Charmingly fun.
Three friends search for love on an auspicious Halloween night.
Legend says that every hundred years, magic awakens in the town of Moon Ridge, and this Halloween marks 400 years since the town’s founding. For Apollonia “Onny” Diamante, this is the perfect time to use her late grandmother Lola’s last gift: her notebook. It contains a recipe for a love potion that awakens the possibility of love. Onny hopes it’ll bring her together with her crush, Alexander Abernathy—if only she could stop getting sidetracked by her skeptic of a lab partner, Byron Frost. Meanwhile, her best friends, gifted with shares of Lola’s potion, are a little less sure of its magical efficacy. For shy Ash Lee, this night might spur him to make a bold move on his crush, Cassidy Rivera. Burned by an ex and a believer only in the concrete and rational, love is not on True Tandon’s agenda, but a meet-cute with uber-friendly Orion Parker, a paranormal phenomenon enthusiast, may test her (dis)beliefs. The authors imbue their characters with genuineness that makes the narration engaging and the romances a delight. The three intertwined stories, each following one member of the trio, play with beloved romantic tropes. By the end of the night, each protagonist has met their match and, more importantly, found confidence and a new outlook. Onny is Filipina American; Ash is cued as Chinese American, and True is biracial, with German and Indian heritage.
Charmingly fun. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-79723-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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 worthy second-chance romance.
In this follow-up to 2021’s Better Than the Movies, a 20-year-old college freshman gets a second chance at his dreams.
After the death of his father and his mother’s subsequent physical and emotional disappearance, Wes Bennett left behind all of his plans and the girl he made them with to go home and take care of Sarah, his younger sister. But now, Sarah has graduated, his mom is back on her feet, and by some miracle, Wes has an offer to pitch for UCLA’s baseball team. Liz Buxbaum, the girl he’s always loved, works for the university’s athletic department, taking photos and video of the team for social media, which means that maybe he can have a second chance at love, too. But since Wes left, Liz has made every effort to protect herself from ever feeling that broken again; there’s no room for love, because she doesn’t believe in it anymore. Or she doesn’t want to. This second-chance sports romance includes fake dates, quippy and quirky best friends, real heartache, and the sweet ache of first love. The clever dialogue keeps readers from drowning in the main characters’ emotional push-and-pull. Reading the first novel isn’t necessary for appreciating this one, although knowing the full history between Wes and Liz will only add to the ache and longing readers feel from and for them. Main characters are cued white.
A worthy second-chance romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665947138
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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