A laugh-out-loud YA romance with a smart cast.
In this YA romantic comedy, a Thai American teen from a tightknit family starts dating—on her parents’ terms.
Orrawin “Winnie” Techavachara is entering her final semester of high school in the Chicago suburbs without a boyfriend. Her parents don’t allow her to date, a rule that started with her beloved older sisters, Ari and Bunny, now in college several hours away and happily independent with no thoughts of settling down, much to Mom’s dismay. Fearing the same fate for their youngest daughter, Winnie’s parents change the rules. Winnie is now allowed to date, but it’s not quite that simple. First, Winnie’s mom will dictate the dates’ locations, each of which will pay tribute to beloved rom-coms, like Always Be My Maybeand When Harry Met Sally. Second, she’ll also dictate the boy. And it won’t be Winnie’s crush Taran, the new guy in school who also happens to be Thai, but Winnie’s former best friend, Mat Songsomboon, who’s been Winnie’s sworn enemy since an epic falling-out in junior high. Also, kissing is verboten. Mat’s father ups the ante for his reluctant son: For every date Mat and Winnie complete, he’ll add a day to Mat’s post-graduation solo backpacking trip through Asia. What starts as an awkward car ride to school soon becomes much more as Winnie realizes her feelings for Mat are more complex than she once believed, and Mat makes a startling revelation about his feelings for Winnie. But what’s a good Thai daughter to do when she’s not actually supposed to fall in love? New York Times–bestselling author Dunn, a first-generation Thai American, takes on the enemies-to-lovers romance trope with punchy dialogue and adorable twists while paying tribute to the culture’s prioritization of food and family: One of the novel’s best scenes plays out at the Songkran festival, a celebration of the Thai New Year. Both Winnie and Mat are intelligent, sympathetic characters with genuine chemistry in the throes of mutual eye-rolling–turned–puppy love, and Winnie’s family members are finely drawn and nuanced, with aspirations, conflicts, and dreams of their own.
A laugh-out-loud YA romance with a smart cast.Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68281-497-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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