Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 16))
Readers who know brazen, boy-crazy V from her aunt Mara's perspective (Vegan Virgin Valentine, 2004), will enjoy her first-person narration here, which reveals no inner brashness but rather a struggle for—and against—emotional distance. V is now 17, a senior, expecting faraway mother Aimee to visit for graduation. Everyone except V recognizes Aimee's flakiness; V's ever-attentive grandparents try their best to fill in, but V misses Aimee, whose history of moving V around the country following men has formed V's makeup more than she wishes to admit. V hooks up regularly with hottie Sam but steadfastly denies that their relationship is loving or serious. Desperate to stay detached, V cheats on Sam and he moves away. Driving across country to visit Aimee, V finally confronts her mother's long-term absence and how it has informed V's own boy-chasing. Eye-opening as a sequel yet solid on its own, V's narration is simple and accessible as she learns to be brave. 2007, Candlewick, 192p, $16.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 5))
V is the granddaughter/niece who was introduced in the first book about the Valentine family; this novel is her story. V’s mother was a teenager when V was born and she never settled down in one place or with one man all through V’s childhood. Now V is graduating from high school in her grandparents’ town, and her mother can’t even manage to come to the graduation. V has had a pattern of flirting and sleeping with boys since she was 14 years old, never allowing herself to get close to anyone…until Sam comes into her life in the last months of high school. She can’t admit to herself or to him how much he means to her, and she manages to sabotage the romance. Sam leaves, heartbroken, to begin his college life across the country in California. At this point, the journey begins. An actual journey (V drives herself across country to Texas to be with her mother) and a metaphorical journey, as V finally faces her pain of her mother’s rejection and her fear that she deserves to be rejected. The miles bring grief, especially when V arrives in Texas only to discover her mother won’t meet her. Some kind, wise people she meets along the way, including her sister/aunt in Chicago (the main character in the first book about this family), help her to understand her own behavior and encourage her to go to Sam and accept his love. Which of course means that V can accept that she is worthy of someone’s love. This is heartfelt, gritty (with profanity and sexual situations), and psychologically illuminating. Mackler is an accomplished writer for older YA readers, especially those serious about understanding human emotions and behavior. (Companion to Vegan Virgin Valentine) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: S--Recommended for senior high school students. 2007, Candlewick, 176p., $16.99. Ages 15 to 18.

Rachel Wadham (VOYA, December 2007 (Vol. 30, No. 5))
Building on fan interest in her character Vivian, known as V, first introduced in Vegan, Virgin, Valentine (Candlewick, 2004/VOYA October 2004), Mackler continues V's story in this follow-up novel. After being bounced from place to place for most of her life, V cannot commit and finds herself having only hollow relationships with many guys. But at the end of her senior year, V literally lands in the lap of Sam Almond, and everything begins to change. Things are different with Sam, but V fights the change, finally ruining everything by kissing an old boyfriend. Needing to escape, she sets off on a cross-country road trip in the hopes of reconnecting with her estranged mother. During her adventures, V figures out who she is and is able to redefine her relationship with Sam. A road trip to discovery is nothing new in teen fiction, and sadly Mackler falls just short in her interpretation. V's character is not always endearing, owing in part to the fact that some of her characterization comes from the earlier companion work. Although interesting and beautifully described, her adventures are often flat and bewildering. Ultimately V's change of heart is unconvincing and does not seem to follow logically from the events that she experiences. Even with its flaws, fans will find the novel endearing, and librarians can pair it with other works such as Joan Bauer's Rules of the Road (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1997/VOYA June 1998). VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P S (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2007, Candlewick, 184p., $16.99. Ages 15 to 18.