Kit Frick Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Kit Frick is an American author popularly known for her young adult novels All Eyes on Us, See All the Stars and Killed Zoe Spanos. She’s also written poetry pieces including A Small Rising Up in the Lungs, Kill Your Darlings, Clementine, and Echo, Echo, Light.

She graduated at Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in creative writing and graduated from Syracuse University with an MFA. Besides writing, she works as a senior editor for Black Lawrence Press where she edits chapbook series. Her books feature themes of intense and charged female friendships. According to an interview published online, the author claims that her book See All the Stars is inspired by her personal life, especially her friendships in her high school and young adult life.

See All the Stars

What happened during the junior year? That’s See All the Star’s main mystery. Secrets, deceit, and betrayals are some of the themes that unfold throughout this novel. The story materializes through Ellory’s (main character) disjointed narration, later turned to school after a suspension. She’s also dealing with the aftermath of an event dubbed The Fall and learning to cope with her life decisions as well as her past. The author does a fantastic job of crafting the story together. Her writing is zestful, and each scene in the story flows into the next scene. The story is fast-paced and gives sufficient details about the characters. The story also shifts perspective from the past and the present, giving the reader enough details to connect relationships while offering clues as everything is about to fall apart.

See All the Stars centers two main characters, Ellory and Ret, two girls who’ve been best friends for a long time. The world of teenage friendship, especially female friendship, is always complicated and rifled with conflict. The story does a great job depicting the complications that occur with friends who rely on a focal member. We come to learn that Ret has been the glue that holds the group of friends together. Ellory and other friends follow her lead, often trying to get her attention. There is an element of the classic mean girls in this book, though depicted more realistically. The relationship between these girls is more attractive especially when it lets the friends be themselves. Ret relies on them, and they depend on her.

The four girls are never separable even though their relationship is built on clichés. Ellory is completely aware of her not so good relationship with the other girls, but she dismisses all the signs. But that’s common with teenage female friends.

From the first page, it’s obvious clear that something isn’t what it seems. While the plot is more focused on the mystery that occurred in the previous semester, it becomes apparent that the mystery isn’t the point of focus for this book. While as the book does have some thriller elements, its more about growing up and learning to embrace the present and forget about the past.

While written for the young adults, this book has been billed as part suspenseful thriller part love story. The blurb details it as an intense coming of age story revolving around for friends. The story tries to answer the question as to what happens to Ellory to make her so broken now. And in trying to find the answer, the story shifts between Ellory’s life then and now.

The action is never predictable, and this keeps you from guessing with plenty of twists and turns and secretive characters who only reveal half of the information. This book is highly recommended for the “older” young adult community rather than teen readers as it touches on some serious topics such as substance abuse, unhealthy friendship, negligent parents, etc. the characters are deep, flawed and they lie, judge and make wrong choices in life as we do. This story will keep you hooked from the first page.

All Eyes on Us

All Eyes on Us follows two girls, Rosalie, and Amanda, both in a relationship with the same boy. Amanda is Carter’s first boyfriend, and she’s been with him for a long time. The two are from the upper class in the society, and hence there is a big expectation that the two will eventually get married. Amanda sees Carter as her forever, and the only future she has, and this is partially influenced by the fact that her parents are bankrupt and see their daughters as a cash cow to get out of debt when she marries Carter and inherits the real estate Carter’s family own.

On the other hand, Rosalie is the girl Carter is cheating on Amanda with. She is from a lower-middle-class. But there’s a catch that she is a lesbian who is only dating Carter to please her Christian parents who have been forcing her to conversion therapy since she was young. Dating him is a way of keeping them off the track and ensuring that her relationship with Paulina is a secret.

Then Amanda starts receiving threatening messages that eventually lead to a stranger telling her she needs to end her relationship with Carter. But because Amanda already knows that Carter is cheating on her girlfriend and so she assumes its Rosalie sending her the disturbing texts. There’s a lot of hate that develops, but that’s understandable especially when teenagers are involved.

What makes All Eyes on Us, a book worth reading is the themes that Kit Frick adds throughout, a well woven plotline and a cast of complex and yet relatable characters. Amanda is a messy woman who was groomed to believe that she had to get married to the appropriate person. The self-worth she discovers is so crucial and something that many young women struggle with while at the same time dealing with all the pressures of who they should be in life. This is a perfect story and a perfect example that even after being faced with a life-changing trauma, life can go on even though it won’t be easy but possible.