Disappointingly underdeveloped.
A teen is torn between a friend and the boy she’s destined to be with.
Eighteen-year-old Piper Hadley doesn’t feel like she belongs in her family. The Hadley women share a Blessing from Fate: the ability to instantly identify true love. But Piper’s mother contradicted the Blessing by divorcing Piper’s father, something her family finds unacceptable. Piper worries that her genetic disability—which left her with scoliosis, a missing finger, and only one kidney—caused her parents’ divorce and indirectly ruined the Blessing. To gain matriarch Aunt Helena’s favor and someday take over the family jewelry store, Piper must get her parents back together and cement her own fate by kissing her one true love. When Fate tells her that handsome Forest MacIntosh is her person, Piper seeks dating tips from her estranged best friend, Leo…and in the process falls for Leo, too. If she makes the wrong choice, will her aunts ostracize her? The relationships between Piper and her parents are movingly portrayed, realistically illustrating the complex feelings surrounding divorce and its aftermath. Unfortunately, the rest of the story falls flat. While Piper’s desire to fit in with her family is sympathetic, her expository narration blunts the emotional impact. Her respective love interests feel two-dimensional, weakening the romantic tension, and Leo and Forest’s objectifying “game of tug-of-war” over Piper strikes a jarring note. Most characters read white; Piper and some secondary characters are cued queer.
Disappointingly underdeveloped. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250892188
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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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