From the very start of this book, I was entranced. Krystle writes with such beautiful prose. It was very easy for me to get lost in the book. The prose was very flowery and I loved the aesthetic. I loved the fact that Luna island is meant to appear like a dreamy locations. Many are calling it balletcore or fairy core. As stated in the blurb, this book does indulge in your senses. Made me crave food and oddly enough a nostalgic scroll through tumblr.

In this book we are following Lila, a ballerina who has been shunned to Luna Island as punishment for a horrific incident that she committed. Lila was originally born on this island but her parents left with her to give her a better life. When she returns to this island she turns 18 and is whisked into the pageant that is held every 7 years in order to become the high priestess and assist the angels in protecting the island. As this pageant ensues, the balance of magic within the island is thrown off as it appears something or someone is haunting the Lila and the island.

I enjoyed this book and the plot and the characters. I loved the balance of the softness and beauty with the dark themes. Lila seems like she is a soft girl but clearly has a darker side due to years of pressure to be perfect. The perfect ballerina and the perfect daughter.

It’s giving Lilith x Lucifer or Hades x Persephone vibes

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I immediately requested “Dance of the Starlit Sea” after seeing the cover. I was sold. It had everything I could ever want in a book cover,

I also think this book has truly great vibes. We’re on a little island that has a pageant and spooky vibes? Magnificent. We’re a ballerina? Lovely. The author also just wrote this book in a way that drew me in and created a great atmosphere.

Unfortunately, I pretty immediately disliked the characterization of the protagonist. She was giving “I’m not like other girls vibes.” I just found myself rooting against the main character. Your parents hate you? You probably deserve it!

However, I wanted to push through. I went to go look at the reviews of my fellow NetGalley reviewers and saw things mentioned that I definitely would not enjoy in this book. I was hoping for some sort of dark backstory, considering she seemed so disgusted by her past behavior. Especially considering she kept incessantly mentioning it. However apparently she just fell off the stage… The drama of the main character was just too much for me.

Because of all of this, I have decided to not finish this book. There are so many things this book did right, but too many aspects that personally did not mesh well with me as a reader. I will not be posting this review, as I did not finish.

Thank you so much for the ARC, Netgalley and Peach Tree.

First, the cover is stunning. This was a "cover request" for me, and I wish I'd done more to thoroughly understand the synopsis before I went into this, because this was a confusing, badly-structured book that needed more context. I also put way too much weight behind the "Phantom of the Opera" comp, so don't be like me if that was the thing that made you want to read this.

There are moments—like in the world building—where the prose is expansive, lyrical, and smooth to read. And then there are moments—like the ending—where the prose falls apart trying to do too many things and pull the reader's eye too many times.

I think this book appropriately touched on certain themes and topics, and you can tell there is a level of research and care that went into these characters and this story by Krystle. However, the many good things about this book are overshadowed by the many, many bad things.

Thank you to Holiday House, Peachtree, Pixel+Ink, Peachtree Teen, and NetGalley for providing an ARC!

CW: blood, gaslighting, emotional abuse, physical abuse, violence, bullying, kidnapping
Actual rating: 1.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Peachtree Teen for the eARC. I received a copy for free in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way impacted my rating.

Lila (pronounced Lee-la) has been sent away to live with her aunt after falling on stage during a ballet performance and committing an act that she believes was truly evil. Luna Island, where Aunt Laina lives, is a world of pastel Pinterest boards, French pastries, and.... A cult?

I'm going to be honest here. I love to read reviews. I love to read <i>spoilers</i> too, if you can believe it. RUIN the experience for me, I don't care! I will still read it and try to form my own opinions. In this case, I do have to say I'm feeling kinship with the consensus here. This book is... an experience.
Let's build up to it, shall we?

Characters:
Lila - I remember being a sad, sad teenager. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and sometimes I imagined pressure from places that it wasn't. But Lila's just.... so dramatic about it. All the time. Constantly. It was not... fun to read. Your prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed yet, babe. Take a breath. Give it five to seven years. Then we can circle back.
I think my biggest issue with Lila is how often we were told she was convinced she was bad, she was worthless, etc. But her actions... did not show us that? I feel like so much of her personality was held up in her thoughts and her actions were just kind of..... Look at pretty dress, eat some cake, do a ballet dance.
Also, she was so INSANELY chill with NOT ONLY learning about a new religion, joining in said religious practices, learning that their religion IS NOT allegorical/theoretical, but genuinely literal and active in their day-to-day lives, and THEN finding out <spoiler>she has special moon magic</spoiler>?! I would not be that calm. But she doesn't even take five pages to process, she just mows through with it.

Laina - Idk man, I got nothing. She was like.... nothing on the page. I'm not even positive why she had a falling out with her siblings at this point, and I just read 200 pages of this book today.

Roisin - Someone said Roisin should have been the love interest and frankly I agree. She really didn't get to do anything besides be The Side Character™ but at least she had, like, a reasonable character arc.

Damien - This boy gave us NOTHING ✨🥰 He said, "I have no personality, but I sure love YOU, Lila!"

The Setting:
I'm about to make a bold statement.
I think this book would have been better if it was high fantasy, rather than urban.

Because, like, why DOES it have to be modern? So you could show off ballet terms? This island exists out of time, completely removed from an American setting. Everyone and everything is insular on this island. They have their own separatist religion (getting to that soon). They rarely have outsiders.
This would also allow for the lightning fast character acceptance of her changing circumstances, but still leaving space for her to be special or gifted.
Making this a contemporary fantasy pulled the story down.

The ~~✨Aesthetic✨~~:
I'm not making this my final point only because I feel like others have had some truly stellar commentary about it. There's a lot of genuinely amazing commentary on the rise of "personal brand" aesthetics and the influence it has over how people, especially women, curate themselves and their personality on the Internet.

This story was very obviously created aesthetics up. It comes from mood boards and pretty pictures; the plot was not always the driving force. There was so much focus on the descriptions of dresses and food and drinks and smells that the town, the characters, the religion became secondary points.
It's a cozy, tasty, pastel piece of cardboard. I did not feel transported, I did not feel engrossed, because the bulk of the story was hazy and insubstantial. Every aspect of this felt like a performance for the benefit of the audience, not as a means to tell a story or to set a scene any broader than the inside of a dress shop.

I come from both a writing and a film background. I can appreciate engaging with media for the aesthetics, to a point. But when writing a novel, it's plot, then set dressing. Otherwise, it's like hiring your cinematographer before you write the script. It just doesn't work that way.

The Religion/Mythology:
You can take a look at my reading updates or ask my friend Sam how I felt about this. Because boy. Boy, was I mad.

DON'T GIVE US A RELIGION AND THEN NOT ACTUALLY MAKE IT A RELIGION.
Basically, Luna is a "cult" in the original Greek sense of the word. This is a closed-off religion, endemic to this one island. But the divine antagonist is.... The Devil? Like, that original guy? The one is all those Christian books? THAT GUY?
Let's lay out the facts: 1. Christianity exists in this universe. Lila name drops God and talks about church.
2. Luna is a moon goddess.
3. Luna had angels?
4. Luna had angels that fell because of Lucifer.
5. These angels are not only definitely real, but they interact on a regular basis with the humans on this island.
WHY are they not being overrun by Christians getting excited about their religious tenants being proven? Doesn't this prove the existence of God? Where is the Pope?
What are the practices of this cult? What is their worship like? And clearly people who live here leave and move (Lilah's background story), so you mean to tell me NONE of them ever let it slip to someone who was religious?

This was the most afterthought of afterthoughts and it drove me up a wall the entire time I was reading. I love creating fantastical religions, I like reading about religion, I dabble in comparative religion. This is my thing. And it was the most lack-luster aspect of the story.

Final Thoughts:
I said it before and I'll say it again - reading this book was certainly an experience. I just think the process behind this one went a little wonky. The story this book and its synopsis are selling and the story they're telling are kind of two different animals. Unfortunately, the story I was told didn't really work for me.

Im going to start with saying I did not finish this book, did not want to. I was drawn in with the magical cover and beautiful title. I had such a high expectations for a stunning, magical land that would appear via waves of texts. I did not get that. Honestly, I'm questioning the publisher and editor more than the author. I'm not exactly sure what the author is writing. Sentences and ideas do not make sense or come out of nowhere. It almost is like it was put through Google translate and spit out, though I checked the author out and she speaks English fine. However, there are other sections where the writing is what I expected- well written and building a new world. I just don't understand why all of it wasn't that like. I shouldn't be confused when reading and yet here I am. I guess angels are real and this is going to turn into a love story. I really don't know. This just needs heavily edited and fixed before release and maybe I'll give it another shot. Right now, this is unreadable.

When Lila reacts violently to her apparent failure on the ballet stage, she is sent away to the idyllic Luna Island. Haunted by her actions, Lila feels out of place surrounded by the island’s perfection. In an attempt to prove her worth Lila enters the renowned Angel of the Sea pageant, where beautiful girls compete to to become the High Priestess of the angels who inhabited Luna Island. However, as Lila becomes close with one particular angel, she begins to expect that Luna Island may not be quite as it seems.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, and was excited to receive the ARC. Unfortunately, it really did not live up to my expectations. I will say that Krystle certainly has a talent for describing things beautifully, and she made a good effort to include important themes. However, it fell very short of having the impact that I think it set out to have for me. The internal conflict of Lila was very repetitive, and she made little effort to seek out true help. She often came across as a classic ‘not like other girls’ YA lead which doesn’t sit well with me. Her actions were often truly unforgivable and had very little repercussions. As for the romance, the ‘Hades and Persephone meets Phantom of the Opera’ which we were promised is not really evident until the end. I didn’t buy the connection between Lila and Damien, particularly on her end as she treated him very poorly yet he always stuck around. Overall, despite some beautiful writing, this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm just going to DNF this one. I've read four chapters, and I'm not having a good time, so it's better to just move on to something else.

A big part of this book is aesthetic, which is fine, but the writing isn't quite hitting the mark. From what I've read so far, I think this could be a good horror plot, but the author is not taking it that way.

Lila is a teenage ballet dancer whose parents are mad at her for doing something bad, so she's been shipped off to live with her aunt on Luna Island. Located just off the East Coast (I've already forgotten which state, probably something like New York or Connecticut), Luna Island is a picturesque island that apparently tourists get too creeped out to even get on the boat. Its main street looks like the candy coated, floofy, saccharine town that you imagine the entirety of Europe to be if you've only watched pretty, girly movies where an American goes to Paris and becomes the belle of the ball. Having studied in Paris, that cotton candy comparison of Luna Island to Paris annoyed me. As did Lila going into a dress shop with only $100 and walking out with the ✨ prettiest girly dress ever ✨ with lace and ribbons literally made by angels. As a sewist and fashion fan, I can promise you that you could not buy the dress described for $100. Only in fast fashion and unethical labor practices.

Anyway, Lila meets some girls at the dress shop who tell her about how tonight's ball (oh yeah, also Lila has arrived on the day of the major ball which only happens every 7 years but for some reason is 6 years early) will have the major pageant that all the girls want to compete in. She is ~haunted~ by something bad she did as a ballerina but somehow ends up going to the ball and becoming friends with the prettiest pageant girl who also wants her to compete?

The story seems to be that Luna Island participates in cult worship of this specific group of angels, and Lila is being haunted by ~something deadly and mysterious as the sea~. It could be a good horror novel, but the writing is too focused on the cotton candy aesthetic. I wish that the writing were different because this really has potential.

This is a modern-day American, first person POV with a very loquacious MC, and that is not what I was looking for. Maybe it will work for someone else.

Thank you to Netgalley and Peachtree for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for saving me money and giving me an arc because no one should be spending money on this🫶

Hello… 🧍🏻‍♀️
I’ve read another book…
And it was bad :(

There is only so much I can speak upon because so much of this shit is flowery ass purple—excuse me lilac✨✨—prose that means nothing and is such a slog to get through.
If you love ugly descriptions of dresses, the overuse of words like iridescent, viridescent, or pearlescent, victim-blaming, parental abuse AND domestic violence, not like other girls main characters that are actually so special and so kind and beautiful and so really perfect and cool this could be the book for you🥰✨✨

This book follows our super gorlboss Lila Rose Li who was the best ballet dancer🩰 to ever live until she fell for the first time ever in her whole career (one singular time) and was LAUGHED🧙🏻‍♀️ off the stage and BANISHED🤴🏻 by her parents to the most beautiful and coquette slay beach island ever like even better Barbie lands most beautiful world. This island is called Luna Island because it’s watched over by a goddess named Luna🌝 who you guessed it is the goddess of the moon😌✨ wow so creative creativity bouncing off the walls🤭
On Luna island lives Lila’s aunt who runs a tea shop and is Lila’s own personal therapist and support squad and has no personality aside from loving and supporting Lila especially after the super traumatic event of CHOKING OUT HER OWN LIFE-GIVING MOTHER🥺

yes dear reader, Lila’s super horrific traumatic event that got her sent to this paradise of an island🏝️ —I mean prison—was that Lila with her stiletto acrylic nails that she never lets us forget strangled her mother and literally drew blood to the point that it was caked under Lila’s stiletto nails💅 You may be asking why would she do that?? Surely something extreme must have happened for such a punishment?? Well it’s because Lila’s mother brought her a lovingly grown pear that she had cut into a flower just for Lila, her only child. That doesn’t seem unkind you might think, but you don’t get it😩 Lila’s parents never ever actually said “I love you”😞 and instead only paid for all of her ballet lessons, and picked and grew fruit for her, and gave her gifts, and worked really to give her a perfect life, and only really wanted her to be the best she could be. you know kind of like all parents aspire to for their children to be??? Clearly they actually hated her and Lila was so right for trying to murder her mother in a fit of rage. 😡

Wow isn’t Lila just a wonderful character that you really want to root for? 😍 I love when my main characters have random emotional and violent outbursts over nothing when the plot requires it.
Lila is totally so emotionally stable, and so wonderful and kind and brave and such a good friend according to her defense squad of girls on the island that she participates in the pageant with even though they don’t actually know her and she only really spends time with one girl from the island. 💕✨

That one girl is Roisin, a lesbian who wears pink, and girlbosses all over the place I guess. Roisin’s girlfriend won the pageant last year and was taken by the angels to be their high priestess.

Every seven years Luna Island has a pageant 😇 wow! Except this year an emergency pageant is being thrown because the last pageant winner has gone missing! The winner of the pageant gets to be the angels’ high priestess whatever that means!! Yes there are angels👼 that are totally not anything like biblical angels just transplanted over to this new goddess Luna.

Lila and Roisin participate in this pageant! Roisin wants to find out what happened to her girlfriend while Lila wants to win so that she can be worshipped and adored forever by angels. One of these motivations is not like the other!🤭✨

Despite this massive gap in motivation Roisin and Lila become besties🥰✨ and their relationship totally is platonic nothing more and they are definitely not super in love with each other👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩!! They only spend a couple of chapters lamenting how the other person is the greatest thing to ever happen in their entire lives and that if one of them gets picked they’ll think of them forever and ever and they totally do not run their nails through the other’s hair and whisper sweet nothings into their ear and omg is that Chappell Roan playing in the background?? No it’s totally platonic guys and actually Lila has a male love interest 🙋‍♂️💘

Lila really really loves her male love interest who is a magical angel! of course he’s the most special angel. His name is Damien. He’s like super special and has black wings🪽. And he and Lila totally do not spend to whole book arguing with each other every time they’re on page until Damien?? Apologizes?? For her actions against him crazy I know🧍🏻‍♀️ isn’t this romance??
In fact Damien is so great that he tries so hard to protect Lila that his father literally whips him in front of her. Good thing that now she knows that his father is physically abusive towards him and would never ever emulate that in a burst of rage that would be insane.

Anyway Lila is being hunted by the Devil😈. He’s technically not the Devil from the Bible however he would be if you swapped in the Christian god for Luna. wow what ✨🌎world building🌎✨
Also plot twist the angels worship the Devil and you might think that has huge complications for this island of really cult-y people who devote their lives to making sure the angels are happy but it doesn’t really matter.

The Devil wants Lila because she was born under a blood moon and has magical ballet powers. She can just fucking manifest things with seemingly no limits and she never really utilizes this. Or is even interested in it. At all. Okay 👍
Basically any girl that wins the pageant is sent to the Devil. The Devil’s motivation for taking these girls is that he likes pretty things. The Devil is trapped under the sea 🌊 but the angels are scared he’s going to come up and destroy the island but he is trapped under the sea and has to steal power from human girls so idk how he would do that but whatever sure. He wants Lila because she’s like blessed by Luna to have infinite powers so she could make things beautiful forever.

Anyway Lila obviously wins the pageant and at the ball where they name the winner Damien is exposed to be the Angel of the Night. You may be asking wtf is that? I don’t know it was randomly thrown in but I guess he picks the winner and delivers her to the Devil <s>from the Bible.</s>
Lila is pissed that Damien would lie to her🥺 (granted he has been working his ass off to get her to leave the pageant and keeps telling her it’s not what she thinks it is) and as punishment she uses the ocean (salt water) to WHIP him.
You know like she saw his father do to him??
That moment that was deeply traumatic and disturbing?
Yeah she then did the same exact thing to him TWO DAYS after she watched his ABUSIVE father do it to him.
In fact, it was only his screams that manage to soothe her. All of this because she was mad at him. And then she forgives him like 12 hours later because she thinks about for like five seconds but you know she’s already WHIPPED HIM.
After she whips her boyfriend and summons a hurricane that destroys the island in a fit of rage she then willingly goes under the sea to the Devil. Where the author goes on to have her pity him, make him out to be a soft boy that was just never loved🥺, fantasizes about fixing him, and making his house pretty to make him happy and then makes him the most nothing burger antagonist the world has ever seen. His “fight” with Lila is a conversation where she declares herself the queen of hell and simply tells him no. Then she tells him to go wait in their bedroom.
Then Damien appears but omg where did his wings go??? HE RIPPED THEM OFF FOR LILA TO FREE HIMSELF FROM HIS FAMILY CURSE THAT FORCES HIM TO BE THE ANGEL OF THE NIGHT. He doesn’t even have a choice. And he ripped off his own wings for the woman that whipped him.
Isn’t that romantic😍✨
Then he apologizes to her. She whipped him and he apologizes to her. And she’s so sweet and kind and accepts it🥰✨
Then they fucking dance together💃🏻🕺🏻 and kill the Devil 👹and return all the girls to Luna island and magically fixes it after she definitely killed people with the hurricane she summoned to destroy the island but no one talks about that and they clap and cheer and call her queen and then she gets into a really good ballet school in Paris🩰 and they live happily ever after!!
And she never really feels bad about choking out her mother or whipping her boyfriend because no one is their worst moments😘🫶

The worst part about this book is that it could have been really cool. A coquette pageant that was secretly a front for a devil worshiping cult and ballet magic?? That’s sounds so fun?? But no? Instead I was given an emotionally unstable and abusive protagonist that is constantly being praised and applauded for doing nothing spectacular outside of merely existing.
This book desperately needed an editor and just someone to be honest with the author and tell her that all this purple prose and description was fucking mind numbing to read. This is not an enjoyable read and very very far from an enjoyable experience.
I don’t want to be mean to a debut author but she seriously needs to go back to the drawing board and get better people around her to be honest about the state of her book.

'Dance of the Starlit Sea,' is one of those stories that I would love to see the finished novel. While I enjoyed many things, there were a few things I didn’t. I wasn’t quite swept away by the romance, but reading is subjective, the story itself is good. I think if you enjoy ballet, you will love the story.

Thank you, NetGalley, Author, and Peachtree, for allowing me to read this ARC!

Dance of the starlit sea is a contemporary fantasy novel with magical pageants, angels, and ballerinas.

The only thing interesting about this book was the aesthetics. Because I'll be real with you, the aesthetics were what compelled me to read this book. The author has done a great job in evoking the coquette vibe in this book.
But aside from that, this book feels very reminiscent of 2014 YA paranormal romance, complete with all the clichés. I hated those novels then, and this novel just....didn't work out fir me. It felt repetitive and tiring to get through tbh.If you liked those novels, you'll love this one.

In conclusion, you thought you could dress up a typical YA paranormal angel romance from the early 2000s with coquette aesthetics and thought we wouldn't notice.

I'm so sad because the description was so hard up my alley, but the writing style just made it a big miss for me personally. Its just too flowery, too aesthetically pleasing and not enough actual substance.

I have also read the author is harrassing people who make negative reviews? That in itself should deserve a negative review, IMO.

It had good bones but unfortunately did not deliver. The writing was all over the place in my opinion but not in a good way. It made it difficult to get into the story and I really struggled to finish.

I was expecting to love Dance of The Starlit Sea. I had quite high expectations - based on the summary I expected a story similar to Laini Taylor’s and based on the cover and vibes, I expected a magical, romantic adventure in the vein of Stephanie Garber’s books. Dance of The Starlit Sea doesn’t hold up to either comparisons, however. As other reviewers have mentioned, the writing is a mess. It’s not entirely unbearable to read, but it’s over the top to where it takes you out of the story. I’m not a fan, but I don’t usually mind books with detailed writing or a strong emphasis on aesthetics, but that was not the case here. The entire story — from the characters to the themes — felt too superficial. Kiana Krystle lays the groundwork for a captivating story but doesn’t quite reach it. I believe with a bit more polishing, this story could be much more engaging and reach its ideal audience. While that audience unfortunately doesn’t include me, I’m sure younger YA readers or those looking for an escapist read will find this more enjoyable than I did.

This wasn't up my alley, I'm afraid. The writing felt too oversaturated in metaphors and flowery and lost any sense of depth or emotion. The main character came across about 13 years old, to the point of literally stamping her foot at one point. It's with a heavy heart I say this because the book has a perfect recipe for a fun, interesting fantasy book! It also tries to explore some really deep, fantastic themes of guilt, pressure and the power of loving your whole, messy self. But it just doesn't follow a consistent tone at all.

"Dance of the Starlit Sea" by Kiana Krystle is an enchanting debut that immerses readers in a world of forbidden romance, dark secrets, and mystical intrigue.

Set on Luna Island, the story follows Lila Rose Li, a troubled ballerina exiled to her aunt's cottage after a violent outburst on stage. As Lila navigates her new surroundings, she becomes entangled in the island's mysterious lore surrounding the Angel of the Sea pageant. With rumours of haunting and imbalance plaguing the island, Lila is drawn deeper into the secrets lurking beneath the surface.

Krystle's prose is sensually rendered, painting a vivid picture of Luna Island with its sparkling blue waters and rose-covered boutiques. As Lila delves into the island's history and traditions, she uncovers dark truths that challenge her understanding of herself and her place in the world.

At its core, "Dance of the Starlit Sea" is a tale of self-discovery and acceptance, as Lila learns to embrace every part of herself, even the parts she considers monstrous. Krystle deftly weaves together elements of paranormal mystery and mythology, creating a lush and sinister narrative that captivates from beginning to end.

With its blend of romance, mystery, and fairy tale elements, "Dance of the Starlit Sea" is a mesmerising read that will leave readers eagerly awaiting Krystle's next literary offering.

i can't fathom this book honestly. the writing was mediocre at best. i truly wanted to like this but AAAA i just couldn't!! thank you to NetGalley still and the author for trying their best<3

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dance of the Starlit Sea is for those who have found solace in friendships when it was harder to breathe properly in the world where too much pressure was put on them at a very young age. Girlhood is perfectly described in the novel and how girls need to depend on one another instead of fighting each other.

But the plot lacks uniqueness. The focus was on describing the aesthetics instead of the plot or characters. The details of every single thing they eat and wear was just unnecessary. At first, it was fine. But soon it became repetitive.

Also feminine rage was mentioned in the author's post but as I finished the book I can't tell there was this feminine rage. The fml was just a teenager with anger issues and that's not feminine rage. I was really dissappointed ngl.

And I really wished we could see more about Lila's relationship with her parents.

The ending was better than I was expecting after reading half portion of the book. But maybe if the Devil told his side of the story it could've been much better because I, personally, wanted to know his backstory. What turned him into what he has become?

Overall, it was not bad for a debut novel. I just think it could've been even better.

I have been waiting so long for this book and I wanted to love it so bad but it really fell flat for me. There was 0 story it was all just flowery prose with no depth and I totally get the aesthetic the author was going for but the execution didn't work. I didn't connect with any of the characters, they had no spark at all and were very one dimensional. I also found it really strange how this is marketed as being for girls, femininity, etc, which is what pulled me in the most so props for the marketing, but then there are tones of internalized misogyny throughout? Just extremely superficial all around unfortunately

I have heard the author is harassing people for negative reviews and that's really not okay. These should be safe spaces for readers to review and discuss the books they've read

I got an ARC for this one on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, so here it is!

Something about me is that I read this book right after one of the most stressful periods of my life. This is the first book I read in months (maybe even in a couple of years, actually), because it had been sitting in my "Want to Read" list ever since the deal was announced and, later, in my "DESPERATELY Want to Read" once the cover was revealed. It's gorgeous, really.

So, I immediately applied for an ARC (Thank you NetGalley!) and got it.

And, after weeks of stress and anxiety and problem after problem after problem, diving into this book felt like soaking into a warm bath full of rose petals and littered with sweet-scented candles. I was lured in by the pastel setting and the delicate prose, which was a delight to read sentence after sentence. Each description of a dress, I could feel the organza under my fingers, skirts flowing and soft fabric, and each description of a pastry, I could feel the sugar beads melting upon my tongue.

Although sometimes I couldn't condone Lila's reactions, I'll admit that made me feel for her a little more. She's deeply hurt, imperfect, flawed, and she knows it. She tries to navigate a world in which her emotions are too much to fit into the mold that's made for her - perfect ballerina, perfect daughter, perfect girl. Her anger, her fury, her frustration at the unfairness of her failures (and the reactions to her failures as well) spill over the edges of the mold, making it shatter. Her relation to it was both satisfying and devastating to read - she tries and lashes out, which does make her relatable, especially regarding her parents and their expectations of her, and yet sometimes she does so unfairly, which only hurts others (and herself) in the end.

I liked the contrast between dashing, pastel-pink Luna Island and the darker themes underneath. I felt they showed a dark glimpse at girlhood shifting into womanhood quite skillfully. Girlhood, feminine stuff, with everything pink, with ruffles and sugar and glitter and fluff - that is what Luna Island is. But isn't it also what the male gaze expects of women, as perfect little brides? Luna Island raises girls into candidates for a pageant meant to elect the most perfect of them all, the High Priestess. Yet, the winner will only be wed to the Devil, her feminine beauty not for her own but meant to please men, to be his to own and show off. I think that raises quite an interesting question, in the fact that women are told to strive for beauty, not for themselves but for men instead, to catch the attention of a prospective husband. Of course, this is only a sliver of girlhood/womanhood, but I found it quite an interesting theme to show through the such a setting/plot.

Overral, I had a blast diving into this world and I didn't want to leave it when turning the last page.

Okay, this is my first time giving an official review for an ARC. I'm not an expert, but I'll do my best.

First, the cover is gorgeous, that's the main reason I requested an ARC of this. It's really gorge!!!

Second, I'll describe this book more of like a Barbie meets the Black Swan (The Movie). Like, it has this beautiful and colorful writing blended with something dark and sad. There's a lot of instances were you'll be able to feel the connection to the main character because of how realistic the emotion is... And the vibe!!! I really like the vibe in this one, Girlhood, finding purpose, understanding oneself, and battling your own demons. It really hits the spot most of the time.

Third, I really wish that there could be more of like another way to describe the ballet steps. 'Cause not all readers are like experts in this one. I don't know if this book could be for certain people to read, for example ballet dancers, but it would be such a good thing if others can also understand and visualize it easily. But I don't think there's easy when it comes to ballet.

Lastly, I hate to say this but the plot is kinda messy. There's this thing and there's another thing going on that messes the first one. You know, like it doesn't quite fit. And when it's finally going smoothly there's another thing that's gonna change the road inti bumpy. (I can't actually explain it clearly)

And because of that, my rating will be between 2.75 to 3 stars.

I really thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for such an honor 🙇🏻‍♀️