When You Open Your Eyes

January 23, 2012
Conway (The Goodbye Time) pens an
atmospheric novel set in Buenos Aires, where 16-year-old Tessa finds first love. Transplanted from suburban Virginia to Argentina by her controlling FBI agent father and self-absorbed mother, Tessa is immediately drawn to Lucien—the moody, artistic, and magnetic son of a French diplomat—even though her father forbids their relationship. Leaving her old life behind piece by piece, Tessa is drawn into a steamy clandestine romance with Lucien (“I want to fly away with him and never be left behind again”), as well as a life of partying with new friends who have the freedom she envies. But Lucien isolates Tessa as his behavior becomes increasingly unpredictable and violent; he pressures her into sex, leaves the country for weeks without calling, and plots a terrorist-inspired art project. Tessa’s meditative and intimate voice carries the story, as does the threat of Lucien’s instability. Thick with evocative descriptions of the subtle and not-so-subtle adaptations involved in living abroad, Conway’s story is gripping and memorable. Ages 14–up. Agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Mar.)■

January 1, 2012
A modern-day Romeo and Juliet. The novel's Romeo is Lucien, the manic, self-important son of a French diplomat, and Juliet is Tessa, the querulous daughter of an American FBI agent. The story takes place far from Verona, in Argentina, an exotic locale that functions as one of the few appealing characters in the book. Lucien's penchant for dangerous behavior is well known in diplomatic circles and ostensibly the reason why Tessa's father has forbidden her to see him. The two must meet in secret, and so begins the downward spiral of an astonishingly dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship. Lucien is a teen Svengali, lazing about in a silk kimono, working on "guerilla" art projects and threatening to consume Tessa with his neediness. It's difficult to even characterize narrator Tessa, because the harder she falls for Lucien, the more frustratingly weak and subservient she becomes. The love scenes, at least initially, are steamy, and the narrative, particularly when describing the setting, is often rich and sensuous, but neither of these things can make up for the novel's shortcomings. Whether Lucien is a victim or a predator is up to readers to interpret, but either way, it's hard to imagine anyone rooting for these two. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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July 1, 2012
When Tessa's straight-as-an-arrow FBI father and her newly fashionable mother object to her relationship with the sophisticated Lucien, Tessa rebels and determines to follow her heart. But Lucien's dark side quickly proves too much to handle. Conway's adept use of the Buenos Aires setting tempts readers to imagine life as a wealthy ex-pat, and Tessa's conflict and choices are deeply felt.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Tessa's life takes an exciting turn when her family moves from suburban Virginia to Buenos Aires where her father is an American FBI employee affiliated with the embassy. Her new circle of friends includes a group of worldly teenagers with access to many features of an adult lifestyle. Among them is her fellow-artist and new boyfriend, Lucien, the son of a French diplomat. Then Tessa's father, who has recently returned from a two-year stint in Colombia, forbids her to see Lucien. Determined to maintain her relationship with the one person who makes her feel beautiful, talented, and needed, Tessa sneaks around. As her estrangement from her family grows, Lucien's alluring behavior is becoming suspect and at times dangerous. When Tessa learns the latest trigger for his manic outbursts, she has a breakdown of her own. The story reaches a frenzied climax in which Tessa attempts to save Lucien from himself only to learn that she may be lucky to save her own life. The characters' voices ring true and the plot moves along at an engaging pace. The subplots involving Tessa's family add to the portrayal of the protagonist's changing personality. Teen girls will recognize the urgency of first love and the ways in which it can take over one's life. This is a solid addition to the darker side of the chick-lit genre.-Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD

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