Make the Fireflies Dance

April 1, 2023
After a magical kiss with a mystery boy, a girl goes on dates to try to uncover his identity. It's senior year, and Quincy, a White girl, is working on shooting a movie as a project for her film class. After receiving a surprise kiss in a dark movie theater from an unknown boy who doesn't offer his name, the search for him becomes a distraction. Her friends execute Operation Mystery Kisser, setting her up on dates with the boys who were present that evening and are possible candidates. With classmate Kenyon, one of them, she finds romance, forcing her to question whether she already has what she wants right in front of her and whether the search for the anonymous boy who gave her that perfect kiss is worth pursuing. There are plenty of complex and vulnerable moments in the story. Quincy lost her mother in a tragic accident; this loss and tension with her older brother give her realistic depth. Kenyon, whose mother is implied White and whose father was adopted from Vietnam, is a three-dimensional love interest. The relatively robust character development makes the mystery kiss as catalyst ultimately feel like a letdown, particularly in a climate of growing awareness of the importance of consent, a subject that is not addressed. The treatment of that key detail is ultimately unsatisfying and problematic. A questionable central plot point holds back this otherwise enjoyable read. (Romance. 12-17)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 27, 2023
When an unknown boy surprise-kisses aspiring auteur Quincy Walker, 17, in a dark movie theater, she determines to uncover his identity in this madcap rom-com by Bateman (Someone Else’s Summer). Driven by her desire to have a picture-perfect date for the upcoming prom and certain that she’ll recognize him if she kisses him again, Quin launches Operation Mystery Kisser, which involves her asexual best friend Naosie setting Quin up on blind dates with all the boys who were at the theater that night. The scheme is a perfect distraction from Quin’s orbiting personal challenges, including graduation-related anxiety, stress over making and submitting her first full-length feature for a student film festival, and grief over her mother’s death. Operation Mystery Kisser is complicated, however, when Ezra—Quin’s childhood best friend and former crush—reenters her life. Quin’s risk-averse first-person POV often feels at odds with the narrative’s devil-may-care interpretation of the instigating event, raising questions of consent. Still, Quin’s hopeless-romantic nature and her passion for film prompt her to pursue new experiences and take chances, presenting a thoughtful depiction of a teen embracing change. Main characters read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency.