pink hair, a lip ring, and wanderlust, provides an excellent distraction from the horror and fear. Graphic violence and bloody mayhem saturate this high-speed slasher story. And while Makani’s secret and the killer’s hidden identity might keep the pages turning, this is less a psychological thriller and more a study in gore. The intimacy and precision of the killer’s machinations hint at some grand psychological reveal, but lacking even basic jump-scares, this tale is high in yuck and low in fright. The tendency of the characters toward preachy inner monologues feels false.
Bloody? Yes. Scary? No. (Horror. 14-16)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42601-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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