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sophiesmallhands's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Bullying
Minor: Outing, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Not my all-time favorite romance trope (the lying trope, which is not the worst, though. We reserve that for insta-love), but this was still a fun, breezy read! Which I needed after my last couple of reads. You know from the beginning that Noah's web of small lies were eventually going to blow up in his face, especially as he gets more and more serious with Eli. But he's a teenager! Everything about the story fit for the audience it was written for.
I did appreciate that the ending was left fairly open, because I'm always skeptical of happily ever after endings for teens. These open ended books just feel more realistic to me. While I wanted a little more character development throughout, it was an overall enjoyable book!
I did appreciate that the ending was left fairly open, because I'm always skeptical of happily ever after endings for teens. These open ended books just feel more realistic to me. While I wanted a little more character development throughout, it was an overall enjoyable book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Infidelity
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and Fire/Fire injury
remainwonderful's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
imagine: a non-theater kid joining a community production of chicago to try and win the heart of the boy he likes (and has up to this point only known anonymously in the context of online gaming) whilst knowing NOTHING about musical theater. the results were surprisingly hilarious.
this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and it totally lived up to the hype! although the secondhand stress of noah trying to maintain the balancing act of his situation was VERY real, i found myself so invested that i couldn’t put it down. the family dynamics in this book were so interesting and unlike anything i’ve ever read in the YA space before especially.
as far as content warnings go, there was some intense bullying that occurred and sexual harassment/public humiliation, body shaming, fire/fire injury, infidelity, emotional manipulation, and homophobia.
this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and it totally lived up to the hype! although the secondhand stress of noah trying to maintain the balancing act of his situation was VERY real, i found myself so invested that i couldn’t put it down. the family dynamics in this book were so interesting and unlike anything i’ve ever read in the YA space before especially.
as far as content warnings go, there was some intense bullying that occurred and sexual harassment/public humiliation, body shaming, fire/fire injury, infidelity, emotional manipulation, and homophobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Infidelity
Moderate: Emotional abuse
theunfinishedbookshelf's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Infidelity, and Body shaming
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
elliott_roi's review against another edition
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.
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,
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
nemoslittlelibrary's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
Happy publication day to Tobias Madden! This has been a highly anticipated release, and I just firstly just want to thank NetGalley, Page Street Publishing and Madden for an earc of this book💖
Noah Mitchell only has one friend, albeit strictly online, the funny and wonderful MagePants69. However, this has not stopped Noah falling absolutely head over heels for him. Noah breaks out of his own comfort zone in an attempt to meet MagePants69 in real life and mission get a boyfriend is underway.
This book has so many wonderful subplots that add to the overall plot equally and bring it all together: we have Spire of Dusk the RPG that Noah plays with his online love, the theatre that he joins to meet MagePants69, divided family tension and the underlying mystery of what the hell happened in Year 9 to make him lose all of his friends and be scared of ever telling the truth?!
Things I LOVED about the book:
✨This story portrays awkward teen years to a T. The nerdy awkward moments, the second guessing every single decision you ever make, the anxiety, the first time love - everything just made my heart melt and reminded me how big of a deal everything is when you’re that age.
✨ The Spire of Dusk world-building. Madden really put his all into describing the game and it was amazing to have this little bit of a fantasy world written into what otherwise is a contemporary YA novel.
✨ Noah’s older sister Charly and demi-god Alex are the most supportive people I have ever come across in a book and every interaction between Noah and them two had me grinning ear to ear.
✨ Showing skinny shaming is STILL body shaming so yeah don’t do that please x
✨ Showing skinny shaming is STILL body shaming so yeah don’t do that please x
✨ Eli and Noah’s relationship forming, however the lying trope did always tainted it for me and broke my heart a little.
I do want to disclaim the lying is throughout the entire book, and not just from our MMC Noah, so if that’s a trope you can’t get behind I would say this isn’t for you. The thing that made this lose a star for me was I just don’t think Noah’s reason was a big enough justification for his actions, but then I have to think of how young he is and how impressionable he was at the time of said action (but I won’t say anymore…go read it and find out what I mean😉)
The whole book is dramatic, I mean we’re combining 17 year olds and theatre…but weren’t we all a little bit like that when we were 17? I laughed, cringed, sighed, smiled and wanted the world to swallow me up along with Noah the entire journey. What a brilliant first read for the new year👏🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, and Body shaming
Moderate: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
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