Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Book Review | Sing if You Can’t Dance by Alexia Casale

Posted March 11, 2024 by Emma in 2024 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, UKYA, YA / 0 Comments

Good morning lovely readers. I’m so excited to be reviewing this book. I wished I read this one sooner and it’s such beautiful, unique and captivating contemporary romance YA book.

Book Review | Sing if You Can’t Dance by Alexia CasaleSing If You Can't Dance by Alexia Casale
Published by Faber Faber on July 6, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Love & Romance, UKYA, Young Adult Fiction
Amazon | Waterstones
Goodreads

An entirely original and much-needed own-voices perspective from a teenager coming to terms with her disability as she's coming of age. Ven had her life all planned out. her dance group were going places and so was she. Then she passes out right in the middle of a life-changing performance. And she's forced to admit that she hasn't been feeling right for a while now. Ven is about to discover she has an illness that threatens to ruin everything. No more dancing. even walking is proving a challenge, and standing. But don't you DARE feel sorry for her!Ven is no victim, and she is in charge here. Sure, her future is going to be different. but that doesn't mean it's over. Because if you can't dance, you can always sing!

I couldn’t put this book down. I read it in 2 days which is super good for me but I was on half-term which helped. I picked this book up as I was part of the Discovery Tour for Empathy Lab UK which I was really honoured to be part of. It’s something as a librarian that is close to my heart and something that I promote every year in my libraries.

Sing Like You Can’t Dance is a unique story. Our MC Ven was part of a dance performance PopSync until the unthinkable happens, she falls which has left her unable to dance again. Now she has turned to singing as part of her A-Level coursework. A MC Ven is snarky, bossy, takes control of her own life. Her persona, her sarcasim doesn’t always come across friendly and most people tend to turn away from her apart from her best friend Maddie. When she meets Ren, the new american boy, he starts to break down her hardiness to see her vunerability.

Ven is also a natural born leader, taking on The Singers is breath a fresh air, it gives her a chance to be that person she was in PopSync, she opens up. The disability rep is outstanding! It was so realistic, especially in that pushback when you have a deterioration in ability and having to learn to accept aids and help. She also a journey on knowing her limitations. She won’t let her disability define her. I loved that her story, her journey was to figuring out being honest with herself and asking for help. Nothing will stop her! I love her. Being the best you can be.

“I’m not what’s wrong with my body, I’m what I do with myself. I’m the life I make happen.”

Throughout the entire book, you don’t know what she has, but you realise that you don’t need to know, you’re not entitled to know. It doesn’t define you. She doesn’t want those looks but wants the reader and other characters to know who she really is.

I would highly recommend this book! I couldn’t put it down and @hollybourneya quote is so very true. I wished I read this one sooner and it’s such beautiful, unique and captivating contemporary romance YA book.

Thank you to Faber and Faber for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.

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Book Review | Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain

Book Review | Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain

Hello my lovely readers. I am about to review the first book to make me cry of 2024 and my second 5 star read. I had a glorious glowing book hangover not in a bad way and it took me a while to really process it. 05/01/2023 – Only 17 pages in and already the main characters Sid and Mel, remind me a bit of 10 Things I Hate About You. Especially Sid specifically I think. I’m just getting that vibe and I love it. 10/01/2024 – Well what a book. I’m still crying… that was not what I expected […]

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Book Review | Signed Sealed Dead by Cynthia Murphy – first book, first five star read of 2024

Posted January 18, 2024 by Emma in 2024 Books, 5 Stars, Book Review, Bookish Post, UKYA, YA / 1 Comment
Book Review | Signed Sealed Dead by Cynthia Murphy – first book, first five star read of 2024

Hello my lovely readers. Hope you are keeping warm in the minus temperatures this week. Today I’m writing my first review of 2024 and I’m excited! I’m going to try a different style of my review. I’ve been writing what happens and my reactions in my Notion and I thought I would share it. I love the fact that I start off 2024 as I started 2023 with Cynthia Murphy book and a 5 star read! So let me give you a little bit about the book. Paige lived in Manchester all her life until the unthinkable happened, her grandparents […]

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Book Review | Live Like a Goddess by Jean Menzies – the book I didn’t know I needed.

Book Review | Live Like a Goddess by Jean Menzies – the book I didn’t know I needed.

Hello my lovely readers. Today is the first book review of 2024 and this book was my last read of 2023. I’m excited to share this book that completely empowered and inspired me for the new year ahead. What a wonderful, inspiring and empowering book. You know when you pick something up and you read it at the right time. Well that’s what happened with book. This was such a surprise of a book and I hadn’t really realised that it was Non-Fiction as well. YA doesn’t have many in this genre and I simply adored it. Live Like a […]

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ARC Book Review | How to Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok

Posted September 19, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, LGBTQ+, Mystery, YA / 2 Comments
ARC Book Review | How to Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok

Good evening, my wonderful readers. As I’m writing this, I’m wrapped up in a blanket, I can certainly feel that Autumn is coming. Today’s is an ARC review, I feel I haven’t read a book before publication for ages and it feels so good. I’m really excited for you to read this book and this is great for your Autumn TBRs too. I’lll also be interviewing the author on publication day about this book so welcome to How to Find a Missing Girl themed week! On to the review shall we… How to Find a Missing Girl saved my reading! […]

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Book Review | A Curse of Salt by Sarah Street – a captivating Beauty and the Beast retelling that made me cry.

Posted June 16, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, Fantasy / 0 Comments
Book Review | A Curse of Salt by Sarah Street – a captivating Beauty and the Beast retelling that made me cry.

Hello my fellow bookworms. If you’re living in the UK I hope you are surviving the heatwave. For me I find I read more as I can’t seem to sleep because it’s so stuffy. I love the sun, just not the heat. Anyways, I thought it was about time I finally review this book. I read this about a month ago and interviewed the amazing author Sarah Street. I was so surprised by this book and I will tell you why. Did you cry is the Disney movie of Beauty and the Beast? I do, every single time. In a […]

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Book Review | Murder She Wrote: By The Time You Read This I’ll Be Gone by Stephanie Kuehn

Posted April 8, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, Murder, Mystery, YA / 1 Comment
Book Review | Murder She Wrote: By The Time You Read This I’ll Be Gone by Stephanie Kuehn

Hello my fellow booklovers, another day, another book review! Being on holiday is really inspiring me and I love it. Today I’m reviewing a book that got my out of my reading slump. To this day I live by thrillers and mystery books being my go to to get back into reading and this book certainly did that. Trigger warnings – anxiety, depression, mention of suicidal attempts/thoughts Did you ever watch Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansbury aka Jessica Fletcher? I grew up with these in my house, my mum and my grandparents would stick them on and whilst they […]

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Book Review | Influential by Amara Sage

Posted April 6, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, Book Review, Bookish Post, YA / 1 Comment
Book Review | Influential by Amara Sage

Hello my fellow readers, long time no post. Before I head on to my review of this brilliant book I just wanted to update you on my MIA from the blog. The last two months I’ve been unwell, one thing after another, flu and such and it’s taken me a while to bounce back to normal. To get back to reading, to blogging to really get my energy back. I think I suffered from massive burn out at work, But I’m typing this with the sea in front of me whilst I’m on holiday, relaxing and just feeling refreshed I […]

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Book Review | The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy

Posted January 24, 2023 by Emma in 2023 Books, 5 Stars, Book Review, Bookish Post, UKYA, YA / 2 Comments
Book Review | The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy

My first book review of 2023 and it’s a 5 star read!!! What a way to kick off my reading for this year. The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy is everything I needed and more from a gloriously twisty, scary, thrilling horror YA. One of my goals this year is to read as many 2023/ARCs as I can so I started with Cynthia Murphy’s latest release The Midnight Game and it was the best choice I made. I read Last One to Die a few years ago which I loved. Cynthia has a way of writing that you can’t put […]

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