THE MUSEUM OF MODERN LOVE, by Mariko Turk, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), Oct. 13, 2026, Hardcover, $20.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
A girl plans to confess her love to her crush during a museum tour but ends up touring with ex instead in The Museum of Modern Love, by Mariko Turk.
Tonight, inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art―somewhere between the hours of 8 PM and 5 AM―Auden Peck will fall in love with Miki Kawamura.
That’s Miki’s plan, anyway. And the plan is destiny.
See, Miki’s grandparents fell in love after accidentally being locked in the Met overnight in 1965. And now, after too many almost-confessions, hopeless romantic Miki will finally tell her best friend Auden that she loves him by retracing the path through the museum that her grandparents took that fateful night.
But destiny has other plans. For it’s not Auden who joins Miki on her midnight tour, but Lou McSweeney―the world’s most jaded cynic, and Miki’s ex. How can she possibly confess her feelings for Auden when she’s stuck sparring with this arrogant jerk? And is it possible that her original plan was not destiny’s true course after all? —Synopsis provided by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
The Museum of Modern Love is an enemies-to-lovers YA romance where art plays just as big a role as the protagonist.
It’s clear Mariko Turk is fan of art. Not only has she set her story inside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, but she’s incorporated galleries and the art within them throughout the novel. Her descriptions will have you looking up the pieces to see what they look like in real life.
And as for the characters, this is a book where you watch the main character learn and grow before your eyes. Miki’s evolution is definitely a highlight.
The Museum of Modern Love is a sweet, character-driven read that’s fast-moving and fun.
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