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A review by bookishlibrarian
Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner
emotional
funny
hopeful
3.25
Rayne (Josie) and Delilah (Delia) host a late night public access show as horror hosts. For Delia, this stems from her love of watching campy horror movies with her dad, who left the family, and she hopes that he might one day see her show. Josie doesn't really share Delia's love for horror, but she loves Delia and wants to be on TV. We get both of their stories in alternating chapters, leading up to a visit to ShiverCon and, inevitably, the end of their high school years and facing an uncertain future.
Delia's story is by far the more interesting of the two: dealing with her feelings about her father, her mother's depression, worrying about being left behind. Josie's storyline centers around her budding relationship with MMA fighter Lawson and conflicting expectations from her parents and Delia about her future.
I really liked the portrayal of Delia and Josie's friendship. Their banter, inside jokes, and love for each other come through, even as they also encounter conflict and change. The scenes of them producing their show were a highlight. Where this one lost me a little was the zaniness of the ShiverCon/Jack Divine section. But it won me right back with the ending, which managed to be completely unexpected but realistic and hopeful and had me tearing up in a couple of places.
Delia's story is by far the more interesting of the two: dealing with her feelings about her father, her mother's depression, worrying about being left behind. Josie's storyline centers around her budding relationship with MMA fighter Lawson and conflicting expectations from her parents and Delia about her future.
I really liked the portrayal of Delia and Josie's friendship. Their banter, inside jokes, and love for each other come through, even as they also encounter conflict and change. The scenes of them producing their show were a highlight. Where this one lost me a little was the zaniness of the ShiverCon/Jack Divine section. But it won me right back with the ending, which managed to be completely unexpected but realistic and hopeful and had me tearing up in a couple of places.