The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly

December 15, 2019
When Autumn Casterly disappears, only her younger sister, Ivy, believes something is wrong. Everybody knows Autumn is a bad girl, a drug dealer who often spends the night away. So when Autumn doesn't come home one day after a drug deal gone wrong, no one bats an eye apart from Ivy. With the help of her close-knit group of friends, the Nerd Herd Club, Ivy starts to search--eventually unveiling the truth behind her sister's deceptively strong facade. What Ivy doesn't know is that the clock is ticking, and while Autumn's body lies broken and hostage, her spirit has been trying to communicate with Ivy. The narrative alternates between Autumn's violent story and Ivy's determined search in a story about two sisters that blends the mundane with the supernatural. The ill effects of rape culture and the systemic lack of support for survivors are deftly explored, but the novel's impact is ultimately marred by a contrived resolution. The fractured tonal shift between Autumn's and Ivy's narratives is an interesting, if jarring, choice (it's hard to care about Ivy's sweet but silly love triangle when readers know Autumn could soon be dead). The two main characters are white, and the novel has well-developed nonwhite and LGBTQIA characters. Ivy is fat and confident in her size; the fat-shaming she faces at school is addressed head-on. A thoughtful if flawed thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)

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January 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Autumn Casterly is ready to get out of her town. She has dreams and a college she wants to attend-not ideas normally associated with the school's biggest drug dealer. Ivy, Autumn's board game-playing, band-loving, nerdy younger sister couldn't be more different than tough and often absent Autumn. So when Autumn doesn't come home one evening, Ivy doesn't seem too surprised, except she has a strange feeling that things are not right. With alternating perspectives between the sisters, readers know that something terrible has happened to Autumn and Ivy investigates, often without the help of the adults in her life. As the story progresses, readers see glimpses of an assault that led to Autumn's distance from her family and see how the abuser faced no repercussions while Autumn's life fell to pieces. Ivy, with the help of her friends, begins to understand her sister more and more as she finds clues and pieces of her life. The mystery is engaging and readers will root for Ivy to find her sister in time. This book touches on important social issues around rape culture, shedding light on an experience when an abuser walks free and the survivor sees more damage to her reputation than the perpetrator to his. VERDICT Recommended for libraries wanting mysteries with substance.-Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
Grades 10-1 Autumn's exploits as a drug dealer, bully, and rule breaker finally catch up with her when she is beaten and kidnapped by unknown attackers. Caught between life and death, she experiences an out-of-body existence, allowing her to reach out to her estranged sister, Ivy. With Autumn's help, Ivy must follow the clues to her sister's whereabouts. Luckily, Ivy has a team of true friends who will stand by her. But can they find Autumn before her captors finish the job they started? Part mystery and part family drama, Tate's story weaves multiple narrative strands into a page-turner with real heart. The reader is privy to both Ivy's and Autumn's points of view, and the conceit of Autumn's disembodied spirit renders the reader uneasy. While the sisters are central, the minor characters are portrayed well and are all integral to the larger story. At the root of the book is a bold statement about the courage, resilience, and strength young women must have in the fight to be heard and respected.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)