Reading The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre was an utter delight, even as somebody with zero theater experience who’s never seen or read Les Misérables. (I live under a rock, I’m aware.)

Identifying maybe a little too closely with Melody’s need for perfection and her control-freak-tendencies, she came off as a believable, passionate teenager who can’t help falling in love (often, with many people). Melody’s bisexuality isn’t a source of contention in her own life or with her family, and the only problem with her love life is an imagined theater curse rather than because of the people she dates--and, let’s be real, her love life is only a curse because maybe she gets a little too caught up in who she’s dating or doesn’t give them enough attention. On the other hand, Odile’s struggle with her own sexuality and coming out is expressed but not a major plot point, which made her seem genuine and sympathetic. We also get an adorable look at three adult gay men, Melody’s two fathers and their best friend slash Melody’s teacher, Will Green.

Possibly one of the most important elements of a romcom is the chemistry between characters, and sparks abound between Melody and Odile with lingering glances and sneaking off to talk quietly. There are a couple of really great moments in the book where the tension is palpable and I was skimming ahead to see what happened, butterflies thrumming in my own chest as I read. I loved them as a couple. Melody’s grand gesture at the end had me tearing up because a) I’m a big sap, and 2) I don’t think I’ll ever tire of reading about girls falling in love and getting a happy ending.

Overall, The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre is funny, adorable, and sweet. I loved Robin Talley’s Music from Another World (you can read my review of it here or at Pine Reads Review), and after this one, I think I’m going to have to check out all of her other books.

This is fun new YA book, with the main character being on crew, rather than an actor. There was a good LGBTQI+ story line, though I wish we got to see some of one of the character’s family life. In 2020, I needed a book that would make me laugh and smile, along with a balance of angst, and this book did that.

3.5 stars

I have really enjoyed Robin Talley's works, and I was thrilled to get this arc just to read another installment from her. While this isn't at the top of my list of Talley novels, it is an entertaining and worthwhile read.

Mel, the m.c., lives for her high school's stage productions, and she also has quite the busy love life. As the title suggests, these facets of her life converge in a mysterious "love curse." Basically, Mel can't be in love during the upcoming production, or all kinds of terrors will befall the cast and crew. The theater-based superstition streak is highly amusing and fun to read, and it serves as an enjoyable backdrop to the central (you guessed it!) romance.

Mel and Odile are intriguing characters, and - while I have never found myself especially interested in shows - I did enjoy the setting and premise. At times, this moved a bit slower than I would have liked. I wanted faster pacing and more development of some of the ancillary characters.

This is a solid read, and Talley fans will not be disappointed. I'm already looking forward to the next one!

This book was so wonderful. Robin Talley did amazing as always.

I've been enjoying these YA LGBTQ+ theater based books recently and this was no disappointment. Melody is such a fun character and easy to fall in love with.

This is one of those books where you have to remember what it was like to be a teenager. The kids take their theater superstitions too far; I understand that that is what creates the stakes, but it's hard to take seriously and it leads to people rationalizing being mean to the MC which is unjustified. Cute casual LGBTQ representation. Give clean romance to give to a younger teen. Pretty good at describing the stage tech stuff. Cool concept for how the chapters are broken up.

I am a huge theatre nerd so when I saw this book on NetGallery I requested it right away. This book transported me back to my high school theatre days in the best way possible. I loved Mels voice, it really drew me into the story and I was able to empathize with her so much. There were so many moments that I laughed out loud or was biting my nails because I was stressed for these characters. I also thought the "intermission" section was a really interesting and unique way to help move the story along as well as intensify Mel and Odile's relationship.

The only thing I wish was that we got to see some more of the side characters like Dom and Gabby because when they were there at the beginning, I loved them but as the story went on we kind of lost them (which I guess might be the point). But I would have loved to see more of them in "Act 2" rather than just hearing about them. But overall a great book about the joys and trials of theatre that made me miss live theatre so much, and so excited to get back.

In general, I'm becoming a huge fan of Robin Talley. This is the third book of hers that I have read and she keeps surprising me. She puts out beautiful queer content that is nuanced and focuses on much more than just the characters' sexualities. This one was fun, I enjoyed it. The premise (a high school theater department that is plagued by "curses" that supposedly only get worse when the stage manager--Melody McIntyre--is in a relationship) is interesting. My only real downside with it is that it occasionally delved into that type of YA where I had to put it down because I was cringing so hard. The choices teenagers make...oy.

The theater nerd in me loves to see the almost classic rom com story of jock vs nerd play out on stage in the form of crew vs actor. Wonderful and bright and the perfect fun and funny read right now. Love it!

Talley is back again with a delightful queer YA novel, one I think can be perfectly summed up with the word 'cute.' The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre is a fun, lighthearted high school romance that takes center stage (pun intended) during the school's production of Les Miserables. The story is fairly simple but it made me smile and feel nostalgic, not only for the setting but the immersion in young love with a theater nerd. I've been finding that I prefer Talley's historical fiction as opposed to modern works, so perhaps that is part of what falls short for me here.

I received a complimentary copy of The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre by Robin Talley from HarperTeen through Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre comes out on December 1st, 2020!
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Melody is finally the stage manager for her high school's theatre program. Although this is her dream, every time she's dating someone during a play both the relationship and the performances go horribly wrong. When her girlfriend breaks up with her right in the middle of Romeo and Juliet, Mel has to admit this has become a pattern. Her superstitious stage crew decides it's clearly a curse and for their upcoming production of Les Misérables to go off without a hitch Mel will have to stay single. She agrees, thinking it will be easy to swear off relationships for a while after the drama of her last break-up. But she didn't plan for Odile, an actress with depths Mel never expected.
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So, I'm going to say up front that my only experience in theatre is doing lights for a VERY small production at an art center. That being said, I adore musicals and theatre. I was so excited to receive an ARC for a theatre-based sapphic romance! This story relies heavily on the theme of curses and superstitions in theatre. This was such a fun concept, but it did become frustrating when Mel's friends were putting all of the show's success or failure on her shoulders. I really liked Mel and Odile, but some of the other characters were annoying at times. I loved all of the theatre references, but I think this story is still very accessible to those who don't know much about theatre. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it to anyone intrigued by a theatre-based wlw romance!

I've enjoyed Robin Talley's historical fiction in the past, but I LOVED this. It felt fun and fresh, and I really enjoyed the scenario of this wunderkind actress just wanting to come back to school and be a normal person. It was refreshing to not see Odile depicted as a diva, and the trials and hijinks of a high school stage production (with a massive budget/parental involvement) were ripe for plot gold. I'd recommend this to anyone, but especially those who've a fondness for theater.

I am a sucker for differently formatted books. I really enjoyed how this one read like a script and had random notes, spreadsheets, etc. The story itself was pretty engaging, even as a non-theater kid. I felt like this was a bit of a flashback to high school. I may re-read this when it comes out.

Melody made a big promise to not fall in love. Easy to keep since she's a stage manager and in control of almost everything that happens... except her own heart.

3.5

I appreciate this book for the targeted audience, while accepting that I, having never taken a drama class nor known where our high school's drama room was, may be a little bit lost to some of the vernacular. There's a lot of setup that was given care to by author Talley as to walk through newbies to theater how dynamics operate in the back of those performances we love so much. I will also admit to never having seen the titular musical which probably contributed to the disconnect I felt when reading the characters excitement or lack there of in getting/ not getting parts.

However, from a general perspective the read was fun and easy. If I had to nitpick I would say I wish the love interest's personality was a little more detailed. I got a vague idea of her quirks whereas I felt I knew Melody really well through wonderful writing and scene setting by the author. I would also say the focus of superstition got a bit redundant towards the end of the book. I did enjoy how realistic the Melody's dating life seemed to be, it's great to see a girl that's actually dated more then one person in books with LGBTQ representation.

Overall I would very much recommend this read for any one who wants to relieve high school theater days!

This was given to by Netgalley me in exchange for an honest review

This book seemed like it was right up my alley. I love books about WLW and I love musical theatre and I was once a high school stage manager in a suburb of Boston. I also really enjoyed Robin Talley's Pulp, so I had high hopes for this one and I was so excited to get a chance to read an ARC.

Unfortunately, something with this one didn't quite click. Melody was a great protagonist, both lovable and realistically flawed but she didn't seem to have a whole lot of chemistry with Odile. The book is quite long for a YA novel, but I still felt like their relationship wasn't developed enough. The other thing was that the whole premise of the love curse seemed pretty flimsy and it made the stakes seem nowhere near as high as they came across to be. I get it, theater people are superstitious and those superstitions can sometimes be charming and sometimes seriously annoying, but it just doesn't seem enough to make or break a relationship. It's also kind of ridiculous that the crew keeps blaming Melody for screwing up on a previous production because she was in a relationship while giving Rachel, her ex, a free pass when Rachel was the one who acted completely unprofessionally and caused the problems with the production. Besides that, there were simply too many characters. This is of course realistic because when working for a production, you're going to be dealing with a lot of people, but so many were introduced all at once that it became pretty hard to keep track off, and few of them were actually important enough to warrant being named and brought up multiple times.

There were also some small inaccurate details that might only be apparent to theater nerds, but that does seem to be a large slice of the target audience. Mostly Talley doesn't really seem to understand how licensing works; there is no way a high school could put on Phantom of the Opera, Melody's theater camp certainly cannot put on Dear Evan Hansen and it is impossible that Will was in a summer stock production of Les Mis in the 90s unless that summer stock venue was Broadway. It also doesn't really makes sense that Melody has an ASM (which is pretty rare in HS productions) but she's operating the lightboard herself. Also, so many of her tasks are much more what a director or assistant director would be doing, especially at a high school production. Still, as a musical theatre nerd I greatly appreciated that a cast recording was never referred to as a "soundtrack" and the someone finally called out the homophobia in Legally Blonde: The Musical.

Overall, it's worth a read if you like YA WLW romance or books about high school theater, but I did find it a bit disappointing.

This book does a great job encapsulating what it is like to be a teen in your schools theater department. The characters all have depth and you find yourself rooting for Melody from page one. Wonderful drama plays out as the cast members attempt to put on a perfect show avoiding the dreaded curse. If you liked Will Grayson Will Grayson by David Levithan, then this is a must read.

Like many of Robin Talley's books, this one was lovely. My partner is a theater nerd and even though he's not much of a YA reader, this is one I'd recommend to him and other theater nerds.

I was looking forward to a fun queer YA, but this one disappointed me. I will give credit that the first half of the book setting up the theater dynamic took me back to my own single year of drama class. And for those readers who are avid theater fans, I can see that being enough to overlook the struggles of the novel.
The character development felt lacking. The separation of what everyone thought of Odile to who she actually was didn’t read true. I can see how it was supposed to be cute how Mel gets to know the ‘real Odile’, but instead Odile just didn’t get much depth. And even with the spreadsheets of who played with roles in the theater, I could barely keep up with all the side characters.
On a high note, I did enjoy the bisexual representation and how steady Mel was in her own identity.