Engaging enough to keep Kate’s legions of fans happy.
The long-standing Fallen series continues with bad boy fallen angel Cam trying to win back his lost love from ancient Israel, entering into a deal with the devil to do it.
In 1,000 B.C.E. Cam and Lilith fell in love, but Cam broke Lilith’s heart. Now he learns something he has been unaware of for millennia: Lilith has been in Hell all this time. He meets with Lucifer, who shows him via endless snow globe–style worlds how Lilith has been in one Hell after the other for millennia. Cam accepts a deal: if he does not win Lilith’s heart in two weeks, he will become Lucifer’s slave for eternity. The difficulty is that Lilith hates Cam, so he will have to break through that hatred to turn things around. In her current Hell, Lilith lives in poverty and attends a horrible high school that runs seven days per week with no holidays and where she is bullied by students and teachers alike. Cam joins in as a new student and uses Lilith’s deep musical talent to try to win her love. However, Lucifer turns up in the form of Luc, a music promoter, to deceive Lilith into believing that Cam is untrustworthy. Nevertheless, Cam continues his efforts to win her over, despite the fact that Lucifer is aging him from a handsome boy into a dumpy, balding, unattractive guy. Will Lilith be able to see through Lucifer’s deceptions and regain the love she felt for Cam so long ago? It’s all pretty soapy, but Kate delivers for her fans, her snow-globe world plausible if not entirely original, and keeps suspense high enough to keep readers turning pages.
Engaging enough to keep Kate’s legions of fans happy. (Paranormal romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-74263-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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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