First off I wish to thank TBR & Beyound Tours for allowing me a place on this tour and to the Publishers for sending me a Netgalley Arc.


Well what can I say about Turning is that it is a young adult comtemporary novel which is not afraid to pull any punches and is Joy's debut novel. Our main character is Genie who has her world turned over after one particular event and to heal she must confront the past no matter how it hurts.

At first I was not keen at all on Genie as she seemed to me always angry at the world and her Mum who was trying to help Genie as much as she could even though she had made mistakes in the past. Genie began to be a nicer person when she met Kyle who too had an event that changed his life for ever but instead of stewing on things and getting angry he made sure that he got as much therapy as he could. In my view he was a better influence on Genie than her ex Nolan could ever be. To be honest I did not care for Nolan I found him very manipulative towards Genie and I was so glad she realised he was no good.

I loved how most of the story was centred around the world of ballet and how much Genie loved this world and through some adaptions she was still able to enjoy it. I found the last few chapters very tender and felt that Joy dealt with the topic in a respectful and loving way. For all these reasons Turning is getting 4 stars

This is Joy L. Smith’s debut novel. I read this fairly quickly because once I started I couldn’t stop reading. There are definitely some heavy trigger warnings in the book but I think it’s a very powerful book that we should all read.

The main character is Genie and she is a young inspiring ballerina who has had her dreams are cut short after a tragic accident. She is angry and frustrated because is now in a wheelchair and is paralyzed. Genie takes out her anger and frustrations on everyone around her. She knows she is hurting the people around her but she is struggling to deal with everything including the many secrets she is keeping from her mother. I don’t know if it was out of fear that she would disappoint her mother or in fear her mother would start drinking again.

I have to state right off the bad that I disliked Nolan. He rubbed me the wrong way throughout the book. He was jealous, possessive, controlling, demanding, and so much more. So many times as I was reading I just wanted to shake Genie to wake up and finally leave the guy alone. He is bad news. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was the reason she had fallen and hurt herself. It’s very rare that I have this much dislike for a character like Nolan.

Another important character in the book is Kyle who she meets at physical therapy. He was also involved in an accident that he is struggling to come to terms with. I liked Kyle and I thought he was good for Genie. At times I thought he was a little too perfect but as the story progressed I kept hoping he would show Genie that not all guys are like Nolan and that she deserves better. Will she realize how important her mom and friends are to her really?

It was nice to see Genie grow in the book. I think she realized that she needed to grieve the accident and the abortion. She needed to get back to what she was passionate about even if she couldn’t physically dance again.

Just a warning when you get to the last 1/4 of the book make sure you have kleenex on hand because more than likely you will cry as I did. I definitely would read other books by Joy in the future.

I received this book for free from SimonTeen in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Man, I don’t know what they call the WB these days, but this Turning by Joy L. Smith would be perfect for it’s own TV show. It’s got drama, lies, tragic accidents, toxic relationships and the ballet. I am still picking myself up off the floor after finishing this great debut. Whew!

I picked up this novel because I have never read a book featuring a Black girl as a main character who has a disability that requires her to use a wheelchair. The added fact that the main character, Genie is a Black ballerina was also part of the premise that pulled me in.

I Love Genie
First, I loved Genie. The name, the attitude, the perseverance, she is a one-of-a-kind character. Her sense of humor is on point (pun intended…when you read the book you will appreciate this lol). Despite the tragedy she is currently trying to process and heal from, the girl still knows what she wants. And Genie still wants the ballet. But she can’t have it the same way she had it before. Part of her journey is figuring out how to be the new Genie when she is still mourning the old.

Loved the genie in a bottle jokes spread throughout the books. Also kudoes to the author for giving each chapter a title. I love it when authors do this and wish it was done more often these days. This story needed the levity to balance the heavy topics it discusses.

Relationships Are Hard
Relationships are hard to navigate for the characters in this story. Some are strained, some toxic, some need repair, some need to be abandoned, some need nurturing and some just need space so they can grow. It’s easy to just hate Nolan because he is the ex-boyfriend who won’t take the hint and leave Genie alone. But while he is wrong and I for real wanted to just give him a full-palm smack to the back of the neck more that once, you can’t ignore what Genie calls “Daddy issues” that he is dealing with. It’s not an excuse, just a factor into understanding his character’s actions.

The interesting thing about Genie, is that she has a keen understanding of how each of her relationships works and the state they are in during the story. For example. she knows that things are really bad between her and Nolan, but it’s a hard train to get off once its moving, as many emotionally abusive relationships are. She knows how to approach her best friend and what will pull her in versus make her walk away forever. She even has an awareness of how to navigate her relationship with her mother, even though it is definitely embedded in a disgruntled teen daughter/ Mom trying hard to take care of teen daughter category. I thought her relationship with Kyle was interesting. But I do wish that had been explored further since he has such an impact on her.

The most interesting relationship though, is the one she has with herself. She has to reckon with who she “Used-to-be” with who she is now.

Generational Trauma
It was clear to me right away that this story was going to deal with generational trauma. Genie and Nolan deal differently with their “daddy issues” and their choices affect their relationship, simultaneously bringing them together and making them bad for each other at the same time. Genie is also dealing with trying to be the opposite of her Mom, who was a teen mom. Her own mom is dealing with alcoholism, I believe from both being abandoned by her own mom during her pregnancy and from dealing with an abusive husband.

Heavy Topics
As a warning, there are a lot of heavy topics in this novel. I wasn’t a fan of how the abortion news got dropped into the narrative. It felt a little too soon, like it should’ve been revealed a little later on once you got to know Genie better. It felt a little clunky the way it was revealed. The same with the treatment of Genie’s Dad showing up out of the blue and demanding her help for something. I don’t even think that was resolved and if it was I missed it. There was a lot to deal with just Genie’s fall, grief and learning to operate in her new reality with the people she loves. I don’t know why, but the way the abortion was treated felt like a bit much at times, but I understand how it factored into the plot.

If you are an educator, I would definitely be ready to facilitate a safe space for discussions to occur during and after reading this book.

Get Your Tissues Ready
I am not a cryer. But, this ending got me right between the eyes. I was ugly crying. Just a forewarning to prepare yourselves.

Content warnings: Being newly paralyzed from accident, parental alcoholism, abortion, spousal abuse, emotional abuse

This… was a nice book. Like, I loved the premise, I loved reading the characters, but the only place I found it lacking was the writing style of the part which was not dialogue. I am a person who doesn’t enjoy reading stuff that’s not dialogue (I apologize for the double negative), so this just lowered my rating. Like, it was just sorta complex and heavy and that kind of writing style was simply unnecessary for the novel.

But I also did like how the author started every chapter with ‘On this episode of The Breaking Pointe….’, however, it would have made more sense if the novel was named The Breaking Pointe.

Let’s get into an in-depth review!

Plot:

The plot was what drew me to the book (the cover’s really pretty too, though). I honestly haven’t read many books which feature specially abled people, and Black people, so I was like, hey I should pick it up! It’s also well executed in the book, although I’ve to say that a lot of it is already spoiled in the synopsis, and that’s a downer.

Characters:

Genie, the MC was honestly getting on my nerves in the beginning of the book, but she grew on me. The author did a fantastic job of explaining her point of view.

However, I found Kyle to be too good to be true, and Nolan was like just too bad. I want to say too bad to be true, but he actually is the representative of a lot of high school guys today, so like yeah.

Hannah was one of my favourite characters, but I have to say I’ve never met anyone who cries so easily.

Overall, I’d have to say the characters are fantastically written, but are slightly unrealistic.

Writing Style:

I have mentioned my thoughts on it above, but I’d just like to add, I loved the dialogue!

My final rating: 3.5 stars

This book was absolutely mesmerizing, I read it in one sitting! Joy L. Smith tackles a whole lot of tough topics in such a beautiful and gut-wrenching manner, including toxic relationships (familial and romantic) and breaking the cycle, alcoholism, abortion, driving under the influence, coping with new disability (the MC is a paraplegic after a terrible accident), grief over a future, racism in performing arts, and casual ableism in society. I didn't expect to cry at all in this book but cry I did, for Genie, for Kyle, for the life they could have had and for the life they struggle to deal with instead. People who are also fans of ballet would love the references made throughout the pages.

Genie was on a path to become the next Misty Copeland. When an accident leaves her paralyzed, she must come to terms with life in a wheelchair, with no hope of dancing again.

Turning is a beautiful novel for anyone who has danced or loves dance, but it is so much more. Genie's struggles both physically and emotionally give representation to others who have had life changing accidents. I especially loved the inclusion of Genie's anger and how it impacts all of her different relationships. My only complaint is that at times it felt like too many heavy topics being included all at once.

I couldn’t get this to open which is such a bummer because I was very excited for this one. I’m going to assume it’s amazing though. I’ll still be buying my own copy.

*Spoiler free*

I've been excited for this book since I found out it was about a Black disabled ballerina, who is trying to understand her place in the world after her injury has left her paralyzed and she would prefer if the world would leave her alone. It sounded amazing, and I was incredibly eager to read it.

This book is devastating in the best possible way.

Genie is angry. At the world, at her family, at her body that doesn't work like it used to. She's angry and she's upset and sometimes this leads to her making brash decisions and coming of as rude when she doesn't mean to. But she has gone through a major change. Her entire life has been upended. Of course she's going to be un emotional upheaval, and I really loved that the book showcased everything that she was and everything that she felt. She's human and because she's dealing with a really freaking hard thing, and that comes with a lot of messy emotions.

And this book was very messy emotionally, and I mean that as a compliment. Relationships aren't perfect, familial, romantic, friendships, and sometimes they hurt and sometimes they're angry and sometimes they get pushed away, especially in a situation like Genie is. And I really enjoyed seeing the progression of messy, because it was incredibly well done.

Really, I just loved the emotion of this book overall. It left me stunned at times, and it was so well written.

Though, at times I did feel like the pace was bit slow, and I do think that this book just wasn't completely for me. I did enjoy it, and I know there's going to be people who fall completely in love with it!

Overall, I did like it, and I loved Genie and I loved seeing her try to figure out what her life is going to look like now. I do think it's a book that a lot of people are going to love.