Sparks fly between Emmy and Jude, but they may not between Emmy and readers
When mousy, pudgy, white Emmy goes to her father’s family in Vancouver for a change of scene, she falls head over heels for Jude, a young white trans man.
Readers first meet 17-year-old Emmy as she kneels to give a loutish classmate a blow job. Far from earning her a boyfriend she can share her poetry with, it garners her friends’ scorn and her mother’s decision to send her away from Winnipeg. In Vancouver, she meets barista Jude, who instantly grabs her attention. Her distance schooling isn’t enough to keep Emmy occupied, and she finds herself drawn back to his coffee shop again and again, even, disastrously, taking part in an open mic night. Emmy’s catastrophically poor self-confidence frequently sends her retreating to her room to “comfort eat,” and she refuses to recognize Jude’s obvious interest in her, a self-pitying characteristic readers may find grating. High points for both Emmy and readers occur when her uncle gives her her deceased father’s youthful notebooks and shows her around the city by bike. Refreshingly, Jude does not function as a coming-of-age device, nor does Emmy ever evince any transphobia, instead educating herself as she crushes ever harder on him. However, this slim novel doesn’t give him much space to emerge as a fully developed character, particularly as so much page count is spent on Emmy’s misery.
Sparks fly between Emmy and Jude, but they may not between Emmy and readers . (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4594-1232-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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 lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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