A charming foray into Regency romance.
Two young women pursue their dreams in Georgian England in this companion to 2023’s An Improbable Season.
Nineteen-year-old Thalia Aubrey, an aspiring poet who’s sworn off love after an ill-advised elopement, has taken a job as companion to young widow Eleanor Lockhart, a post that gives her access to the literary bustle of 1818 London. Seventeen-year-old Eleanor, whose late husband, Albert, was in his forties, values her independence. The terms of Mr. Lockhart’s will stipulate that should Eleanor remarry, her inheritance will be passed on to his nephew—who’s now endlessly pressuring her to wed. Hoping to put an end to his meddling, she asks Henry, her friend Miss Salisbury’s brother, to be her temporary fake fiance—just until she can make another plan. Henry and Thalia have some history, and their feelings for each other grow, even as Eleanor develops an interest in Owen Jones, whom she hires to help her with Albert’s advanced mathematical papers. Lonely Eleanor, who has no family, learns she doesn’t have to push others away, and that family can be found. Meanwhile, Thalia must fight for what she deserves, both in love and when it comes to her writing. Readers will enjoy this immersive world of etiquette, rules, and social stratification with its satisfying romances in which female independence is not surrendered in the pursuit of love. The central cast is cued white.
A charming foray into Regency romance. (author’s note) (Historical romance. 12-18)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780374390273
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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 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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