A moving love story, timely given the pervasiveness of mental health crises.
Summer romance interrupts a teen girl’s focused path to a Ph.D.
Devon has wanted to become an astrophysicist since she was a kid; one night of watching the stars on a camping trip to Yellowstone and she fell in love. With her sights set on a competitive, top-notch college program, Devon prioritizes school above everything else. The summer she is 16, while visiting the beach with her cousin, Devon meets Ashton, and suddenly she has two loves—astronomy and him. However, on what should be their final day together, Ashton never shows. A year passes with no word, and then, on the first day of senior year, Ashton reappears. He reveals that he suffers from depression and that his wealthy white family’s pressure to be someone he is not and to leave Devon because she is middle-class and biracial (her mom is black and her dad is white) overwhelmed him. The pair reunite, but Ashton’s depression and mental health struggles increase, and Devon is left trying to choose where to focus her energy—school or boyfriend. Astronomy facts are interspersed throughout the text, demonstrating Devon’s obsession, but never interrupt the narrative. Debut author Davis provides a new take on the archetypal first love novel by tackling the impact of mental health, race, and class wars.
A moving love story, timely given the pervasiveness of mental health crises. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-49070-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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 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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