An intimate look into the maze of a young woman’s mind and relationships.
Rowan Slone is back for the final installment of the trilogy: Will she finally get to experience the sense of belonging that she has been craving her whole life?
Rowan is in her freshman year at Berkeley Mountain College in rural West Virginia. After living with her ex-boyfriend’s family during her senior year of high school, Rowan is now renting an apartment with her best friend, Jess, who has an infant son, Jacob. While they intended to create the family unit they each so craved, things turn sour quickly. Rowan is a full-time student, working 20 hours a week, in a new relationship with Shane, and helping to care for Jacob as well. Meanwhile, Jess is overwhelmed by the responsibilities of caring for a baby and feels like her life is over at 18. Conflicts arise, and Rowan’s life is once again stormy. The author explores with candor the process of therapy and the weight of always trying to hold everything together. Themes of adoption, same-sex relationships, and religious extremism are also touched upon. Unfortunately, the writing feels dense at times, and Rowan’s first-person narration is occasionally rambling. Although there is some recap of earlier events, readers unfamiliar with Rowan’s story will gain more from having read the previous books. Main characters are presumed to be White.
An intimate look into the maze of a young woman’s mind and relationships. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64397-210-7
Page Count: 326
Publisher: BHC Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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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