A genre mashup that doesn’t quite come together.
An Anne of Green Gables homage set in a post-apocalyptic near future.
It’s been two years since the end of the world, and Gabe Sweeney, now 14, hasn’t seen a human soul other than the 17 other kids and two adults he ekes out an existence with on a small coastal Maine island. They are apparently the only survivors of a mysterious, lethal virus even worse than the one that came before. Then, on a routine scouting mission to the mainland, Gabe meets red-haired, green-eyed Relle Douglas. This changes everything: Not only might there be other survivors, but Gabe finds himself smitten with this fey girl (who talks just like Anne Shirley: “The very stars made our meeting happen,” she tells Gabe). When two other survivors are spotted, Gabe and fellow island kid Wynnie hike to Massachusetts to learn more about this new world. The narrative leans more on romance than action, with Gabe mooning after Relle throughout. The trek south is dotted with the occasional post-apocalyptic rubble but is remarkably free of hazard (and corpses); some feral pigs only stare, and an armed woman quickly befriends them. Even the encounter with a quasi-militarized community of survivors is anticlimactic. Readers who know the region will alternately scoff and blink in confusion at the descriptions of the setting. Gabe and Relle present White; tan-skinned Wynnie is nonbinary, and the island community is multiracial.
A genre mashup that doesn’t quite come together. (author’s note) (Post-apocalyptic romance. 12-14)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5438-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
Those obsessed with paranormals won't dislike anything here, but everyone else should give it a miss
Boy meets Girl. Boy turns out to have a deep—nay, otherworldly—connection to Girl despite being the loneliest member of a family of immortal, sexy, good-hearted monsters.
Newly-orphaned Brooklynite Kate Mercier is now living in Paris with her grandparents and sister. She's grateful for anything that breaks the constant tyranny of her depression, even the weird obsession she's developing with Vincent, a hot Parisian she's seen in her favorite café. Vincent is equally obsessed with Kate, but after a few dates his secret is revealed: Vincent is a revenant, driven by some mystical force to give his life to save others again and again, constantly reborn as an 18 year old with rippling "rock-hard abdominal muscles." Along with his revenant family (one father figure, several extremely sexy pseudo-brothers and a teenage girl to be Kate's friend), he rescues at-risk Parisians while fighting off the revenant's evil counterparts among the undead. Kate and Vincent are, of course, drawn to each other, miserable with despair when apart. When they are together, it takes all Vincent's willpower not to molest his beloved; readers of Twilight and its ilk know the drill. But wait! Evil is afoot, and perhaps it will spice up their love life!
Those obsessed with paranormals won't dislike anything here, but everyone else should give it a miss . (Paranormal romance. 12-14)Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-200401-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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