A review of Twenty-Four Seconds from Now . . .: A Love Story
by
Jason
Reynolds
Jason Reynolds's take on a teen romance is unlike anything I was expecting and more than I ever imagined. For starters, it's told from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy named Neon. It tackles the difficult subject of intimacy as Neon freaks out in a bathroom, cycling through the timeline of his entire romantic relationship.
Neon and Aria are seniors in high school and in love. They've been dating for two years, and their relationship is changing. Aria has been accepted into multiple universities and will likely be moving away. Neon isn't sure about school, but he is sure he'll continue working at his family's small business. The story line zig zags back and forth to Neon and Aria's meet-cute two years earlier, which is more of a meet-ridiculous, and I liked that. There's a dog chase, a funeral, a grandmother with memory decline, and a custom door knocker. The details are uniquely weird and adorable.
The relationship between Neon and Aria is swoon-worthy and their respective relationships with friends, siblings, parents, and grandparents are sweet, surprising, and cringe-worthy as real-life relationships often are from the teen perspective. The honesty, nervousness, and embarrassment that Neon experiences having talks with members of his family about hygiene, relationships, and growing up felt very real to me, not as someone who was once a teenage boy, rather as someone who is parenting a teenage boy. Soap is important. So is clean laundry. I for sure experienced déjà vu during the talk about using too much cologne. Cologne is having such a moment with teen boys right now.
The descriptions of the neighborhoods Neon and Aria live in spring to life, as well as all the key details that identify senior year and daily routines for a 17-year-old, including driving to school in a beat-up red Honda, a love of chicken fingers, and the star of the story: a pug with attitude named Denzel Jeremy Washington. Enough said! Another winner for older YA audiences from Jason Reynolds.
Twenty-four Seconds from Now is the winner of the 2025 Coretta Scott King Author Award for outstanding writing by an African American author. Read more about all the 2025 ALA Youth Media Award Winners here.