A captivating finale to a highly addictive and entertaining duology.
In the wake of a dramatic betrayal in Heartless Hunter (2024), a witch and a witch hunter are again embroiled in a high-stakes struggle to outwit each other, further complicated by their deepening, conflicting feelings.
Since fleeing her home after Gideon exposed her as a witch and left her to face execution, Rune has become engaged to a prince. Her mission: use her fiance’s fleet to reclaim the New Republic and save witches from slaughter. This means working with Cressida Roseblood, the witch who tortured Gideon and killed his family. Rune doesn’t trust her, but she needs Cressida to defeat the Blood Guard. Meanwhile, Gideon’s job is to assassinate Rune before she completes her mission. Despite their mutual distrust, Rune and Gideon, who read white, pair up out of necessity to stop Cressida from raising her sisters from the dead and regaining control. Even while standing on two opposing sides of the war, neither the witch nor the witch hunter can keep their heart from yearning for the other. The nonstop rising action will keep readers entrenched in the world and the fates of the characters. The strong characterization is evident in the dynamic between Rune and Gideon, whose interactions evoke a powerful blend of heartache and longing, kept alive with an abundance of banter and a healthy dose of sizzle.
A captivating finale to a highly addictive and entertaining duology. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781250866929
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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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