Booklist Reviews
In this debut novel, two high-school freshmen experience their first emotional and sexual relationship. For Carolina, high school is a time to reinvent herself and leave behind her reputation as a babyish nerd. Trevor thinks school is pointless after moving from L.A. to small-town Riverbend, Illinois. They notice each other on the first day and, after confronting gossip-fueled misunderstandings, start dating and gradually begin having sex. Both have problems at home—a philandering dad, a suicidal mom—that color their relationship. Through it all, Carolina and Trevor idolize and idealize each other—until they can't anymore. Gottfred authentically depicts the intensity of first love and candidly portrays these teens' sex lives, from their first exploratory touching to a pregnancy scare, in scenes that range from sweet to rote to troubling. Structured in alternating first-person narratives, the confessional style of the interior monologues needs tightening, and the minutia of daily life makes for an overlong, shapeless story. Despite uneven writing and an ending that is pure saccharine, the overall journey is believable. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
On the first day of high school, Carolina is ready to grow up--right now. New-to-town Trevor is depressed over his mother's recent suicide attempt. They meet in first period, and the rest is history, chronicled in realistic alternating first-person narratives. Teen readers will appreciate the couple's newfound wisdom about friendships, parents, sexuality, and first love. A highly appealing coming-of-age romance with lots of sex.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
"It's like I used to be Carrie, this awkward eighth grader, but now I was going to be Carolina, this amazing freshman." Nerdy and immature in junior high, Carolina and her best friend, Peggy (sorry, "Marguerite"), hit the ground running on their first day of high school; Carolina is ready to grow up -- right now. Trevor, new to town, has been rendered cynical and depressed by his mother's recent suicide attempt and is dreading starting school. Carolina and Trevor meet in first period, and the rest is history, chronicled in alternating first-person narratives characterized by insecurities and excitement and near-hysterical inner monologues: "I MUST KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS OR I WILL DIE." Debut author Gottfred's accomplishments here are the truly realistic teen voices and the believable trajectory and fate of the relationship; readers won't be surprised when the "soulmates" hit rough patches (though some of the subplots do contain surprises). Carolina does grow up, as does Trevor -- perhaps too quickly thanks to their intense relationship and respective family troubles, but teen readers will appreciate the couple's newfound wisdom about high school friendships, parents, sexuality, and first love. A touching, relatable, and highly appealing coming-of-age romance à la Eleanor & Park (rev. 5/13) but with lots of sex. katrina hedee Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine.
Kirkus Reviews
Two teens experience an intense year of first love. Carolina and Trevor, a pair of emotionally intuitive, gifted athletes, are drawn to each other on the first day of high school and soon discover a heady physical chemistry. Debut novelist Gottfred alternates between Carolina's and Trevor's deeply earnest voices to tease out both the elation and the anguish of headlong first love. This technique is now almost clichéd, but it works here thanks to the psychological heft and frankness of the protagonists' narration. Each longs for a romance based on total honesty, but as both struggle with mistrust in their relationships with their parents, neither fully trusts the other to accept their flaws, setting up future conflicts almost immediately. It's refreshing to see both male and female characters striving to sort out the messy, complex feelings of all kinds that go along with an active but secret sex life and to see how those experiences help them mature substantively (and ag e appropriately) in their relationships with both their peers and their parents—who are much better at parenting than they are at marriage. The downside of using alternating perspectives is length—this novel would have benefited from tighter editing—but Gottfred is plainly a talent to watch. Both emotionally satisfying and sure to be much discussed. (Fiction. 14-16) Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Carolina Fisher is a newly minted high-school freshman with big hopes for the year ahead. Trevor Santos is a jaded transfer student from California, who isn't interested in anything his new Illinois school has to offer—until he meets Carolina. Writing in the teenagers' alternating perspectives, debut author Gottfred captures the starry-eyed exhilaration of first love (and nervous first explorations of sex) with tenderness and humor. Wearing her heart and her insecurities on her sleeve, Carolina is exuberant in her joy about Trevor ("I said I liked a boy to his face. And he said he liked me. What did this mean? I must know what this means or I will die"), while Trevor's self-delusion that he isn't falling hard for Carolina and his reflections on the looming family problems they both face are just as honest and realistic. In short, Gottfred's characters actually sound, think, and act like real people, not the polished, best versions of themselves. Readers will need hearts of steel not to fall for this love story and its two storytellers. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (July)
[Page ]. Copyright 2014 PWxyz LLCSchool Library Connection
In this realistic romance novel, freshmen Carolina Fisher and Trevor Santos tell their story in alternating chapters. Each character discusses their feelings and changing friendships as they embark on a relationship that quickly becomes sexual. Familial depression plagues Trevor and his suicidal mother. In an odd twist, Trevor's mother has an affair with Carolina's father. Coupled with the overly descriptive progression of the sexual acts Carolina and Trevor indulge in, at times this book reads more like a self-help manual. Hidden in the details is a very important story about giving too much of yourself too soon. The voice of each character feels raw and real for the most part, and readers who have been through a similar experience will find kindred spirits here. However, this is a book where audience maturity is an important consideration.
- Grades 9-12 - Jodi Yorio Finlayson - RecommendedSchool Library Journal Reviews
Gr 9 Up—Carolina and Trevor meet on the first day of their freshman year when Carolina gives Trevor two sheets of paper and a pencil so he can take notes in class. For both, it is near love at first sight. For Carolina, her freshman year is a chance to start fresh and be one of the popular girls while getting over her dad's infidelity to her mom. For Trevor, it's his second time attempting a freshman year, but in a new city as his family tries to pick up the pieces of his mother's attempted suicide. The teens fall hard and fast, sharing just about every first love experience one could imagine. Like Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park (St. Martin's, 2013), this work is a tale of first love from the protagonists' alternating points of view. Gottfried gives this concept a new spin by providing a detailed account of all aspects of this budding relationship, from every insecure thought to the last "I love you." The author captures the unhealthy codependency of crushes in a way that will be relatable to teens. Some graphic sex scenes makes this title appropriate for older readers. VERDICT A swoon-inducing and heartbreaking novel for most YA collections.—Adrienne L. Strock, Teen Library Manager, Nashville Public Library
[Page 164]. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews
This five-part novel begins on the first day of high school and alternates between the voices of Carolina—a local, first-time freshman—and Trevor—a transplanted-from-L.A., second-time freshman, both seeking acceptance among their peers. Carolina lives with her mother; when her father wants to move back into the home, after having strayed from the marriage, her emotions are mixed. Trevor lives with his parents—a father who tries too hard and a mother who had a failed suicide attempt last year around the time Trevor stopped attending school. His little sister, Lily, speaks as would an adult and, according to Trevor, is the smartest seven-year-old ever. Set in the small, Midwestern town where Carolina's father and Trevor's mother grew up, the complexities of life include academic, athletic, and social decisions requiring each narrator to consider if he or she is willing to do what is required to be cool. Finding one another sparks first love, tender and sweet, tentative and questioning, until an upperclassman distracting Carolina causes a rift, and then the teens take the train into Chicago and encounter Trevor's mother and Carolina's father—on a date. Gottfred's novel incorporates issues of mental health, peer pressure, budding sexuality, first sexual encounters, family dynamics, and more. At first, Carolina's voice sounds more like a seventh grader's than a freshman's, but it gains maturity and focus as her social sphere expands. This well-paced title will circulate widely from library and classroom shelves.—Cynthia Winfield 3Q 4P J S Copyright 2011 Voya Reviews.