romance, young adult

Instructions For Dancing by Nicola Yoon

Mia
I love this cover so much!

SUMMARY (from GoodReads)

Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.

As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met.

Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?

REVIEW:

Featuring the Beth March bookmark from pagepetal.com

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This one hurt. A lot. While it definitely had those sweet, absolutely swoonworthy moments Nicola Yoon is known for, it also held a lot of heartbreak. Instructions for Dancing is about learning to love even though love ends, which is painful and beautiful at the same time. This book was the definition of bittersweet, and while I tend to prefer a happy-ever-after, I think the ending of this book only added to its message and importance. 

Even with this novel’s deep message, it didn’t feel overly heavy. The romance between Evie and X was incredible, and as someone who was obsessed with Dancing With the Stars as a kid, I loved the ballroom dancing element so much. It made me want to sign up for lessons at the local ballroom dance studio, only to find the love of my life there… I guess that’s unlikely.

While I didn’t like the “seeing the future” element of the plot at first, in retrospect I see its importance to the plot. Instructions for Dancing definitely lived up to the hype, even if it broke my heart in two. I love you, Nicola Yoon, even if you did make me cry with this book!

mystery, young adult

The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious, #4) by Maureen Johnson

Mia
Of course I had to go to the woods to take a picture of The Box in the Woods!

SUMMARY:

1978. Camp Wonder Falls. Four teens are murdered and organized in a grotesque display in a box in the woods, the lid painted with the word “surprise!” When the police of the small town fail to solve the murders, they become one of the most popular cold cases of all time. And Stevie Bell is going to solve it (or try to, at least).

After solving several murders at her elite boarding school, Ellingham Academy, along with the cold case murders of the Ellingham family, Stevie is dreading a summer away from her new friends. That is, until an offer comes along for her to work at the same summer camp that the Box in the Woods Murders were committed. With her Ellingham friends, Stevie is in for a summer of mystery solving and camp fun (and lots of danger).

REVIEW:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Box in the Woods!! I was SO excited for this one. Being a huge fan of the Truly Devious series, I wondered if this would live up to the original books. While I don’t think it was as good as the Truly Devious trilogy, I still enjoyed it a ton, making it one of my favorite releases of 2021. 

What I found when I finished The Box in the Woods is that my heart said it deserved 5 stars, while my head said it deserved 4 stars. I loved the way the novel made me feel, but I also recognized a few things that made me lower my rating. One of these things was the slow start. I’m not going to go as far to say that the beginning was boring, but it felt uneventful. I have heard others complain about the same thing when it comes to the Truly Devious trilogy, and I always excused that because I felt that although the mystery was slower in the beginning, the book was still eventful and engaging. We were learning more about the characters, building relationships, and getting to see the Ellingham campus. Unfortunately, in The Box in the Woods, I couldn’t excuse the slow start. It didn’t seem like I was learning more about the characters; instead, their personality traits were rehashed. New relationships weren’t building, and the mystery was slow. 

However, the ending was fast and super exciting (I devoured the last third in one sitting), redeeming the slow start for me. Stevie got to have her classic Detective Confrontation Moment™, we got a chase scene and a surprise… it was everything. 

Another thing that was everything? The relationship between Stevie and David. Since the book takes place several months after the third Truly Devious novel, readers get to see how they have settled into their relationship, and it is so cute. I know a lot of readers hate the relationship between Stevie and David (what?????), so if you aren’t a fan of that, you probably won’t like this, but I loved it.

Because of Maureen Johnson’s trademark creepy setting, fun characters and relationships, and complex mystery, I gave The Box in the Woods 4.5 stars (5 in my heart and 4 in my head) and really, really hope that this isn’t the end for Stevie Bell.

romance, young adult

“Kisses and Croissants” by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

Mia

SUMMARY:

Seventeen-year-old Mia has wanted to be a ballerina ever since she could remember. Ballet is in her genes — or so her relatives say. It is rumored that her great-great-grandmother was painted by the famous Edgar Degas when she was a talented ballerina.

When Mia is admitted to an elite summer ballet program in Paris, she is elated, not only because of her chance to dance but also because of the chance to find the long-lost Degas painting of her ancestor. With the help of Louis, a charming French boy, Mia may find something more than a painting — she might find love.

REVIEW:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

When I started “Kisses and Croissants,” I was afraid it was going to follow the typical “girl gives up her passions for a guy” trope, which I hate (Rachel from “Friends”? Joey from “Dawson’s Creek” in Season 1? Too many others to count?). Luckily, that was not what happened at all. Instead of deciding that she has to give up her passions for a guy, Mia learns how to balance ballet and her love life. 

Mia was a great main character — passionate, relatable, and fun — and Louis was a great match for her. He challenged her but knew when to stop and listen. Louis always respected Mia’s boundaries, something that is unusual (but very welcome!) for a romance novel. Too often, writers think “pushing boundaries” is a romantic behavior: following her when she says to stop, asking her out repeatedly even after she says “no,” you get the idea. Louis was extremely respectful and didn’t push Mia, which I loved. He also never made Mia choose between him and ballet. Instead, he encouraged her in and helped her with her passions, even when he had nothing to gain from it.

While searching for the long-lost portrait of Mia’s ancestor, readers get to see so many spots in Paris. This underlying adventure was so fun, and it left me feeling like I had been on vacation! The ratio of travel to romance to ballet was perfect. Seriously. All of the other travel romances I have read have left me feeling unbalanced — there was too much romance and not enough travel or vice/versa. But not this one. I knew the characters well, I knew the scenery well, and I could feel the romantic connection. The one thing I wished for was to see a few more moments with Mia’s new friends, Anouk and the girl from Manchester (I can’t believe I forgot her name! I guess that goes to show that she was not mentioned often enough). It was said that they became good friends, but readers wouldn’t have known that otherwise because it seemed like Mia was always practicing ballet with Audrey, her frenemy, instead of hanging out with them.

Because of the perfect romance-to-travel ratio and great characters, I was going to give this book 4.5 stars. Then, the plot twist came in. 

The plot twist felt, in a word, unnecessary. Sure, otherwise the ending would have been predictable. But it’s a romance novel! Readers want the ending to be predictable. I loved that this book had been mainly positive, and I hated this plot twist so much that if I read the book again I would skip the last few chapters and head straight to the epilogue. I would tape the pages together, I’m not even kidding. I do feel like the epilogue offered some redemption to the book, but that plot twist really left a bad taste in my mouth, leading to my spoiler-filled GoodReads review that I wrote in the heat of the moment after finishing the book:

**Skip past the italics if you don’t want spoilers**

WHY WOULD YOU HAVE THEM GET HIT BY A CAR????? EVERYTHING WAS SO PERFECT. I DIDN’T NEED A TWIST. I JUST WANTED THEM TO BE HAPPY. I have a lot of emotions right now. 

**Spoilers end here**

While the plot twist did cause me to knock half of a star off of my rating, I still loved this book. It was such a fun, cute, and quick read that is perfect for summer. I will 100% be looking out for any future books written in English by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau, and until then, I will probably read this one again.

fantasy, young adult

All The Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Mia
Isn’t the cover gorgeous??

SUMMARY:

“I am Amora Montara, Princess of Visidia, and I will be the future High Animancer. I am the right choice. The only choice. And I will protect my kingdom.”

Princess Amora Montara is destined to become the High Animancer, master of souls. After the defeat of a great sea monster, her family bloodline was gifted with the ability to read and destroy souls in order to protect the kingdom of Visidia. However, to officially become the High Animancer, Amora must pass a dangerous test in front of her people. When that demonstration goes awry, she must flee, not only for her own safety, but for the safety of Visidia.

With the help of a charming pirate, dangerous mermaid, and unlikely stowaway, Amora must work against a ticking clock in order to bring her kingdom together before it is torn apart. 

REVIEW: 

Featuring the Meg March bookmark from Page Petal (pagepetal.com)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I went into this book expecting a fun adventure, and boy, did I get one. What I didn’t expect, however, was the depth and importance of said adventure, which made this novel even better. The adventure had real stakes and a ticking clock, which created a great, urgent pace. It never dragged. It kept moving, and I didn’t want to put it down.

Surprisingly, this constant movement never made me feel confused. I have a hard time understanding fantasy books sometimes, but I didn’t have this problem with “All The Stars and Teeth.” Author Adalyn Grace made a detailed society easy to understand, which I loved. 

By eliminating any confusion, Grace allowed me to fully focus on other aspects of the book, like the characters and setting. I loved the author’s description of each of the settings they visited. Because the descriptions were so detailed, I could picture each location in my mind, which made reading this book really fun. Additionally, the characters were interesting, and I found myself always wanting to learn more about them. Each had an interesting backstory and likeable personality, making them the perfect team to take on this adventure.

One problem I had with the characters was that I felt that I needed to know more about Ferrick and Amora’s backstory. In the beginning of the book, Amora is very cruel to Ferrick (her fiancé in an arranged marriage). Her cruelty to him is never really justified or explained, which made it difficult for me to like Amora when I started the novel. Ferrick’s love for Amora is never explained either, and I think the book could have benefitted from more information on their relationship. 

The relationship between Amora and Bastian, the pirate who allows her to use his ship, is a breath of fresh air in the dark atmosphere of this book. I only wish that it had started a little later on. I wanted them to yearn a little longer to build up the tension for when they finally confessed their love for each other. I think that would have made the scene even more powerful.

In the end, I found “All The Stars and Teeth” to be a fun, eventful read with surprising depth. I can’t wait to see where the adventure takes us in the sequel.

Check the content warnings here.