Swipe left on this one.
Three college freshmen strike gold with their successful dating app created for a class project, but will they stay united when business and romance mix?
Sara, Braden, and Roberto meet in a competitive entrepreneurship course at the fictional Warren University in Silicon Valley, California. When their famous venture capitalist professor challenges them to pitch a winning product idea—or fail the class—they knock out the competition with Perfect10, a dating app in which users rank one another based on desirability. Sara, a whip-smart Midwestern blonde, has already developed a flourishing software system; Braden, a privileged social climber, is set on establishing his own legacy apart from his father; and Roberto is Latinx on scholarship from Oakland with a Spanish-speaking father and deported mother in Mexico. Sara and Braden are presumed white. In Roache’s (Frat Girl, 2018) sophomore effort, multiple voices rotate narration of each chapter. As the trio faces difficult decisions that illuminate their individual values about greed and profit, this had the potential to be a timely story about ethical entrepreneurship in the tech industry. However, the overarching and predictable romance plot dilutes the impact. Sara’s voice is the strongest, with perceptive insights on roommates and love, but Robbie’s story frustratingly lacks depth; his chapters often serve as a vehicle for dialogue between Braden and Sara. An author’s note about undocumented immigrants is a blithe period at the end of a thin story.
Swipe left on this one. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-335-01756-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 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.
