An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution.
Lark’s boyfriend, Alec, is injured trying to rescue Annabelle, the 4-year-old Lark used to babysit, and both are drowning; when she’s unable to choose whom to save, Lark’s world splits in two.
Seventeen-year-old Lark and her father still miss her mother, who died from cancer three years ago. Lark’s close cohort of friends include musicians in the band she plays in and writes songs for. For the Lark who chose to save Alec, their relationship quickly becomes all-consuming. She brushes off her friend Lucy and the band to free climb buildings, longboard, and canoodle with Alec. The adrenaline rush helps her cope with little Annabelle’s hospitalization. Visiting Annabelle, now comatose, propels Lark into her alternative self and a world where Alec lies comatose and Annabelle thrives. Here, Lark maintains her friendships and progresses as a songwriter, while her growing shoplifting habit reflects her anxiety about Alec’s dire prognosis. In both worlds, mysterious cellphone messages and videos nudge Lark toward solving the riddle, but time is running out for Alec, whose parents plan to end life support soon. Pedestrian characters reflecting overfamiliar YA stereotypes, Lark especially, weigh down a suspenseful narrative that’s timidly executed just when it needs to take flight. All characters are white except band member Reid, the son of Iraqi refugees.
An eerie, intriguing premise and fast-moving plot hampered by clichéd characters and a flat resolution. (Paranormal romance. 14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0037-0
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Several yards short of a touchdown.
A transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut.
On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth; this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white.
Several yards short of a touchdown. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294317-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh and compelling voice.
A second chance prompts a deadly game of wits.
Lu Mingshin is about to be executed. Her fiance, Prince Ren, has ordered her death after using her family’s wealth to vie for the position of crown prince from his half brothers, each of them born to one of the widower king’s Royal Ladies. If that wasn’t enough, Mingshin learns that her Uncle Yi arranged her mother’s murder, and Aylin, her two-faced noblewoman cousin, will be marrying Ren instead. On the verge of death, Mingshin desperately wishes for another chance—only to see flashes of light and wake up two years in the past. With her memories of the future intact, Mingshin intends to not become a victim again, training in combat and vowing to endear herself to King Reifeng to secure her family’s safety. Strange dreams reveal the source of the magic that allowed her to jump back in time. A powerful mage is also on Mingshin’s tail, along with the ruthless enemies she’s already aware of. As Mingshin starts to rewrite her life’s story, new individuals come into play: a visiting Elder with questionable motives; Princess Yunle, who becomes a new best friend; and Prince Jieh, one of Ren’s rivals for the throne. Set in a fantasy world reminiscent of imperial China, this debut novel’s structure has a few oddities, but the clever premise and intriguing and suspenseful plot will keep readers engaged.
A fresh and compelling voice. (Fantasy. 14-17)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781454949923
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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