Reviews

Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts

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chanzlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

🎧: 3/5 - I liked the voice the VA chose for Nell, it really fit into the mood of the world and overall vibe. The Sheriff also sounded fine! Mia not so much, she felt so much older than she was.
🌶️: 0.5/5 - there are a couple of "open door" scenes but they're not explicit. Written almost like poetry.

Likes:

The cozy witchy coastal vibes of this town were so lovely!!! - Nell's cottage was precious! Working in a bakery/book store?? A dream.
This gave me the nostalgia of the early 2000s. Like the vibes of Practical Magic and Charmed! I am sure it's the writing but I think Nora described the setting just right for that time frame.
Nell's personal growth and journey was lovely to witness
The exploration of DV in the sense that it can happen to anyone, not just someone from a sad/poor background.
Mia was a fun character, she added a bit of weird kitschy vibes to the world that were perfect.
Overall it has an easy to follow flow that made it a fairly quick read!

Dislikes:

The lack of magic - I didn't expect a lot of magic from the summary of this book but I expected to see a bit more magic through the story that would be akin to Charmed. But the magic overall didn't feel important or relevant to the story ultimately. I heard it does play a bigger role in the next two books but the first book should have a setup to make me care and it didn't.
Zach - so their overall relationship seemed cute as a casual bystander. I also know that this would have "passed" as fine during the early 2000s so I tried to let a good chunk of it "go" and just pretend it was the early 2000s but there were still red flags that I just didn't like! The thing that pissed me off the most was the way he used her vulnerabilities against her for their breakup. I understand why he was upset, he has every right to be upset that the woman he's in love with is actually married this whole time BUT the way he went about expressing his feelings was AWFUL!!
She told him that she was basically gaslit into thinking she was stupid and deserved to be punished by her ex and then Zach just says "yeah, you're stupid because you didn't tell me these things" MY MAN, NAH, STOP.
Things happened to fast in their relationship - the overall time lapse of the first book is about 5 months and things just escalated a bit too quickly in their relationship. Nell needed more time to really rediscover herself without a man.
Ripley was not setup well in this book. The second book is about her and supposedly better but there was nothing built up in the first book to make me want to get to know her more.
Mia was such a mix bag when it came to friendships. It was lovely that she helped Nell immediately and even gave her a place to stay but otherwise she felt very selfish in her needs for the prophecy of the three witches over other's feelings. Also super weird when Nell was talking about kissing Zach and Mia just drops the casual bomb of "isn't he a great kisser?" and that she made out with him once. That's such a bizarre way to tell a friend when said friend is just starting to get romantically interested with the person.
This book unfortunately has not aged well. It's very much got the "feminist empowerment" of the time - where if the feminism and "female empowerment" existed as it is in this book today, in 2024, it wouldn't be welcomed with open arms and would be subject to scrutiny for it's exclusiveness among other issues.

I don't know if I'll continue the series - at least at this point I just have a ton of other things I'd rather read - but I know I won't reread it either. It's not a bad book per se but it's dated and just lacking depth in the characters I prefer to read about in this day and age.

nmb525's review

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hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

brendalovesbooks's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed this. It was just a fun, easy read and I will definitely continue with the series.

pither's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

deirdrelk's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

If you’re looking for a book about New England witches that has a message about female empowerment, this is not it. The imagery was lovely and romantic, but I struggled with the love story. It seemed like just another unhealthy dynamic after the whole character arc for Nell is about her healing from abuse. It was a hard relationship to root for given the petty conflicts and fragile ego of Zack. I would have loved more backstory and focus on the female characters friendship, witchcraft, etc.

foraging_pages's review against another edition

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4.0

3.75 Stars!

She had a power inside her that ran like silver. And love that glowed warm gold.

On the Island of Three Sisters the residents know three things:
* the island was named for three witches
* those witches walk amongst them today
* their magic is practical, safe, and enjoyed by most

I love how Roberts took a spin on the witches troupe but made it almost normal. People know there are witches living near them, they go to them for help when in a bind, and they love and trust them. It’s almost like they’re not ‘witches’ at all just extremely charismatic females who have certain talents. Roberts describes them as the type who use crystals, cauldrons, herbs, wands, candles, ritual knifes, and brooms to sweep away negative energy.

Nell is a great main character. A woman running from an abusive relationship into the arms of a close-knit community and a selfless sheriff. That’s a premise I can get behind. Nell needed a real man who would love and cherish her after endearing her past. Zach gave her that. I say, not to be anti-modernist or feminist, but I love when a lost and sad woman gets ‘saved’ by a hot, strong man. It’s nice. Nell is strong and independent herself, but she needed love just like anyone else.

The way Roberts describes Nell’s cooking and baking is *chef’s kiss* Just as Mia is a successful business owner and Zach is the dutiful sheriff, Nell shines as a culinary genius. I enjoy when an author sets up a setting and a world by allowing the characters to simply be as they would of they were real. Working, loving, cooking, worrying, fighting, etc.