Imaginative, weird, and enthralling.
Best friends magically transported into their favorite book find themselves in a nightmarish landscape.
Adelle is a romantic dreamer and fan of the mystical, while closeted Connie prefers sports. But both love Moira, a little-known romance novel set in Victorian-era Boston. When a shopkeeper offers to send them into the world of the book, they accept—but the friends are separated, landing in different parts of the storyline. They realize that while some things are familiar, there are supernatural horrors here that weren’t present in the novel they love. In this version, dreams and voices are driving people to walk into the sea. The characters’ personalities aren’t what they expected either. Adelle finds herself among the rich main characters, while Connie winds up with the Penny-Farthings, poor thieves who only played a minor role in the original tale. As the teens try to find their way back to each other and home, they develop new friendships and romantic interests even as the horrors around them grow worse. The story starts off at a leisurely stroll; the pacing amps up as the story progresses, culminating in an intense, action-packed finale. The setting and atmosphere are exquisitely rendered, and the horrors veer into the splendidly bizarre. The leads are captivating, and the secondary characters round out the story. Main characters are White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast, and racism doesn’t seem to exist in this alternate world.
Imaginative, weird, and enthralling. (Dark fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-294142-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
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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