Reviews for Places no one knows
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Complicated romance blooms between the perfect student and a sensitive burnout. Waverly Camdenmar works diligently to perfect the face she presents to the world: she's white, a good student, popular, and a cross-country runner who'd do anything to win. But there's another Waverly, the one who can't sleep. Meanwhile, in another social stratosphere, Marshall Holt, also white, toils at the center of a broken family, choosing to get wasted rather than face the world, let alone his feelings. While Waverly's emotions feel unreachable even to herself, Marshall's are always too close to the surface for comfort. One night, Waverly lights a candle and counts backward, finally finding sleep only to discover she's ended up in the path of Marshall's actual, intoxicated evening. Only he can see her, but she's corporeal as anyone to him, and it keeps happening. The two meet in dreams and reveal more of themselves than either dares show anyone else but resume their closed-off identities in the daylight; they may as well be strangers at school. But such a dream relationship can only exist so long before being brought to light. Alternating narration in the first person, Waverly and Marshall burn brightly in their individual, secret painboth refreshingly flawed as they come into their own. Readers will forgo sleep themselves to witness their vibrant, achingly real story unfold. A brilliant romance that forces its protagonists to explore and accept themselves as they discover one another. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Gr 10 Up-Waverly Camdenmar appears to be a model student with a competitive streak, but she has her secrets. Marshall Holt seems tuned out (he begins or ends many days with mood-altering substances), but he has smarts he doesn't play up. These two seeming opposites find a mutual attraction, brought to the forefront when Waverly meditates to a magic candle and is transported to Marshall's bedroom. Yovanoff paints a bleak portrait of high school, with a ruthless social structure, scheming "best friends," beer at every party, and mostly clueless adults. Waverly and Marshall switch off as narrators every few chapters, as they struggle to fit their unlikely but visceral attraction into their daytime lives. The author has some great descriptive phrases and images, such as girls with "too much eyeliner, not enough shirt"; painting fingernails with Wite-Out in a boring class; and a "soft, wobbly place" where awake and asleep come together. The school prom (which Waverly is helping plan and Marshall doesn't expect to attend) gives a focus for the final chapters. This is an angst-filled story with older high school characters, where everyone seems some degree of miserable. There are pockets of honesty that bode well for the future. VERDICT Suitable for collections in need of dark fiction with a hint of magic.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
*Starred Review* There are two Waverly Camdenmars. One is the Waverly everyone sees: smart, driven, untouchable. The other is the Waverly who runs at night until her feet bleed, who spends hours meticulously analyzing her fellow students so she knows how to behave, and who, one night, dreams herself into the bedroom of Marshall Holt, a thoughtful slacker-stoner with a troubled home life who shouldn't even be on her radar. As her nighttime wanderings continue and their connection grows, Waverly must decide if he is something she wants in her waking life as well. In dreamy, introspective prose, Yovanoff (Fiendish, 2014) takes a sharp turn out of the dark fantasies she is known for and into a character-driven romance that pulses with magical realism. Waverly is an odd heroine, detached and clinical in her observations of her fellow students. By contrast, Marshall is overly empathetic and feels almost too much, often turning to drugs and booze to numb his sensitivity. Secondary characters, including Waverly's popular friends and Marshall's falling-apart family, are crafted with equal attention to detail, creating a tableau that, despite Marshall's and Waverly's different kinds of detachment, feels inherently familiar. This is a tightly woven, luminously written novel that captures the uncertain nature of high school and the difficult path of self-discovery.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2016 Booklist
