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DENIAL

A lackluster story that fails to deliver on its dramatic promise.

A high school senior navigating her first serious relationship finds herself in unknown waters.

Readers first meet panicked narrator Nova in May: She’s covered in blood, setting a tense stage before the novel quickly flashes back to the beginning of the school year when everything was going her way. She was blissfully happy, in love with her star swimmer boyfriend, Leo, and at the top of her class with potential to become valedictorian. Eventually Nova quit swimming to focus on her studies. While balancing school and sports, she also debated when and where to lose her virginity. But shortly after they slept together for the first time, Nova sensed that Leo was pulling away, leading her down increasingly more desperate paths to keep him in her life. Moving through the course of the school year, the book flashes forward to scenes of Nova’s emergency, offering chilling glimpses of her plight. Unfortunately, the tone of the novel is forced and didactic. The stiff narrative is peppered with cringey slang terms, and the main characters’ dialogue feeds into dumb-jock and egghead stereotypes. Main characters are White; there is some ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.

A lackluster story that fails to deliver on its dramatic promise. (Fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-4594-1674-1

Page Count: 176

Publisher: James Lorimer

Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022

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IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

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  • New York Times Bestseller

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

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IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

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

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