Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell

ARC kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Bullying, body image, low-self esteem, catfishing, drug use, peer pressure, cheating, lying, manipulation, underage drinking

My first book of the year and I'm so glad it's #LoveOzYA.

There's something so beautiful and nice about seeing your own country in a book. Even cooler than that, to see the small towns you've visited come to life on a page. I loved how Ballarat, its people and communities were portrayed and I got a sense of the small town spirit typically prominent among many Australian towns.

Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell is set in Ballarat and follows Noah Mitchell who joins a small theatre production of Chicago with his mum to get closer to his online crush. Noah, aware of the strict rules his crush's mum puts in place to protect her son online, hatches a plan to make him fall in love with him before telling him the truth about his identity. Things get complicated as Noah navigates communicating with his crush in person and online, the lines blurring as Noah struggles to not get caught up in his own web of lies.

The theme throughout this book is truth and lies and how sometimes the lines get a little bit blurry. Noah, to me, isn't written as a malicious character per say, rather I think the book portrays him as someone who made a big mistake based on poor judgement. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him because it reminded me of when I was a teenager, acting on pure emotion without thinking things through first. It's a lesson that every person has to go through in life and this book was a perfect example of actions having sometimes severe consequences.

The book shows how a desire, to get closer to Noah's crush, spiralled out of control just because Noah wasn't honest with him from the start. As Noah keeps the truth to himself and prolongs telling his crush the truth, the more Noah starts feeling frustrated and the relationships around him really start to fracture. The book, rather than telling the reader how unethical and wrong Noah's actions were, showcases the snowball effect of his dishonesty. The ending, as such, made sense to me and I was satisfied how things turned out for the main character. I'm glad he learned from his errors and I liked how the ending was opened up for interpretation.

Another big theme was Noah's insecurities, particularly with his body. I'm glad that this was brought up in the book because I know so many teenagers dealing with it and I know that it's not talked about nearly enough. I liked how it was handled and written and you could see how past events lead to Noah taking the actions he was taking. Another big theme was bullying and you could see the consequences of it, especially towards the end where we get a better glimpse at Noah's feelings towards it and why he was bullied so much in the first place.

The reason why this wasn't a 5 star read for me was with the chemistry between Noah and his crush. I kind of expected more romantic tension or chemistry but I felt like there was little of it? I'm also blaming myself here because I thought this was a romance instead of a contemporary, thinking the romance would be the main, central focus of the novel rather than its other themes.

All in all, this was a book that tackled a lot of big themes well. The romance aspect fell a little flat but it was made up for with good characterisation and for showing how actions no matter how big or small, can have severe consequences. It's a good reminder that when in doubt, it's always best to be honest.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.1 STARS

Content Warnings

elliott_roi's review against another edition

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4.5

Thank you to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell was a romp from start to finish. I was thoroughly invested from the opening chapter to the final sentence. There was lots of drama (both on and off stage) and a cast of complex and interesting characters. It was also set in Australia, which is always fun!

Noah was a likeable character, and despite the many mistakes he made, I was still rooting for him. I did have some issues with Eli,

and how controlling he could be (like screaming at Alex when he was drunk and pressuring Noah to drink when he had said no). I think I would have liked to see more acknowledgement of why that behaviour was awful. But I do like that their relationship was left rather open-ended at the close of the book and I can see there's room for growth for both characters.

The romance was very cute and made me smile. I loved the exploration of both theatre and gaming. It was a lot of fun!

And although this book had an overall lighthearted vibe, it also dealt with some heavy topics such as body image, bullying, and difficult relationships with parents. This would be an excellent read for high schoolers, especially.

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beautifulpaxielreads's review

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have a couple of confessions to make.

I'm a total musical theatre nerd. Which was part of the reason I picked up Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell.
When a book is as fast-paced and easy to read as this one is, I tend to dive in headfirst, ripping through 100 pages in one sitting, losing track of time completely. It's a really bad habit of mine and I need to stop doing it, because I always, always regret that I didn't take the time to fully absorb what I was reading. And that's in part what happened here.

If you've read the blurb for this book, you would know that a large part of the plot involves deception. Our MC, Noah, joins his mother's community theatre production of Chicago because he finds out that his online gaming buddy and massive crush - who he only knows as an avatar on the screen - is in the cast of said production. Noah, who spends most of his time gaming and has no other social life, plans to meet the guy he's fallen for, make the guy fall for him, and then - only then - tell him the truth.

Unfortunately for me, this deception affected my enjoyment of much of this novel, as I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time, waiting for that moment of truth to come.

Now you might look at this review, look at the star rating I gave it, and wonder why I'm being so negative. That's because, in spite of this plot device, this is actually really well-written. Tobias Madden captures exactly the awkwardness of adolescence - the body image issues, the self-esteem, the hormones, and the pressure you feel from peers and family members. It's all there, all in excruciating detail (maybe too much detail, at times). It also really captures the camaraderie of musical theatre folk and the hard work that goes into making a successful production.

I also felt that the climax and ending of this book went some way towards redeeming the issues I had with it. Madden clearly does not condone Noah's deceptive behaviour, and expresses this view through

the character of Eli, Noah's aforementioned crush, who tells Noah in no uncertain terms why what he did was wrong, which Noah accepts with grace and regret

. I also liked how you can see at the very end that

Eli has not yet fully forgiven Noah, and will probably take some time to do so

. That felt more realistic to what would happen in real life, which I appreciated.

All in all, a well-written novel with some flaws, and I'm glad I read it.

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