Strongly atmospheric but wavering in its execution.
A sophomore is about to find out what happens when a dream school is really a nightmare.
Yuiza Rivera-Vásquez (she/her and they/them) is accepted to a prestigious, predominantly white, girls’ boarding school, Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, which is located upstate, hours from their home in the Bronx. She would rather stay home and make horror movies with her friends, but Mami is insisting she go and pursue a bigger future. After arriving on campus, it doesn’t take long for Yuiza and her mom to notice the statues of Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, and Robert E. Lee, not to mention the school motto, “Manifest your destiny,” and the students of color doing service jobs for work-study. At night, wrapped in a Puerto Rican flag their mother gifted them, Yuiza starts to have dreams that point to the school’s long, sordid past. At times, the story is framed like a movie script (complete with alternate endings) from one of Yuiza’s beloved horror films. Against a mildly supernatural backdrop, Ramos demonstrates and comments on the worst elements of white supremacy, past and present. The claustrophobic setting is well executed, the social commentary around historical injustices is compelling, and the well-drawn characters include strong Puerto Rican representation. The messaging isn’t always seamlessly incorporated into the story, however, and experienced genre readers may delight in—or feel less than surprised by—the horror tropes that the final act leans heavily into.
Strongly atmospheric but wavering in its execution. (Horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781728492322
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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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