A sweet, guaranteed feel-good read.
Two insomniacs in Japan develop an unusual friendship.
Nakami’s high school’s now-defunct astronomy club is the subject of rumors involving unrequited love, tragic deaths, and subsequent hauntings, but Nakami doesn’t believe in ghosts. He just wants to find somewhere quiet to nap—he’s stuck in a cycle of insomnia that’s leaving him exhausted and bad-tempered. But since he isn’t scared of the supposedly haunted observatory, he’s pushed by his classmates to fetch some supplies from a storage cupboard located there. In the process, he discovers that it could actually be a very nice secret hideout if not for the fact that there’s somebody else there already. Magari is like him: an insomniac hellbent on not letting other people know that she can’t sleep. After she admits that she was the one who made up the ghost story to keep others out of her private napping place, they decide to split the space so they can both use it. Their unlikely friendship starts to develop when they meet outside of school to spend sleepless nights venturing around town. They become close as they share personal stories, bring in furniture to make the room more comfortable, and are even joined by a cat. With adorable illustrations, this slice-of-life story with a dash of romance following two teens brought together by secrets is a short and accessible treat.
A sweet, guaranteed feel-good read. (Manga. 13-18)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781974736577
Page Count: 192
Publisher: VIZ Media
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
Fluffy and not particularly memorable.
A teen finds himself sharing a room with the boy who broke his heart.
Charlie von Hevringprinz has achieved his dreams of transitioning and attending Valentine Academy for Boys, located in Au Sable Forks, a tiny town in “middle-of-nowhere upstate New York.” When he arrives, he’s appalled to find that even though he requested and paid for a single room, he was assigned a roommate: Jasper Grimes, the handsome poet who broke Charlie’s heart when they were at Shakespeare camp before his transition. Charlie comes off as intellectually snobby and frustratingly lacking in self-awareness; meanwhile, Jasper’s terrible boundaries do nothing to subvert the first impression of him as an entitled rich boy. Unfortunately, their character development doesn’t do enough to add vulnerability or depth to these initial impressions, making it hard for readers to feel butterflies over their romantic drama. The Saint Valentine–themed private boarding school setting is a classic of the genre, however, and as a backdrop, it contributes to an enjoyably campy vibe. The writing is pleasantly readable, but the plot is reminiscent of clichés from internet fandom, something reinforced by the title, which references an old meme. If fans of queer young adult romance make it to the second half, they’ll find that the story does become more interesting, ultimately ending on a sweet, romantic note. Charlie and Jasper read white, while the supporting cast contains racial diversity.
Fluffy and not particularly memorable. (map) (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781250347657
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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