I have some mixed feelings about this book. The overall book was good, the plot was interesting and well paced, the characters likable and interesting for the most part, but I did have some issues with it. For the life of me I can’t figure out why it was set in the late 1800’s, that just didn’t make sense to me and the story just didn’t fit the time period. It would have been better if the time period was more like 1930’s or even more modern. Also the Master’s motivation behind what he does is just not explained well enough for me. There are some chapters that look back on his earlier life that try to explain it, but it just confused the issue more. The dance scenes also didn’t feel authentic to me. I was a ballet dancer in my youth and those scenes just didn’t feel right, they felt more like the author just threw in some dance words and left it at that.

So what did I like? The overall plot was interesting. The idea that someone could control your thoughts and emotions and take away your memories was intriguing. The fact that Penny would often wake up with totally new thoughts and feelings was kind of creepy. I also liked her relationship with Cricket, they were cute together and were really out to help each other. The master was also totally creepy in an older guy lusting after young girls way. Like I said before, I would really like more info on why he gathered these girls just to control them. There are lots of minor characters that were well done as well, although their roles are so minor that they are not as fleshed out as I would have liked.

The overall writing is very nice and the setting is cool as well. The house that the girls live in was a bit confusing though and it was hard to get a good sense of it. There are many sinister secret passage ways and scary labs and other places in it that lend a dark and evil feel to it.

Overall if you are looking for a mystery/thriller set in a dance academy with a little bit of romance mixed in, this would be a good book to take a look at.

Okay. First thought of this book, I forgot the blurb of it. Haha! This time I was sure I read the blurb but for the love of me I could not remember what it said. Still I read the book. And because I forgot what the blurb said, I had no idea what was going on. But when I reread the blurb, I finally got the whole gist.



First let’s talk about the characters of this book.



The main character is Penelope. I don’t know what her last name is because it did not say. Well, all the characters have no last name because they weren’t mentioned in the book. All they have are first names. Anyway, in the blurb, it said that Penelope, or Penny, is a 17-year-old girl. However, as I read the book, Penny doesn’t felt like a 17-year-old character. She seemed younger, like around 15 or 16 years old.



And I don’t know what to feel towards her character. I somewhat felt nothing towards her. Maybe because there weren’t that many emotional descriptions in this book? That’s what I felt while reading. She’s the main character but I am not hooked to her the way I always got hooked on other main characters.



Then let’s go to Cricket, the cute kitchen boy. In Penelope’s description, Cricket is cute and caring and it seems like there’s already a clue that Cricket has his eyes for Penny. However, maybe due to the tampering of Penny’s memories, she couldn’t remember Cricket and she’s oblivious to his feelings towards her. But then I kind of liked Cricket’s character. Compared to Penny, I felt something towards Cricket. I felt happy and I appreciate his patience towards Penny. I kind of adore him but just like Penny, I am not hooked to him as well. But Cricket is a great character.



Let’s go to the one who started everything that happened in the book, Master, the head of the school and the one who controls them all. In Penny’s description of Master again, he is handsome and dashing. But I don’t know why every time I picture him inside my head he is a bit old. I don’t know how old he is exactly in the book because it wasn’t mentioned but because the story started where Master is young and twenty years later the school was built, I just assumed that he is old. I wish it was in the book though so I could picture him right in my head. Hehe.



In Master’s character, though, I felt a lot of emotion towards him. First is I do not like him. I don’t like him because what kind of person control other person. But then because of the flashbacks in the book, I understood why he is the way he is. However, what he’s doing was too much. Too much that it’s not already right. And then by the end of the book, I felt sorry for him. His last words to Penny before Penny left him was that he must make Penny understand. He’s doing it for a reason. But Penny didn’t hear any of it and she left him. I felt sorry for him in that part.



Now, let’s go to the story of the book.



There are chapters that were set on different years and that confuses me. I kept asking the question why does it to jump 20 years back of the present year of the story. What’s the point? Then as I read the book, I realized that the flashbacks were clues as to what was going on, on the present time of the story, which is in the year 1879. The flashbacks helped a lot in understanding the story.



I actually like the story of the book. A mind controlling story but it’s not actually a sci-fi feel. It’s a great story! The mind controlling concept was different on other mind controlling stories I’ve read. And to think that this happened in the year 1879 where even cell phones were not that good is a great work.



I like how there are parts in the story where Penny would hide to avoid getting caught getting information about what’s really going on and then when she thought that she’s in the clear, Master would pop out or say something that says he knew Penny is there. It’s crazy!



The ending though. This book has awesome story, but it has an ending that will not give you a satisfaction. Like seriously! What kind of ending was that? The climax of the story was still lingering in my head when I suddenly flipped to the next page and found that it’s already the last page. Like wtf. I feel like I need more!



And there’s that part where Master kept telling Penny that he must make her understand. Understand what exactly? It wasn’t explained. I would understand the hanging-ish ending of the book if it has a sequel to it. But this is a standalone! Now how am I going to have answers to my questions???



What happened to Master? Is he dead? Did Bianca died with him? Did Primo? Would they live happily ever after? What would happen to the rest of the girls that escaped? What happens to Penny and Cricket?



I still have questions. But because the ending fell short, they won’t be answered.



To wrap this up, the book is good. It has a good story with nice characters and nice concept. It has a bad ending for me though. And it still has typo and grammatical errors. I hope that it was edited thoroughly before it was published. Aside from the ending and the typo errors, this is a great book.

The cover is SO pretty. The story is just fine. Nothing about it is memorable to me.

I tried on this one. Seems to be a modern twist to Frankenstein, but with ballerinas and strange men. Not holding my attention or interests at all.

I loved this book so much! The characters were super interesting and the storyline was intense! Highly recommend this book! You’ll love it!

In my head, I thought I had read this for longer but surprise I didn’t. This book was sooooo good. I got the book through NetGalley and this was definitely a cover “buy” (I put buy in quotes because I had this in my ARC and not actually buying the book). I loved Cricket and I seriously thought that Penny was going to get it with the Master but NOPE. Hopefully, I can get a finished copy of this in the future.

Seventeen-year-old Penny loves dancing at the Grande Teatro, a school where she and eleven other girls are training to become the best dancers in all of Italy. She loves to dance. And she loves the Master, the handsome owner of the school. Or…does she?

When Penny starts seeing flashes of a life she doesn’t remember living, she starts asking questions, which lands her in trouble with the Master. But Cricket, the kitchen boy, helps her and she realizes that her life is not what it seems. Desperate to find out the truth, Penny searches for answers, but the Master is one step ahead of her every move. If she does not find the answers she seeks, her memories will be stolen from her forever.

The Midnight Dance starts off when Penny first notices something strange, and the reader sees everything through her eyes, sharing her confusion and fear. This dark novel is both captivating and creepy, told in alternating timelines as the Master’s past is revealed. Penny struggles with the mystery and with the pain of having her memories removed, but she keeps fighting despite the overwhelming odds. I enjoyed this very much, and am looking forward to more from this author.

(Galley provided by Swoon Reads via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

The Midnight Dance was a lyrical, intriguing, and unique read that intertwined many different genres. It was mostly historical fiction with a hint of science fiction (not quite steampunk) and dashes of a psychological thriller and a mystery. It was somewhat of a darker read and I think it would have been incredible if the concept had been taken a bit further and developed a bit more. As it is, The Midnight Dance was a quick and slightly creepy read.

Penny is a dancer at the Grande Teatro, a private and selective school for ballerinas. Isolated from the world, Penny and her fellow ballerinas train for the Midnight Dance, a yearly celebration hosted by their patron, the Master, to showcase their skill. However, as Penny experiences flashes of memories that show a very different history than the one she remembers, she begins searching for the truth. Assisted by Cricket, the kitchen boy, Penny must find a way to escape the school and the Master before she forgets again.

The Midnight Dance starts off strongly, setting the scene beautifully for Penny’s discovery that the Master is manipulating the girl’s memories. However, the plot in the middle was slightly confusing. I think that this was due partially to Penny’s unreliability as a narrator because of the Master’s constant manipulation of her memory. I also think there were some aspects of the story that could have been developed more to fully flesh out the novel. There were some interesting plot twists but nothing that I didn’t figure out ahead of time.

It was hard to relate to Penny as a character since her personality was constantly in flux. Despite that, I did grow to admire her resiliency, her strength, and perseverance. I was definitely rooting for her and the other girls by the end. Cricket was adorable and I liked how the romance aspect stayed in the background most of the time. The flashbacks that showed the history of the Master and Beppe were interesting but there definitely weren’t enough of them for me. I felt like the potential for a truly excellent and well-developed villain was wasted by not exploring the “Why?” behind the Master’s actions more.

Overall, The Midnight Dance was a beautifully written story that I enjoyed. I think I would have liked it more if I hadn’t gone with the expectation that this story would be more of a psychological thriller in the same vein as The Black Swan. I found the concept of this book incredibly intriguing but I ended up wanting more depth to the characters and the story. The Midnight Dance would be good if you’re looking for a slightly darker mystery with just a hint of romance!

This is the story of Penny who attends an elite boarding school in rural Italy with 11 other girls. This is the only life she has ever known and under the watchful eye of the mysterious master she is learning to become a great ballerina. Things seem to be going great for Penny until she starts remembering things. Memories of a past she doesn't recognise start to return and shes on a mission to uncover her secret past and find out just how she came to be in the life she is today. Throughout this novel we follow a duel timeline of then and now. We follow Penny's life in the estate and watch as the life that she knows begins to unravel. Alongside this we follow the story of Cirillo and watch who he becomes as he grows up. At first these timelines don't seem to have a direct link between each other however, as the story develops we see them merge together and this gives us a greater understanding of the events in the main story line.


Things happen very quickly in this novel. Its quite fast paced and a lot happens and develops in a short space of time. It was easy to keep up though as the author was quite clear in her writing and there was no fluff and this speed definitely helped to build up the suspense. When I first heard about this novel it was marketed as a contemporary, which isn't usually my thing. However, after reading the synopsis it felt as though there would be some mystery/suspense aspects and I was right. I would also go as far as to say there are some magical realism aspects too.


I really liked the writing style, I found it to be very mysterious. The author took us on a journey of Penny's existence and I felt invested in her story. The way we transitioned between Penny's current life and her memories was quite disconcerting which I really liked. This really helped us to experience just what things must of felt like for her. The author also did a good job of keeping up the air of mystery and suspense as we went through there were a couple of plot twists in the second half of the story, not massive ones, but enough to keep the story moving. Also twists that I didn't see coming which was great.


The characters were interesting too and fairly well developed. I liked Penny's personality, she was determined and resolved throughout the story. She always thought of others above herself and was resigned to saving everyone. I also really liked Cricket he was very sweet and was always looking out for others. I did find that Penny's sudden attraction to Cricket in the beginning was a bit off however, this is explained later on in the book and makes a lot of sense. Master on the other hand was a total master manipulator. His hold over the girls was very creepy and he is definitely up there in the great villain department.


Overall I found this story to be very mysterious and suspenseful, much more so than your usual contemporary. The reason I marked it down to 3.5* was that I found it difficult to get going again once I stopped reading however, once I was reading I found it hard to stop. It would be one I would recommend to people who love suspense and mystery.

This was ultimately a difficult read due to the difficultly in understanding the point behind the story. I think a younger audience would be more flexible as to just go along with the story for story's sake but it can become frustrating not understand why any of these things are happening. The plot needed much more structure.

I love the cover of this book and I think that will entice a lot of my teen patrons to take this book out. I was drawn to it by the ballerina story line and really flew through the pages!

This book definitely needs to be made into a movie.

Penny can't remember who she really is. How strange is it that she can't remember her favourite meal, and all the girls at Grade Teatro have a similar memory of who their mother was and why they ended up there. The only thing that the girls can remember is their dance routine, and that they must never disobey the Master. When Penny's memories start to return, she is desperate to keep them, and find out more about who she really was before she became trapped in this mansion.

I was hooked right from the beginning, the action starts right away and it is very easy to understand the concept of whats going on, which makes the book very pleasurable to read. The writing in this book is so beautiful and I love the way the author wrote descriptions, dialogue and the speed of the plot.

I fell in love with Penny right from the beginning. You can tell how strong of a character she is, when Master can't fully control her mind. Her desperation to find the truth and free the other girls was so wonderful to read about, I definitely love these types of main characters who do things not just for themselves, but to save others.

Part of the story in this book takes place in the past, as we see how Master became the person that he is today and why. While I thought this was really interesting in the beginning, it kind of fell short for me around the middle and I just got bored with this side of the story. I thought it could have been a bit more interesting, and maybe a tad more explained. I would have loved to see more of the science theory that they had behind the mind control and such.

Overall, this was a really beautiful book. I will definitely be picking up more from this author because I loved her writing style. If you've read the synopsis and you think you'd enjoy it then definitely give it a try.

DNF at 21%

I’ll admit to being sucked in by that cover, but I really liked the synopsis...sadly, that’s the nicest thing I can say about what I read.

Penny and the other girls seem horribly flat. Master is creepy af and I spent a good portion of the time reading wondering if he was sexually assaulting the girls. Cricket does seem to care about Penny, but it’s weird that he knows what’s happening.

Plot wise, I felt like I was dropped into a story that had already been started. The prologue had promise and I did get to a small reveal of what was going on, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep me reading.

I’m choosing not to rate this one strictly because I didn’t make it to my usual 25-30%; however off of what I did read, I would have given it 1 star.

**Huge thanks to Swoon Reads for providing the arc free of charge**

The Midnight Dance is a daring, heart pounding read! It was full of character, intrigue, and mystery. This fast paced read is sure to captivate and move you!

What can I say about The Midnight Dance? I found it mysterious and thrilling. I felt like it held inspiration from The Phantom of the Opera. It offered danger, passion, and unexpected twists that I found fascinating! This one was truly unique.

I enjoyed the world building and plot. Though, I wish the world building had had a few more details, and the plot was not so fast paced, I still felt that they were both well done, and elegantly written. The writing style used was quite beautiful and entrancing. I was drawn in to the story and to the main characters.

I saw beauty and strength in our main character, Penny. Though, there were times she wasn’t as relate-able as I would have liked, I felt a connection to her. She was brave, and determined to find answers to the mysteries of her memories, the school , and The Master.

I was so intrigued by The Master of the school. He was dark and brooding, mysterious, and handsome. He added a layer of depth and captivation to the story, as well as harboring many entertaining secrets.

And, finally, there was Cricket. Cricket was a necessary character that added a little mystery to the story. I would have liked him to be a touch more developed, but he added a layer of passion and empathy to the story, nonetheless. He was brave and caring, and definitely alluring.

My final thoughts are that of enjoyment and thrills. I wouldn’t classify this as a contemporary book. I would say it falls more under the mystery genre, grazing the horror genre. I cannot say more without giving spoilers, but there is definitely more than meets the eye here, and it is very interesting! I really enjoyed the plot twists and the thrilling mystery. The Midnight Dance was a unique, must read!

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with this free e-ARC in exchange for me honest review!

Have you ever tried to write a review for a book for which you just don't have much, good or bad, to say? The Midnight Dance is that book.

Penny goes to a school that specializes in ballet. She is part of twelve elite dancers that have the privilege of attending this prestigious school, compliments of their mysterious Master. They are never allowed to leave and must perform as the Master wishes.

Weird things begin to happen to Penny. She realizes she is forgetting periods of time. She starts to have memories that don't mesh with what she has been told was her life. When she touches the handsome kitchen boy, Cricket, her memories come back, and they are horrific. She realizes that Master has been manipulating their minds, but how?

She and Cricket are out to discover the truth and figure out a way not only for Penny, but for all of the dancers, to escape.

The Midnight Dance is an enjoyable, creepy read. However, I never really connected with the characters. I felt like an observer rather than a participant that was fully invested in the story. I'm not sure what makes a story resonate with a reader -- I'm not a writer. This is one that I appreciated while reading, but it won't stick with me for long. The writing is fine; the pacing seemed okay. I didn't really buy all the technical stuff and the Master's ability to create such a hold on these girls. There are flashbacks of the Master and his past, which were effective. I just didn't feel the drama or pulse-pounding trepidation that I was supposed to feel.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend The Midnight Dance to teens. Others may have a different reaction than I did.

Penelope has been getting intense headaches and forgetting time, unsure as to why or what is going on. At least she can count on her Grandfather to give her medical care while she is at the elite boarding school ran by the Master. Penelope is so lucky to have been one of the chosen pupils at the school, spending her time perfecting her dancing and learning useful information to make her a good conversationalist to the upper class. But is she really lucky? When she starts having strange flashes of her past, and her memories are not matching up, Penelope enlists the help of Cricket, the ever helpful (and cute) servant to try and find the truth.

I was so excited to get my hands on this book, seriously it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I am a cover lover, so when I set eyes on the gorgeousness that is the cover of the Midnight Dance, I was entranced. Add in the fact it is about dancing, a boarding school and mysterious, I knew I was going to have to read this story. The imagery was spectacular, transporting me to the time and setting as well as getting me caught up in the plot, trying to decipher what was real. This was a great balance or creepy, mysterious, dangerous, compelling and romantic.

When I first started the story I was a little uncertain because I had NO IDEA what was going on. One minute I felt I knew what was going on and got a grasp on Penny, and then the next thing I knew I was super confused and had no idea who Penny was. I was concerned that maybe my expectations had been too high and I was going to be disappointed. But then the pieces started coming together, and it made perfect since as to why I was confused, it was 100% necessary to the plot. I slowly read the first half(ish) if the book, trying to piece things together and ponder the story, but the second half of the book I flew through in one sitting, enjoying the action and twists and turn that Penny faces. It was almost as if it was two books put together, but overall I enjoyed the pacing and direction of the story.

The book starts out 20 years in the past learning about Cirillo and Beppe, two boys who have been experimenting of medical science, potentially to better mankind. I had no idea how that​ played a role in Penelope's life, but sporadically more chapters were thrown in that led up to the conclusion and explained a lot of motivations in the story. Is it bad that I felt for Cirillo, or a mark of a really talented author, that makes you question the motives of the villain and maybe empathize (ok, I will admit that I am a sucker for a well crafted bad guy, maybe it's a character flaw of mine)? It was a really great way of revealing the mystery aspect of the book that kept the reader guessing while giving motive as well.

This was my first book by Nikki and I really enjoyed her writing style as well as the uniqueness of the plot. This is a complete story so no sequel but I will definitely be looking forward to whatever else Nikki wants to create! This is a great choice for anyone looking for a creepy mystery with a romantic flair.

I received this title for reviewing purposes. Visit https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ for a chance to win some prizes.

2.5 stars (I am the person that always rounds up) - I so desperately wanted to love this book! Like many others, I saw the previous reviews and tried to tell myself that it really couldn't be as rough as they were saying, but alas, it was. While the telling of the story was nothing short of breathtaking, the overall plot just was not there for me. If you are someone that just wants to read for the pleasure of artful verbiage and not the storyline, then this is the book for you. I still hold true to the fact that this is one of the most beautiful covers I have seen in this year. Based on the cover alone, this book will garner a group of devoted readers.

3.5 stars

In the Grande Teatro, a finishing ballet school in Italy, Penny and eleven others train to be the finest ballerinas in Italy.

The school is tucked away and almost isolated completely, and it's the only life Penny's really known. But this life is more than she thought as flashes of a different life begin to plague her. Penny's confused and lost, and she begins to question her life under Master Cirillo, turning to kitchen boy Cricket for help.

What she uncovers is far greater than she could have imagined, and Penny needs to escape the confines of the school that plays tricks with her minds and holds her in tight bonds before she loses herself.

There were parts that I liked and parts that I didn't like about this book.

It was unexpected as it was a lot darker than I thought it would be. I really should have known so before I started it, but it's actually almost a conspiracy-type book.

The narrative is very untrustworthy as it's from Penny's limited third person point of view, and as we know, her memories are faulty. Master is tampering with them, and so reality and fiction blend together for Penny.

Likewise, reality and fiction blend together for the reader and it can get somewhat confusing.

Penny seems like a nice girl, but I didn't really connect well with her because I had no idea who she was. Does she like pink or blue? Polenta or gnocci? Dance or no dance?

Because of all the memory tampering, I couldn't really connect well with her.

As this confuses her character, it also confuses the plot a little as Penny's idea of what's going on differs from what's actually happen. This made foreshadowing a lot harder for the reader, which meant that when I was reading, it was more "follow along with the plot and see what happens!" rather than "guess what's going to happen now?"

To emphasize this point better, reading it for me was like watching The Flash, there's nothing you can really do except wait for the producers to throw another villain at you, rather than watching Bones where you guess who the killer halfway through.

There wasn't much I could do except wait for Penny to make a discovery and hope she doesn't mess up. This might seem a little unclear, but it made me feel like I wasn't standing next to Penny as I read but rather that I was actually reading a book. It's a lot more detached.

The narrative switches from short events from the past involving Master to events a few decades later involving Penny, and it can be somewhat confusing at first, but not overly so.

The plot was interesting and I thought it was paced nicely (this book is pretty short, shy of 300 pages) for the length. It just fell a little flat for me as it was a lot of Penny trying to figure out what she's doing.

Her romance with Cricket was kind of a negative for me. I'm still not sure why this is so (there's an inkling, but I'm not entirely certain why), but Cricket helps her get her memories back with his touch. I found this a little iffy for me, I know this is fiction, but it made me think a lot of those plots where mental illnesses are "fixed through the power of love." Sorry, but no.

It was a little instalove at times and seemed too close to romanticizing mental illnesses, even if Penny doesn't actually have a mental illness, just an externalized issue.

After this list of negatives, you're probably thinking this is some horrible book, but I still enjoyed reading it.
The writing is beautiful while still remaining simplistic and not overly-flowery.

I initially requested this book because of its historical setting and ballet aspect, which was fun to read about. The premise was really cool, and the darkness was fun to read about. It's just those few blips about the way Katz chose to write the novel and the romance aspect that kind of messed some things up for me.

Untrustworthy narrators are difficult to write, and although I don't think Katz butchered it, I also don't think it was done to the fullest extent it could have been.

I would recommend The Midnight Dance to anyone looking for a unique historical novel with dark twists and turns.

The writing style is very beautiful and engaging; however, the plot was lacking. Penny is a ballerina at a highly selective private school where all the girls are hand selected by the 'Master'. The story starts with Penny quickly learning that her memories have been altered for years and the 'Master" is still actively changing all the ballerinas' memories. Penny and the kitchen boy, Cricket, go on a crazy adventure to correct her altered memories and set her free.

There were some interesting plot twists but the ultimate question Penny and I had, "why were they being controlled", was never really answered.

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: October 17, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Penny is a lead dancer at the Grande Teatro, a finishing school where she and eleven other young women are training to become the finest ballerinas in Italy. Tucked deep into the woods, the school is overseen by the mysterious and handsome young Master who keeps the girls ensconced in the estate – and in the only life Penny has never known.

But when flashes of memories, memories of a life very different from the one she thinks she’s been leading, start to appear, Penny begins to question the Grand Teatro and the motivations of the Master. With a kind and attractive kitchen boy, Cricket, at her side, Penny vows to escape the confines of her school and the strict rules that dictate every step she takes. But at every turn, the Master finds a way to stop her, and Penny must find a way to escape the school and uncover the secrets of her past before it’s too late.

What I Liked:

I've read a number of books published by Swoon Reads, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing. This imprint is unique because it is crowd-sourced in terms of the work, and there are always a ton of manuscripts available to read and explore on the website. The Midnight Dance is one of many that has been picked up for publication by Swoon Reads. I've had mixed results with the Swoon Reads books I've read so far, but this one is among my favorites. I adore Cindy Anstey's books, but I think those will share the spotlight with this book. The Midnight Dance was haunting and mysterious, yet swoony and seductive. It was an interesting book to read, and while I could definitely see the author developing her writing and craft, I have a good feeling about her future work.

Penny is one of the lead dancers of the Grande Teatro, a coveted dance school that is selective about its students. There are only a handful of students at any given time, with rare new faces on occasion. The girls are educated in many subjects, but their focus is dance, as they all strive to be the best ballerina in Italy. The school is overseen by Master, who is shrouded in mystery and handsome looks. Every girl has a crush on him... except for Penny, who can't shake the creepy feeling she has started to feel when he is near. What's more, her memory is starting to jumble, and she isn't sure what is real and what isn't. Somehow, Master is messing with her mind. With the help of the charming kitchen steward, Penny is determined to find out what happened in her past that will determine her future at the school.

I love how this story is set up. At first, I was just as confused as Penny; what is happening to her memories? Why is she starting to remember this or that? And then - why did she suddenly forget what she started to remember? Usually I hate being enveloped in this kind of confusion, especially so early on, but I found that this only intrigued me even more. From start, we know that there is something wrong with Penny's memories. And soon after, Penny finds out that Master might have something to do with it, and Cricket seems to have an idea as to what is happening to her. But these realizations are only the tip of the iceberg. Master is a lot worse than she expected. and Cricket is so much more than a kitchen steward.

I liked Penny just fine, though I didn't love her, nor did I hate her. I really felt for her, as she tried to navigate her life while realizing that she had no idea who she really was. She had no idea what her life before the school was like. She didn't even know what her favorite food was. It was easy to root for her, because she was so clearly wronged. But I also liked her persistence, even when she was throwing herself into obvious danger. She wanted nothing more than to understand what was happening to her, stop Master, and save the other girls.

Cricket is such a sweetheart! He is the kitchen steward which basically means that he brings everyone their meals and clears tables. There is a lot more to him than meets the eye, but Master keeps him on a tight leash. Cricket is smart, loyal, protective, and stubborn, and he never stops trying to help Penny regain her true memories. He is one of the constants of the story that is inherently good and kind. But he also has a protective streak that shows up every now and then, which I loved.

I was hooked soon after the story began, and I didn't want to stop reading. It's too bad I started reading the book on the Metro to work, because I really wanted to keep reading. Hate or love this book, you have to say that it is engaging (well, hopefully). There are so many revelations dropped, as the story goes on. Some might be obvious, but the placement and timing are really good.

I love the Italian influence and setting. There are so many Italian food references - it was impossible not to get hungry, after reading this book. I really want some antipasto or ciabatta or something now (it's nearly midnight at the moment!). The author references a lot of Italian food, but also sprinkles in the occasional term or phrase in Italian. You can't not know that the story is set in Italy!

The story is also a historical one, set in the 1800s. I love this time period and it definitely worked well for this story. The types of things that Master was doing were very advanced, yet the author made them fit into the story.

There is some sci-fi to this book! I don't want to say anything specific, but it's pretty cool. Terrible, but cool. I love that we get to see Master's backstory and how he came to work on the sci-fi stuff. Again, it is terrible stuff (what he is doing), but it is also fascinating. You kind of feel bad for him? At least initially.

There is a romance and it is swoony! And very non-love-triangle-y. I promise there is no triangle or square or anything of the sort. Cricket and Penny are adorable together, even if they aren't actually a couple for most of the book. There is obvious but subtle chemistry between them, and I couldn't wait for them to finally acknowledge their feelings, or kiss! See my 09/28 Swoon Thursday post.

Overall, this book worked for me. I enjoyed it, especially for the entertaining and mysterious story. The adorable romance definitely didn't hurt, and the fact that this book is a standalone makes it a great choice.

What I Did Not Like:

I acknowledge the fact that there definitely could have been more plot and character development. The author's writing and craft seems new and unpracticed. It's hard to describe what I'm talking about without sharing whole pages or talking about specifics, but basically, we know this is a debut. I fully believe that the author will get better as a writer the more she writes. This story felt juvenile on occasion, which I noticed several times, but it wasn't too distracting. I see the author's potential!

Would I Recommend It:

If you like historical fiction novels with romance and some slightly creepy sci-fi elements, check out this book! It has an air of mystery to it, and it's a fast read. The ending is really good and it is perfect as the ending of a standalone. And the romance was definitely swoony! Swoon Reads is living up to the name.

Rating:

4 stars. I am glad this book is a standalone, but I definitely want to read more by this author! I'll be looking out for her 2018 book. I'm sure her next book will be even better!