A loving shoutout to service canines wrapped in an engaging beach read.
A vintage Hollywood-style plotline meets the technology of the 21st century in this novel about an intrepid woman and her delightful guide dog.
In this sequel, Emily Main, who suffered the loss of her eyesight on her honeymoon in Fiji, is back at work and living with her canine, Garth, in her own studio apartment in San Francisco. But she has not yet tackled the job of unpacking the many cartons of new supplies that will enable her to function more independently. Unbeknown to Emily, halfway around the world, her estranged husband, Connor Harrington, who has been living in Tokyo, is returning to California, hoping for a reconciliation. As the story begins, Emily learns that her mother’s next-door neighbor Irene has broken her hip and needs surgery. Irene is the grandmother and guardian of 9-year-old Zoe, whom Emily befriended in the series opener. It is decided that Emily’s mother will bring Zoe to San Francisco for the weekend to keep her distracted. While there, mom will help Emily label and organize all of her new purchases. Add to the mix Dhruv, the socially awkward but sweet and generous programming whiz who works with Emily and lives in her building. The stage is now set for a drama that revolves around rekindled friendships, loss, new beginnings—and a wonderful canine. As in the first novel, Emily’s devoted, highly trained black Lab frequently adds his tender and amusing first-person commentary to the third-person narrative. The chapters devoted to Garth’s observations and musings are the most enjoyable in the book. Although the story follows a predictable trajectory, the narrative contains valuable and intriguing information about the technical innovations advancing accessibility for the visually impaired. These include computer and smartphone apps that convert written text into audible sentences and the versatile PENfriend, a unique audio labeling system that codes special stickers that trigger the pen’s auditory readouts, facilitating identification of all sorts of items. Hinske also inserts a useful reminder about the proper protocol for greeting service dogs: Don’t do it. If they are wearing guide harnesses, they are working and should not be distracted.
A loving shoutout to service canines wrapped in an engaging beach read.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73492-493-0
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Casa del Northern Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.
An artwork’s value grows if you understand the stories of the people who inspired it.
Never in her wildest dreams would foster kid Louisa dream of meeting C. Jat, the famous painter of The One of the Sea, which depicts a group of young teens on a pier on a hot summer’s day. But in Backman’s latest, that’s just what happens—an unexpected (but not unbelievable) set of circumstances causes their paths to collide right before the dying 39-year-old artist’s departure from the world. One of his final acts is to bequeath that painting to Louisa, who has endured a string of violent foster homes since her mother abandoned her as a child. Selling the painting will change her life—but can she do it? Before deciding, she accompanies Ted, one of the artist’s close friends and one of the young teens captured in that celebrated painting, on a train journey to take the artist’s ashes to his hometown. She wants to know all about the painting, which launched Jat’s career at age 14, and the circle of beloved friends who inspired it. The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove (2014) and other novels, Backman gives us a heartwarming story about how these friends, set adrift by the violence and unhappiness of their homes, found each other and created a new definition of family. “You think you’re alone,” one character explains, “but there are others like you, people who stand in front of white walls and blank paper and only see magical things. One day one of them will recognize you and call out: ‘You’re one of us!’” As Ted tells stories about his friends—how Jat doubted his talents but found a champion in fiery Joar, who took on every bully to defend him; how Ali brought an excitement to their circle that was “like a blinding light, like a heart attack”—Louisa recognizes herself as a kindred soul and feels a calling to realize her own artistic gifts. What she decides to do with the painting is part of a caper worthy of the stories that Ted tells her. The novel is humorous, poignant, and always life-affirming, even when describing the bleakness of the teens’ early lives. “Art is a fragile magic, just like love,” as someone tells Louisa, “and that’s humanity’s only defense against death.”
A tender and moving portrait about the transcendent power of art and friendship.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781982112820
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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