03/04/2024
Recent college graduate Orie Lennox is a reality television enthusiast. Her favorite show is Survivor, which she describes as “a chess game on an island” in which relationships are paramount. So, when she gets the opportunity to audition for the upcoming season, she’s all in, and not just because she’s obsessed with it; she sees it as her only chance to get away from the long-term boyfriend she doesn’t love and her family’s insistence that she’s sailing passively through life. What newly single Orie doesn’t know is that she’s been cast in an experimental version of the show with a romantic component—and that her former high school crush, Remy, has also been cast. A palpable appreciation for the inspiration material courses through this high-intensity romance by Riccio (Better Together). The island setting, the physical and mental challenges, and the machinations through which Orie and her fellow contestants try to avoid getting voted off the island are entertaining, and it’s satisfying to experience the alliances made and broken as Orie begins to realize what she’s capable of and how that translates into her future. Orie and Remy are white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (May)
