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alishav's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The things you love shouldn’t hurt you… You don’t have to hurt yourself to be worthy of pursuing your dream. You don’t have to deny pieces of yourself in order to be good.
An easy-to-read, young adult fantasy with a rivals-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine sapphic romance. But more than that, this book delves into what defines success and touched the heart of this forever recovering perfectionist, overachiever (and music lover). Sofi grapples with her future being upended time and time again as choices and discoveries challenge everything she knew about herself, her world, and her art. Lara and other lovable - and despicable - characters influence Sofi’s journey and help her uncover a new, healthier relationship with herself, her past, her music, and ultimately her future.
I really appreciated Tooley’s ability to weave a story together and immerse readers in an interesting world with a very cool magic system and fantastic characters.
I think there is a parallel that could be drawn between the themes in this book and the current dialogue about the use of AI in art… could be an interesting book club discussion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide
kittykittycat's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Self harm
emily_mh's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was a fantastic YA fantasy standalone! It was structured well, beginning with the audition and then proceeding with the stages of the tour - but Tooley makes sure to make each stage a little different, a little more challenging, and works with the characters a little more each time, so that the plot doesn’t feel repetitive. The world-building complemented the story well, being woven into the narrative rather than info-dumped. For example, characteristics of Sofi’s world are the reason behind the inciting incident and also a lot of the personal and interpersonal tension. I liked the perpetual winter setting, and found the magic system of bones intriguing.
It would have been cool to see some kind of exploration of how the papers aided disabled people, as the papers are sort of like the equivalent of tech. Currently tech IS undermining art through the use of plagiarising AI (similar to how the papers give skill to a person without them learning it) - but on the other hand, tech is immensely helpful to disabled people (like a Paper might help treat symptoms if it can influence things like body temperature, or complete tasks for people with dexterity limitations). Please note I don’t find the absence of this exploration problematic, it’s just something I wished was there! It could have also been good to showcase more the effect on society of limiting music performance to five people. However, this is a personal preference, not a critique of quality. I get there are limits to what can be explored in a YA standalone!
The character work was really compelling. You have this MC, Sofi, that’s coming out of an abusive relationship with her father and herself, trying to find goodness but really struggling, too. The biggest lessons Sofi has to learn are that “the things you love shouldn’t hurt you”, and that devotion to your craft doesn’t look like self-flagellation. Tooley also shows Sofi’s love for and knowledge of music rather than just telling us she has these, which seems to be a step authors commonly forget when centring an art form in their book.
The romance was good! It was nothing particularly outstanding, but Tooley really put in the effort to make the reader understand not only the attraction between Sofi and Lara, but their connection, the reasons why they grew to love each other - and they did grow to do this, it wasn’t insta-love.
The themes were interesting. As I mentioned before, a big part of the book is Sofi healing from abusive relationships. Another topic was that art is better with emotion. There was also a really interesting discussion of achievement! The book showed that achieving a goal or title isn’t everything, and that being too focussed on a goal can lead to feelings of worthlessness and burnout. It was also so important to see a YA MC who wasn’t able to achieve her dream, as sometimes we do fail at things or miss the mark! This is a concept you don’t often see in YA, but it’s a really important one for this age group.
I’ll wrap up on a quote that really resonated with me:
“In fact, the Muse’s silence was so loud that Sofi began to fear the voice she had once heard, that whisper of her destiny, had merely been in her own head. Another way that she had forced herself to suffer.”
Rep: lesbian MC (word not used because fantasy), sapphic LI, Achillean SC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Suicide, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: imprisonment Minor: capital punishment, childbirth, self-injury, menstruation, theftpuddleshoes's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Self harm and Emotional abuse
sassycoder's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I enjoy the sections that explored Sofi‘s childhood in the training she experienced, and the exploration of how artists feel they must suffer for their art. The romance aspect did not grab me, and I wasn’t interested necessarily to see how that played out
I think the book is more strong in terms of Sofia’s growth , and how she is able to work through her past.
I think the book is more strong in terms of Sofia’s growth , and how she is able to work through her past.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
trickphoenix's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Neutral 2.5 stars - I think it was a fine book for a specific audience, but didn't suit my preferences. It helps to know from the start that character growth is a HUGE part of the story, so if you find the protagonist frustrating, keep that in mind.
I discovered while reading that I only like the enemies-to-lovers trope if BOTH characters dislike each other from the start. In this book the "enemies" part was very one-sided and it felt more like bullying than real rivalry or enmity. I didn't get very invested in the romance or the characters, just found them more vexing than lovable, and felt like their bonding was hard to believe. I also realized partway through that it hadn't given me any occasion to laugh, and I prefer a romance to involve some witty banter.
The plot didn't leave me guessing much, mostly as predicted with a slight twist at the end, so just a little too predictable for my tastes but not to an extent unusual for YA.
I enjoyed the world building, interesting setting, magic system, and culture built around music. The diversity of the characters was great, and there were some difficult topics handled quite tactfully. No complaints about the writing style itself either. Unfortunately just not to my taste.
I discovered while reading that I only like the enemies-to-lovers trope if BOTH characters dislike each other from the start. In this book the "enemies" part was very one-sided and it felt more like bullying than real rivalry or enmity. I didn't get very invested in the romance or the characters, just found them more vexing than lovable, and felt like their bonding was hard to believe. I also realized partway through that it hadn't given me any occasion to laugh, and I prefer a romance to involve some witty banter.
The plot didn't leave me guessing much, mostly as predicted with a slight twist at the end, so just a little too predictable for my tastes but not to an extent unusual for YA.
I enjoyed the world building, interesting setting, magic system, and culture built around music. The diversity of the characters was great, and there were some difficult topics handled quite tactfully. No complaints about the writing style itself either. Unfortunately just not to my taste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Child abuse
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Death
rikana93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was such a lovely surprise! It drew me in very slowly, introducing me to the world and the characters. Before I knew it, I was hooked and had a really hard time putting the book down. The narrator's voice in the audiobook was perfect for the main character.
I truly appreciated having genuinely lovely characters who were good and loving people. The main character had many flaws that were quite infuriating, but it was so heartening to see her friends and loved ones helping her see how much she did deserve and help her grow. I simply loved Lara's character and couldn't get enough of her beautiful relationship with Sofi and the rapport that slowly grew throughout the book. I do think most of the other characters were a bit flat compared to Sofi and I wish there had been a way to flesh out their dimensionality more. This didn't take away from my love of the book at all though.
The book is quite meandering in its pace, and it really celebrates the power of music. As someone who played the flute for eight years, I was personally disappointed the flute got such a bad rep in this story! But, I still loved the story nonetheless.
I truly appreciated having genuinely lovely characters who were good and loving people. The main character had many flaws that were quite infuriating, but it was so heartening to see her friends and loved ones helping her see how much she did deserve and help her grow. I simply loved Lara's character and couldn't get enough of her beautiful relationship with Sofi and the rapport that slowly grew throughout the book. I do think most of the other characters were a bit flat compared to Sofi and I wish there had been a way to flesh out their dimensionality more. This didn't take away from my love of the book at all though.
The book is quite meandering in its pace, and it really celebrates the power of music. As someone who played the flute for eight years, I was personally disappointed the flute got such a bad rep in this story! But, I still loved the story nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Emotional abuse
wysperias's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The way sofi sees the world and weaves descriptions is so intoxicating, it made me want to write and sing the same songs. She's such an interesting mc because its hard to root for her at times, and others you can clearly see how broken she is. Her perseverance and need to correct whats wrong made me so emotional and even more so when she realizes how her life was wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement