A transportive and affecting tale.
After Zora’s magic causes a deadly accident, the Black teen is sent to live with family in New Orleans at the height of the Roaring ’20s.
Eighteen-year-old Zora’s Aunt Celine insists that she prepare for the upcoming debutante season, but Zora has little interest in high-society functions or eligible bachelors. She sneaks out at night to perform for a jazz club’s packed crowd under the stage name Sweet Willow. Music is everything to Zora: a talent, a passion, and the conduit for the magic she’s inherited from her German grandmother, Mathilda, whom readers met in the multiple-authored series’ previous volume, Broken Wish (2020) by Julie C. Dao. But ever since she lost control and brought down an entire building in a moment of righteous anger, Zora has been plagued by guilt and the fear of causing more harm. When Mama B, the local conjure woman, tells Zora that she can take away Zora’s magic, she agrees to give up music in return. Her resolve wavers, though, when she falls in love with Phillip, a charming White boy who shares her love for jazz and is determined to be with her despite the risks that come with interracial relationships. Secrets and promises are central themes, and, as in the previous volume, prejudice is a primary source of conflict—here in the form of racial segregation. The clean, vivid prose and star-crossed romance will engage readers until the bittersweet end.
A transportive and affecting tale. (Historical fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04642-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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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