![]() Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her-who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves-Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Īfter surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself. 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. ![]() Still, invested readers will want to push through the Hamlet gridlock to see how Felton and his friends make out in the end.Ī memorable character from an author worth watching. Herbach soon after throws in a heavy-handed reference to Shakespeare, which unfortunately overshadows much of the story he’s already successfully been building. Bad decisions, booze and bullying become the name of his game. He soon hits his stride, however, and the plot takes off as Felton’s anxieties begin to overtake him. Herbach’s narrative starts off shaky, with some uneven depictions of high school culture seeing football-star and possible homecoming king Felton being picked on. Soon, he’s unable to control his actions, the words that come out of his mouth or his anger. However, when the trauma he experienced as a child-discovering his father’s body hanging in the garage-begins to eat at him, Felton’s hold on his psyche begins to spiral out of control. Colleges and universities call him every day to entice him into accepting their scholarships. On the outside, high school senior Felton Reinstein has it all: He’s good looking and has a great girlfriend and the respect of his peers. A football star copes with his father’s suicide.
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