A cute romance that explores valuable themes around self-esteem.
A teen devises a plan to make her crush fall for her.
Ever since that fateful first day of freshman year, Indian American Payal Mehta has been enamored with blond-haired, blue-eyed classmate Jon Slate. Fast-forward three years: Payal encounters Jon at a party, and after she bravely suggests they hang out, Jon vomits on her shoes. Later, when Payal is injured at school, squeamish Jon vomits again (fortunately near, but not on, her). When he buys her lunch as an apology, Payal is sure their love story is just beginning. They seem to be hitting it off over Taco Bell until Jon, who’s white, says things that make it clear that her being a brown girl rules out any romantic possibilities. Her best friends, Neil Patel and Divya Bhatt, and even her prickly school rival, Korean American Philip Kim, advise Payal to move on. But, still hung up on Jon’s description of her as “funny and cute,” Payal convinces herself that she can make him fall for her. She promises to let Philip take full credit for their psych project if he helps her, overriding his initial criticism of what he dubs “Operation End Racism With Love.” Payal’s naïveté is comically delusional, but her determination to make herself appealing to Jon offers insights into how people can suppress parts of who they are in order to feel accepted, as well as the importance of being genuinely embraced.
A cute romance that explores valuable themes around self-esteem. (Romance. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780593461884
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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