See You on Venus

August 15, 2023
Debut novelist Vinuesa pens a story of star-crossed teens in this dual-narrative novel. Born with multiple heart defects, foster kid Mia has always known she's living on borrowed time. Determined to find the biological mother who left her as an infant, Mia meticulously plans an 18th-birthday trip to her mother's home country, Spain. But when Noah, her friend and travel partner, dies suddenly and Mia's health deteriorates, she accelerates her timeline. Noah's best friend, Kyle, blames himself for the crash that killed Noah and grievously injured Josh, another friend. Traumatized and depressed, he plans to end his own life as penance. After Mia interrupts Kyle, preventing him from carrying out his plan, she guilts him into accompanying her to Spain. The two set off on a whirlwind trip--Kyle begrudgingly and Mia enthusiastically. While the days fly by in a haze of lush scenery, delicious food, and meetings with possible birth mothers, the teens grow closer, though both are keeping secrets they fear may destroy their budding relationship. But just as Kyle's heart starts to heal, Mia's starts to fail, and neither may end up getting the closure they so desperately desire. Major characters are coded white; Mia's foster sister has a cognitive disability. The heartbreaking but hopeful narrative flows beautifully, with easy banter and enticing exposition, and the characters are well-written and easy to root for. Grab a box of tissues and prepare to ride an emotional roller coaster. (Romance. 13-18)

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September 15, 2023
Born with several heart defects, Mia believes she was ""born with an expiration date too close to comfort,"" and that's why her mother abandoned her to return to Spain. Mia is about to age out of the foster care system, and she needs a heart operation, but she has something else in mind: she has a secret plan to go to Spain in search of her mother. Originally, she was supposed to go with her friend Noah, but he was recently killed in a car crash, and instead of going alone, she asks Kyle, Noah's best friend who was responsible for the accident. Nihilistic Kyle is wracked with guilt, but he's gradually convinced to join Mia, and he finds himself driving the pair of them in a VW bus all over Spain, until a crisis arises, and Kyle has to do what is necessary to help Mia. Told in chapters alternating between the teens' perspectives, the absorbing and heartwarming story has some unbelieveable plot points, but readers looking for pure swoon will be satisfied by the ending.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.