Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than 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 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. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Without a plot that can really drive the action, this debut novel feels like a collection of well-written character studies.ĭespite the intriguing premise, this novel’s reach exceeds its grasp.
While the characters are each distinct-Lucas' pansexuality and Valentine's asexuality are welcome explorations rarely seen in teen lit-the novel lacks much direction or tension, and the seven-deadly-sins theme fails to take hold. And when the truth comes out about the teacher-student relationship, these seven students will see how their relationships have changed. Meanwhile, the least of Juniper's troubles is performing well at her violin recital. Olivia and Kat are still struggling to accept their mother’s abandonment, Matt crushes on Olivia, Claire tries to overcome her jealousy of her friends Olivia and Juniper, Lucas is in the closet even though he used to date Claire, while Valentine doesn't have any interest in relationships, romantic or otherwise. Yet while the alleged relationship is ostensibly what brings them together, in fact that relationship is less important than the characters' existing problems. Who is the teacher-and who is the student? That's only one of the secrets among these seven. All are students at Paloma High, where an allegation of a teacher-student relationship has just been revealed. The lives of seven teens intersect in expected and unexpected ways in this multivoiced novel that plays with the seven deadly sins.
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