I Wish You Would

February 26, 2024
Self-reflection prompts personal bravery in this high-strung dual-POV romance endorsing honest communication among friends and family. Despite coming from “different worlds,” white-passing scholarship student Natalia Diaz-Price, “the only other Latine person in my class,” is Ethan Forrester’s “favorite person.” Similarly, Ethan, who reads as white, accepts Natalia as “exactly who I am. No armor. No fake smiles.” While acting on a pact to “be each other’s firsts” on prom night, however, a miscommunication leaves each of them believing their romantic feelings are unrequited. After a summer avoiding each other, they reunite during a senior class seaside camping trip, uncertain of where they stand and each jealous of the other’s assumed new love interests. Ethan is the only one around when Natalia accidentally spills a jar containing anonymous secrets from her classmates’ self-reflection exercise, prompting them to desperately hunt for seven missing letters—which might include their own confessions—and forcing them to confront their past along the way. The lovers’ stubborn noncommunication sustains the romantic angst that drives Des Lauriers’ debut. Multifaceted secondary characters and Natalia’s candid examinations of the hypersexualization of BIPOC women add thematic depth. Ages 14–up.

April 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* It takes a lot of courage to be honest with yourself, and a group of seniors is about to learn how brave they can be. School president Natalia is determined to craft the perfect senior year for her peers, starting with the Senior Sunrise. This overnight field trip encourages bonding and gives the students space to shape their last year of high school. Senior Sunrise will also be the first time she sees her best friend, Ethan, since prom night, the night that changed their friendship. When Natalia accidentally loses a few personal letters that the seniors wrote to themselves, Ethan agrees to help her find them before their classmates do. Against the backdrop of an emotionally intense trip, Natalia and Ethan must also make big life decisions before heading home. Des Lauriers' brilliant debut novel will set readers' hearts aflutter. In a story told from the perspectives of Natalia and Ethan, Des Lauriers captures their inner struggles with their home lives and paints a vivid picture of how much they mean to each other. Both are sympathetic characters, and the author surrounds them with supportive and loving friends, which makes the group feel familiar and true. Romantic, compelling, and optimistic, I Wish You Would isn't to be missed.

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April 1, 2024
Two best friends have the chance to reconnect at a school event after painful months spent apart. Liberty Prep students Natalia and Ethan have been close since middle school, but they acted on the pact they made as freshmen to be each other's firsts if they were both still virgins by senior year. Afterward, things changed, and they avoided each other all summer. Anxious Natalia is a scholarship student; she's also Latina and white at a mostly white school. Ethan, who's white, is dealing with family problems. Now school is about to start with Senior Sunrise, a 24-hour beach camping trip. The seniors all write private letters about their hopes, fears, and aspirations for the upcoming year, then ceremonially burn them at sunrise. The worst then happens: Spotting the unattended glass jar of letters and fearing someone might read hers (which is all about her complicated feelings for Ethan), Natalia tries to retrieve it but accidentally lets seven other letters blow away in the wind. It's Ethan who unexpectedly comes to her rescue, and in their quest to keep the senior class's secrets from getting out, they slowly find their way back to each other. Alternating between Ethan's and Natalia's points of view, this novel offers a classic friends-to-lovers storyline with an entertaining twist. The supporting characters are likable and real, all with their own set of confessions that will keep readers intrigued. A sweet romance with a dash of suspense. (Romance. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2024

Gr 10 Up-It is a week before the start of senior year, and class president Natalia Diaz-Price is busy planning and running the Senior Sunrise camp night. Also, her parents recently announced their divorce, and her mom has decided to move three hours away, so Natalia must decide if she's staying or going with her mom. Ethan Forrester is Natalia's best friend and secret crush. He recently discovered that his celebrity father cheated on his mom with a costar and has left the family. Ethan and Natalia have stopped speaking because they have not been able to communicate how they truly feel about each other. During one of the camp activities all the seniors are tasked with writing a wish on slips of paper and putting them in a jar that will be tossed in a bonfire at the end of the trip. Inadvertently, some of the slips escape from the jar and Natalia asks Ethan to help her find them. Told in dual point-of-view, the story takes place over one night and readers are able to see the internal conflicts for both Natalia and Ethan. This helps to see the arc both characters go through. Between chapters, Des Lauriers includes some of the students' wishes, so readers get a glimpse of other classmates' lives. This friends-to-lovers story imparts lessons about the importance of communication for relationships. VERDICT A feel-good love story that touches on important issues faced by young adults today. Recommend where upper YA books are popular.-Davia Schmidt

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