Thoughtful and well executed.
A teenage relationship expert deals with some tricky situations.
Every student at St. Deodetus’ school in California knows about locker 89: Slide $10 and a note confessing your relationship woes inside, and you’ll get an email with personally tailored advice. The anonymous proprietor, junior Darcy Phillips, enjoys crafting letters and has a high customer satisfaction rate. She’s always been careful to collect the letters after school, when no one’s around, and has managed to escape detection until Australian rich kid Alexander Brougham catches her in the act. Instead of spilling her secret, he hires her as a private coach to help him rekindle things with his ex-girlfriend. Darcy agrees—as a faculty kid on scholarship, the extra cash is welcome—but finds that dealing with a customer face to face has unique challenges, particularly given Brougham’s curt demeanor and reluctance to share basic information. Meanwhile, Darcy’s own love life (crushing on her best friend, Brooke Nguyen) continues to stump her expertise. This story is a classic teenage rom-com packed with misunderstandings and slow-burn attraction. The culmination of the main storylines is more than satisfying. In contrast to the unsuccessful parental relationships on display, Darcy gives well-researched advice that prioritizes communication, consent, and healthy realism. Gonzales similarly presents mature perspectives on recreational drug use and biphobia. There is strong representation of various queer identities, with some racial diversity implied through names; Darcy is bisexual and presumed White.
Thoughtful and well executed. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76978-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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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