Until We Break

by Matthew Dawkins, Ariel Blake (Reader)

Dance like everyone's watching. Because they are. As the only Black student at her ballet academy, Naomi Morgan knows her feelings of isolation and artistic sacrifice are the price she has to pay in order to win the Youth American Grand Prix, the country's most prestigious dance competition. Winning means access to a spot in a top ballet school and, ultimately, a place with the New York City Ballet. Nothing else matters. But when Naomi's dance instructor assigns her Odette's variation from Swan Lake, Naomi's world begins to fall apart. She doesn't think she can dance the part―and her doubts become the loudest voice in her head. Her best friend, Jessica, used to be her sounding board, her support, her costar―and even though Jessica died in a freak car accident, Naomi still sees and hears her everywhere. She's been burying her grief by focusing on her dancing. But when an injury steals that refuge, Naomi's mental health deteriorates, and she starts to seek answers outside of her carefully constructed reality. Then one night, she meets Saint, a street artist, and he opens up an entirely new world for her. A world that's not connected to dance. Saint spends his nights creating brilliant and beautiful messages of social change that the world needs to hear. In their sleepy California town, he wants to mix it up―to force the world to see him as he is―he's got a voice and isn't afraid to use it. Even if his family life is tough. Even if the same avenues that are open to Naomi are not open to him. Together they both learn that there's no one right way to be in the world. For Naomi, this means that maybe dance isn't the only choice for her. Maybe her voice can be louder off stage and she can shine in a different kind of spotlight. Maybe she and Saint will shine together and everything will be different in the best possible way.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Mental Health, Sports

Audio CD

First published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until we break shares the struggles of grief and pushing yourself to the limit. Jessica and Naomi are two friends who both dance in Ballet. One day Jessica dies in a freak accident and it send Naomi world crumbling as she saw the accident right in front of her eyes. When Naomi returns to Ballet she is given the lead part that was originally Jessica's. While practicing one day she meets a boy name Saint who has problems of his own. They start to hang out which allows them to not think about what is truly going on in their lives.

Until we break was a good story to understand how people push themselves through grief and how some kids have to grow up faster than expected. I did like the story I just felt that some part were missing and some were weird. Jessica came back as a Ghost that only Naomi could see and they were able to fight and talk to each other. Also the typical the boy is trouble and you don't need to be around him trope was there. I do feel like the ending was like for you to create your own thoughts but that could be a bad thing.

Overall good debut novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wattpad for allowing me to give my honest opinion.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

This was a solid YA debut by a talented new Black Canadian author. Naomi Morgan is the only Black ballet student in her dance academy and she has to work twice as hard. When she suffers a debilitating injury she is forced to take a break and rethink what she really wants out of life.

Along the way she befriends Saint, a talented street artist and activist with his own family struggles who helps her deal with grief over her dead friend. The mental health and disability rep in this book was really well done!

Recommended for fans of Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ben Philippe or other books about ballerinas who get injured like, Turning by Joy L. Smith or The other side of perfect by Mariko Turk. This was good on audio narrated by Ariel Blake and included for free for audible members.

[Briana Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind the scenes of grace and beauty lurks a gruelling orchestration of competition, dedication, and pain that no dancer can escape. The infusion of ballet and artistry, and the glimpse into the inner workings that Dawkins presented with Naomi and Saint’s contrasting roles was hard hitting and raw, and an element of storytelling that I enjoyed immensely. The role of Jessica especially was a favourite in the way she echoed the dark and self-depreciating thoughts of Naomi - a dancer under pressure to be the best, no matter the cost. And boy did it come at a cost!

Dawkins has crafted with an authentic teen voice as these characters grappled with loss, grief, and a world that sought to contain them. Each of their perspectives were presented with an equal honesty and conviction, and the challenges each faced, and the growth they exhibited was thought out and clear, the swift friendship formed between the cracks providing a great tool of support and enlightenment.

While this story was told largely from the third person perspective of Naomi and Saint, there were several instances in which a scene would jump to an alternating perspective for a few moments before switching back to the leads. Unfortunately this was a letdown for me as it was a little disruptive and inconsistent with its sudden transitions that contributed little of necessity to the scenes. Otherwise, I appreciated the perspectives portrayed and the messages they were able to convey.

Matthew Dawkins craft is raw, the voice with which he speaks convicting as he delivers hard hitting messages the world needs to hear. For an intensive read about fighting to find your place in the world and what it means to break - and life on the other side of this - I cannot recommend Until We Break enough.

𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝐭𝐡 [3.5⭐️]

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the advanced copy of this read.

[Liralen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dusk of her hospital room contained only crumpled pillows stained with her bleeding dreams and a soaked floor where all her mourning had spilled from her eyes and onto the crisp white tiles. (94)

Naomi is a dancer—and her best friend is, too. Or was. Things have changed, and now Naomi is trying to find a way to live, and dance, with joy again. And in the meantime, drama.

And...this is something of a reminder to pay attention to the publisher when a book interests you. This is only the second Wattpad book I've read (to the best of my knowledge, anyway), and I'm guessing that there isn't a whole lot of editing between, well, Wattpad and book. For the uninitiated: Wattpad is a platform on which writers can publish their writing, often chapter by chapter, for anyone to read. Wattpad Books is their...more-traditionally-published branch, I guess. The trouble is that when you're writing chapter by chapter, plotholes and inconsistencies and so on arise—and typically, you'd fix those in the revision stages, and have the book go through editing before being published, and so on. But when you're publishing chapter by chapter, it's much easier for those plotholes and inconsistencies and whatnot to just...stay.

In this case, the book ends up being basically two stories: in the first half of the book, Naomi is grieving the death of her friend—by basically imagining (while still knowing—not a spoiler—full well that Jessica is dead) that Jessica is alive and well and running Naomi's life. This version of Jessica is controlling and sometimes violent, and Naomi is powerless against her, and I cannot tell you how badly Naomi needs grief counselling and possibly other therapy.

Instead...she banishes Jessica's ghost, and then goes to her grave for the first time, and then we get on with romance and the second half of the book and romance and graffiti and romance, and Jessica is barely mentioned again. It's an abrupt shift, and I think that comes down to piecemeal publishing. Meanwhile, worldbuilding problems persist. Among other things, this is apparently a big enough city to host a YGAP competition, but doors are routinely unlocked—at various points in the book, Naomi and/or Saint get into an auditorium after-hours, a no longer functional but still pristine museum, and the roof of the library...because the doors are unlocked. (To say nothing of the monument glorifying people who have killed themselves by jumping off the library roof, jesus fucking christ. Memorials are one thing but that was not thought through.)

One really interesting thing (um—interesting only to word nerds) that came up over and over: the use of the girl and the boy:

The boy searched the Silverado for a pencil, paper, anything, but came up empty. (82)

Dr. Gonzales gave Naomi a steady look. The girl just nodded although she wanted to do so much more. (108)

Naomi nodded, oblivious to the way the boy was teasing her. (126)

...and so on and so forth. Once I noticed this, I started flagging them for further examination, so I had a lot to choose from—in these three, the POV is 1) Saint, 2) Naomi, and 3) Naomi, but there are also many, many other places where Saint is thinking of his little brother as 'the boy', or Naomi thinks of Saint as 'the boy', etc. It feels really unnatural to me, because I don't know anyone who routinely refers to people they know—let alone themselves—as 'the boy' or 'the girl' (or 'the woman' or 'the man' or 'the person', for that matter). Partly this is just a POV problem (see #3, in which we're in Naomi's POV but slipping out of it to be told something she doesn't know—not the only time this happens), but I also think it says something about the mood the author is trying to create. And, well, about the general lack of editing that Wattpad apparently puts into its more traditionally published books.

So what have we learned here? Editing matters. The publisher's name might or might not reflect the original quality of the writing, but it will have an impact on the final product. Don't take orders from a dead girl.

[Tiffany Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this story had a lot of potential. Naomi is a ballet dancer and is struggling after the sudden death of her best friend Jessica. She starts seeing her everywhere her grief mentally creates a version of Jessica that pushes her to the brink and she ends up injuring herself. We are also introduced to Saint who lives in a different world than Naomi, struggling to make ends meet with a father who is terminally sick.

The story takes us on a journey with both characters battling grief and coming of age. Saint shows Naomi a world she's never known because she's been kept in her ballet bubble for so long. Naomi gives him the real support he has been needing.

The flow of the book wasn't easy and at times felt disjointed. A lot of things felt unfinished to me. The latter half of the book really picked up and it was a strong finish.

**Thank you to Wattpad Books for this ARC in exchange for this review**

[Becki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our main character, Naomi, is a Black teenaged ballet dancer, haunted by the spector of her best friend who died after being hit by a car before Naomi's very eyes. This book packs a *lot* of issues into one story line... Race in the arts, colorism, racism, class inequalities, infidelity, parental conflict, self harming, mental health, suicide, death of a parent, etc, and while the author seems to intend that Naomi and Saint be supporting characters to each other, the truth is that they each simply use the other to escape their own painful situations. This book had promise, but the pacing felt uneven to me, and the story line had a lot of heavy lifting to do, given all of the intense topics.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for this opportunity.
#UntilWeBreak

[Keren Kayembe · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who dreamt of being a ballerina growing up, this was such an interesting and engulfing read.
A strongggg debut.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that the premise for the novel was unique and not something I read before. However I think the story dragged at times and I wasn't sure how some elements fit into the overall theme or message of the novel.

[Laken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion from my library. Thank you to my library and the publisher Wattpad Books.

Naomi Morgan is a black homeschooled ballet dancer with a dream to dance in NYC. Then her best friend Jessica dies in a horrible accident. Then Naomi gets an injury and has to stop dancing for a while. Her life is turned upside down.

Saint is a street artist who sees Naomi dancing one night. Life is rough for him too, and he copes with art. His story intersects with Naomi's in an interesting way as he draws her out of her shell.

This is a book I needed in my life when I was in college and lost a dear friend. The beginning is truly haunting, and I audibly gasped several times. The story follows Naomi's journey of healing. Until We Break could be beneficial to older teens who have lost someone or want to understand a friend who has lost someone.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two weeks ago Naomi Morgan lost her best friend. It was an accident, there wasn't anything she could have done. But still Naomi is weighed down by guilt as she continues pursuing a career dancing ballet when she knows that Jessica can never dance with her again.

But even if she isn't dancing next to her anymore, Naomi still has Jessica at her side. Jessica is quick to remind Naomi that she doesn't have room for distractions like TV, or friends. She's always there to tell Naomi that as a Black dancer--the only Black dancer now that Jessica is gone--Naomi has to work harder, be better.

As dancers at her academy gear up for a prestigious competition that will open doors to every conservatory program, Naomi pushes herself harder. And harder.

But when disaster strikes, Naomi is only left with herself and her grief as she recovers and contemplates if she'll be able to dance again and, more importantly, if she wants to dance again.

Saint has never met anyone like Naomi. Even when she's hurting, her dancing is beautiful. Watching her--and eventually drawing her--feels like Saint's one refuge from being the sole carer for both his dying father and his younger brother.

Naomi and Saint don't inhabit the same worlds but together they might be able to find their way to a better one in Until We Break (2022) by Matthew Dawkins.

Until We Break is Dawkins' debut novel. The story is narrated in close third person with alternating viewpoints following Naomi and Saint, both of whom are Black.

Until We Break explores themes of passion and grief while Naomi reluctantly acknowledges Jessica's death and Saint faces his father's mortality as his health deteriorates from COPD and continued smoking. While Naomi's grief is a main theme of the story her hallucinatory conversations with Jessica are never unpacked as a potential manifestation of a larger mental health crisis.

Dawkins brings a fine eye for detail to descriptions of Saint's art creation and, especially, to Naomi's dance. Common problems in ballet dancers including overstrain and disordered eating are mentioned (the first with Naomi's sprain that forces her off the dance floor for part of the novel and the latter hinted at with fellow dancer Aspen) but never addressed beyond superficial treatment as Naomi learns how to love both her dancing and herself.

Until We Break is an introspective story of healing and recovery; ideal for readers with an interest in dance or art.

Possible Pairings: Pointe by Brandy Colbert, Bunheads by Sophie Flack, I Wanna Be Where You Are by Christina Forest, You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

[Bena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review contains spoilers

Until We Break by Matthew Dawkins is a story about loss, grief, and struggle, and the two teenagers who are far too young for these experiences. Specifically through Naomi, we get the unique perspective of the raw teenage experience of grief and loss, presenting itself in the ghost/hallucination of Naomi’s best friend. Naomi’s journey with grief and guilt is intertwined with ballet, something that connect her to Jessica. Her hallucination of Jessica pushes her to the point of injury, leaving her unable to dance for a certain time. It seems the injury snaps something in Naomi as hallucination-Jessica never appears again and acknowledges that it was her mind playing tricks on her. She finally visits her friend’s grave and it seems to be a turning point for Naomi’s grieving process. The injury also gives time for Naomi to question whether ballet is what she really wants to do, as she gallivants around town with Saint. There is never any clear indication it is what she wants. She goes back into training almost grudgingly, shows no passion for it, and even at the very end it’s unclear to me whether it’s what she really wants to do even as she continues to pursue it.

As for Saint, he is obviously a deuteragonist to Naomi’s protagonist rather than an equal main. As such the parts in his perspective, that were few and far between, seem out of place. They were there to tell the audience about Saint, parts of him that wouldn’t be shown through Naomi, but they didn’t really further his story. In fact, he barely seemed to have a story. Even the big climactic moment that was meant to center around him had more of an impact on Naomi’s narrative. By the end, his story does not come full circle or move forward, it’s almost exactly as it once had been, except now Naomi has promised to be there for him. Even though Naomi and Saint’s time together was as much of an escape for him as it was for Naomi, it’s clear that Saint’s purpose as a character is to further along Naomi’s storyline. Which would be fine if we weren’t given parts with his perspective or even presented in such a way that he would be a main character as well.

Overall, this book was not for me. 3 stars.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An authentic teen voice. The pressure of dance, family, and relationships. At first, I was thrown by a "visit" by a friend. Didn't know if we were in a flashback or if I missed something.

It was better after that section was done and we moved to how she dealt with the pressure of ballet, a new relationship that wasn't built on a solid foundation but was still real, and parents.

Not sure about the ending - but I do like it open-ended so I can imagine what happens. I look forward to more by the author!

[Stella Jovinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing is more lovely than a black author writing about a Black protagonist and addressing issues like grieve and healing. I loved this book right from the start and the urge to pick it up every single time has been very rewarding! I just wish that the characters had been given more substance rather than always leaning into the other for help.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for this wholesome tale.

[Destiny Chappel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This debut follows a young Black teen at a ballet academy academy .Naomi Morgan deals with the pressure of ballet, blossoming a new relationship with a boy name Saint , and having a hard time with her parents . It was okay.

[simran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until We Break is the kind of story I love to see. The leads were interesting and I am an absolute sucker for ballet related stories but unfortunately the writing was very far from what I typically read and brought me out of the story repeatedly.

[Naomi Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start. I haven't enjoyed a book like this in years. I was instantly captivated by Naomi's story and was taken on a ride inside her mind. Grief is such a finicky thing, and I think for the first half of the book, Matthew was able to show the haunting and dark side of it. Given Naomi's age, insecurities, and strict routine, I wasn't too surprised when she started to hallucinate Jessica. I do wish her parents were able to see that she was falling apart mentally before she fell apart physically. Especially her mother since they were so close. I will say that Act I of the book feels like an entirely different book compared to Acts II and III. After her accident, it's like Jessica just disappeared? I think Matthew tried to close that chapter of her life by giving her the closure she desperately needed at the graveyard. You can tell by how instantly she met Saint again and then their story took off. I wish it were more of a gradual thing, maybe Naomi recognizing that she was hallucinating and being able to stand up to her insecurities. Or even see a mental health professional that she desperately needed. There was so much focus on her physical recovery, but Naomi was drowning for so long. It seemed as though her adventures with Saint were supposed to heal her. It just seemed very unrealistic to me, and quite cliche. However, I did enjoy her adventures with Saint, and I did like Saint's POV. I love a cute cliche every once in and while, and Saint and Naomi's adventures provided a great escapism for both of them and the readers. But in the end, Naomi's problems were resolved(for the most part) while Saint's were just introduced without any real resolution. I guess we could assume what would happen, but in my opinion, Sain't POV shouldn't have been provided if there wasn't a complete arc for him. His role in the story was just to provide comfort to everyone around him, yet no one was able to provide him comfort in the capacities that he needed.

It was quite risky to introduce an entirely new character and give insight into his world that has nothing to do with the OG MC. However, they seemed to blend nicely after a while. While reading the other reviews, I saw that many people were quite confused or did not like the part of the suicide memorial scene at the library, and I have to agree. It was quite confusing and added nothing to the story. I cannot see a memorial like that even existing in real life, so it was hard for me to take that scene seriously. I do believe that there were some throw-away plots, such as Naomi's dad's infidelity. It seemed to me that the problem was only created to create tension in the house. I do love the topics that it covered, such as colorism, insecurity, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, poverty, and complex family dynamics. I wish the book spent more time exploring the mental challenges of Saint, Naomi, and even Aspen. I think if the book focused more on that, it would've felt more cohesive instead of two different stories. Overall, the writing was compelling, and I fell in love with the characters immediately. For a debut novel, this was very strong, and I can see the author progressing tremendously. I cannot wait to read more from Matthew.

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until We Break started very strangely, but ended strong.

Naomi is an elite ballet dancer. She is working night and day to prepare for the Grand Prix, where representatives from the top ballet schools will see her dance and hopefully offer her a spot.

But Naomi also is grieving. Her best friend Jessica, the only other black student at her ballet studio, died right in front of her as they were walking down the street. Now Naomi has been offered a solo at the Grand Prix that Jessica had planned to dance, the White Swan in Swan Lake, and Jessica is in her head (and her room and everywhere else) telling her she's not good enough and needs to keep practicing.

One night, when she is dancing late at night at the theater, Saint wonders in. Saint is taking care of his younger brother and his dad, who is dying but refuses to stop smoking. Sometimes he goes walking in the middle of the night just to get a break. When he sees Naomi dancing, he is entranced by how she uses her body to tell the story. He uses art to cope with his stressful life, so he draws her over and over again.

Saint and Naomi eventually become friends, and go on adventures to find the life in their city, but never share all of their lives with each other until it is too late.

There is a lot that is good in this story. But the book begins with Jessica literally haunting Naomi, then about 1/3 of the way through, that stops. I thought I had picked up a horror book to begin with, to be honest. So much of the book doesn't feel realistic and perhaps a bit stereotypical (rich black girl meets street-wise and soulful poor black boy, they spend time together behind her parents' back, when parents find out, they tell the boy to stay away and tell the girl to pick better friends, and so on).

Despite its flaws, this is a decent book. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

[Christina Getrost · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a Black ballet student who must come to terms with the death of her best friend, and the possible end of her lifelong dream of becoming a professional ballerina. The first few chapters have Naomi interacting with her friend Jessica as if nothing has happened--but gradually we realize Naomi is having a psychic break from reality, unable to give up her dead friend and seeing her and talking with her still. "Jessica" keeps goading Naomi into rehearsing more and more, nonstop. Eventually she comes out of this, as she rehearses her way into an injury and has to stop dancing for awhile. She meets a young man, Saint, who is a street artist and who becomes inspired by her when he sees her dance. He teaches her the art of graffiti and they use their art to express their grief and frustration (Saint has a difficult home life with a seriously ill father and a young brother to care for) as they slowly fall in love. Naomi has to work through her grief and her relationship with her mother, who supported her dance career to the point of obsession, and work on healing herself in many ways if she is going to continue on as a dancer. The story is interesting and kept my interest, but I did see a lot of grammatical errors in the advance reader copy I read, that I hope were corrected for the final edition. The writing was sometimes a little too vague and confusing, with sudden shifts in POV that I found odd.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 2 out of 5]

See this review and more on Books and Ladders!

I thought this was going to go in a much different direction and it truly felt like each "act" was it's own short story just with the same characters. I think this book wanted to be more about grief, and put a bit of resemblance of the White Swan/Black Swan issues, but then really pulled back from that and became a more traditional "rom com." The 180 there gave me a bit of whiplash because of how fast the timeline was moving in comparison to all the events that were happening.

Also, I listened to this as an audiobook. There was only one narrator so it was very difficult to know when the story changed perspective to another character (and it did that a lot). I thought the writing could have used another pass through the editor. There were also some plot points that just didn't go anywhere because they "ended" at the end of their Act.

If you like dance, you might enjoy this one! If you're hoping for more horror/psychological thriller, you should pass.

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[Shannan Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naomi and Jessica are best friends and thick as thieves, until a freak accident causes Jessica's demise. Naomi is not only forced to continue dancing with out Jessica, Her teacher assigns a dance to her that causes her to rethink if dancing is even right for her. She meets Saint, who has a boat load of issues that he has to deal with, and they both become friends and confidants and are trying to make sense of what is going on in their individual lives.

Not too many YA stories tug at my heart strings like this one did. It was such a beautiful and emotional read. It highlights what some people struggling with grief deal with, as well as some of their thoughts. I was spellbound and captivated from the very beginning and well until the end of the story and beyond. I still sometimes have the characters and story swirling around in my head. This was a dazzling and compelling read.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.

[Chris G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica and Naomi are the only two Black girls at Riverside Dance Academy, both headed for the Youth America Grand Prix competition that they hope will send both of them to dance careers in New York. When Jessica dies in an accident, devastated Naomi continues to see and hear Jessica coaching and encouraging her, but eventually Jessica’s voice is more accusing than supportive and Naomi overworks herself into an injury. A chance encounter with Saint, a local teen and an artist who is grieving his mother’s death and his father’s illness, gives Naomi a glimpse of life outside her homeschooled, sheltered experiences but can she keep a foot in both worlds? EARC from Edelweiss.

[Gemini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad AF

It’s hard to say how I felt about this book. I found it challenging to connect to it. Particularly in the beginning when Naomi was interacting with her dead friend. Once Saint’s character was introduced, the story picked up for me. Then he brought more sadness! He was dealing with so much. I was glad that they had each other to lean on. Their friendship was the best part of the book. This story reminded me a lot of the novel Turning my Joy L. Smith. The broken ballerina theme was very similar. I can’t say that I disliked this book, but I was very ready to be done with it.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

exactly the kind of YA book I wish I had growing up!

other reviews seem to focus a lot on the tropes and the sometimes heavy handed poetry in the writing style. For me, it was really refreshing to read something where you could root for the main characters without holding back in the slightest. The author's background as a freeform poet really shines in the little observational details, giving the reader a chance to spend more time reflecting on the seriousness of some of the issues covered in this book.

[Nemco sagal · Rating 3 out of 5]

SAD!!!


It's hard to say how I felt about this book. I found it challenging to connect to it. Particularly in the beginning when Naomi was interacting with her dead friend. Once Saint's character was introduced, the story picked up for me. Then he brought more sadness! He was dealing with so much. I was glad that they had each other to lean on. Their friendship was the best part of the book. This story reminded me a lot of the novel Turning my Joy L. Smith. The broken ballerina theme was very similar. I can't say that I disliked this book, but I was very ready to be done with it.

[K TEA]

I loved the premise of the book. It had great potential to go a little further. While I liked the story a bit it wasn't one of my faves. I just wouldn't rec to a book club but maybe works great for some.

[Muriah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part with Jessica's ghost and ballet was interesting and then suddenly dropped and switched to romance and graffiti and a dying dad. It felt like two books. Whole suicide library roof thing was weird.

[James Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a very interesting take on grief, but I felt it didn't last long enough. The first chapter seriously hooked me by the end. It's not bad by any means. I just didn't have anything that really drew me back in, other than. I wanted to finish it.

[Hilary Nihlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debut YA novel from a Jamaican-Canadian author from London, Ontario. I enjoyed meeting him at OLA and getting my book signed. The book covers a lot of topics such as class, death, colorism, racism, privilege, divorce, and other things that are relevant to young lives.

[ashleyknott12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

SLOW start and took a hot minute to get in to but cute plot and fun to learn about competition aspect of ballet. wouldn’t read again though because honestly i was kind of bored for the first half but i liked the second half with the main characters :)

[Tiffeny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a freebie from my town library. I was pulled in enough to finish the book, but I felt the two main characters were each piled high with problems that they never fully resolved or worked through rather quickly. I would’ve liked an epilogue to see where they were in a few years, too.