Everywhere You Want to Be
Not all paths are meant to be followed...
by Christina June
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Pub Date May 01 2018 | Archive Date Aug 21 2018
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Description
Tilly has been given an ultimatum from her mother— she can attend the summer dance program of her dreams in NYC if she puts her deposit in for fall admission to Georgetown but Matilda Castillo schemes how to get the best of both worlds. With her deposit in, and a deferment until next year, Tilly sets out to pursue her dream of professional dancing. But in the cutthroat world of dance, she may have made a few enemies.
Matilda Castillo has always followed the rules, but when she gets injured senior year, she's sure her dreams of becoming a contemporary dancer have slipped away. So when Tilly gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the summer with a New York dance troupe, nothing can stop her from saying yes—not her mother, not her fears of the big city, and not the commitment she made to Georgetown. Tilly's mother allows her to go on two conditions: one, Tilly will regularly visit her abuela in New Jersey, and two, after the summer, she'll give up dancing and go off to college.
Armed with her red vintage sunglasses and her pros and cons lists, Tilly strikes out, determined to turn a summer job into a career—and figure out how to break it to her mother later. Along the way she meets new friends ... and new enemies. Tilly isn't the only one desperate to dance, and fellow troupe member Sabrina Wolfrik intends to succeed at any cost. But despite dodging sabotage and blackmail attempts from Sabrina, Tilly can't help but fall in love with the city, especially since Paolo, a handsome musician from her past, is also calling New York home for the summer.
As the weeks wind down and the competition with Sabrina heats up, Tilly's future is on the line. She must decide whether to follow her mother's dream of college or leap into the unknown to pursue her own dreams.
A modern take inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, Everywhere You Want to Be features:
- A strong, charismatic female lead; soft boy love interest; mean girl antagonist
- A clean and wholesome romance, and passionate career choice
- Tie-in with Christina June’s It Started With Goodbye, and No Place Like Here
- Perfect for fans of Elise Bryant, Morgan Matson, and Sarah Dessen
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780310763338 |
PRICE | $12.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 288 |
Featured Reviews
I couldn't put this book down! Matilda (Tilly) Castillo has temporarily moved to New York for the summer to partake in a contemporary dance competition led by a famous dancer, with dreams of making a career out of dancing. The problem is that Tilly's mom is expecting her to attend Georgetown in the fall. Full of drama between her new nemesis and dance teammate Sabrina and love she never expected to find, Everywhere You Want to Be is a true winner!
This is a really smart book. Entertaining? Of course, but above that it's a clever take on the Red Riding Hood story with a smart writing style, plot and characters. Tilly is driven and determined, but she doesn't think about her actions and it could have been so easy to make her naive and separated from the world. Instead this book showed the path's she could take an intriguing and exciting, and it was easy to see why she would go down those paths. This book shows how intoxicating freedom can be and the values of being weary, but not suspicious or naive.
Last year, I read Christina June's debut novel, It Started with Goodbye, and could not get enough of it. I'm still recommending it all the time. I feel the same way about Everywhere You Want to Be. In fact, it's possible that I love it even more! Christina managed to make me laugh and cry several times. I also was smiling a lot and nodding in sympathy with Tilly.
I loved seeing New York City through Tilly's eyes. It made the city feel even more exciting than it already is. The whole dance aspect reminded me of a cross between Fame and A Chorus Line. My only concern was that teenage girls were randomly walking around the city at night, sometimes by themselves. I ended up worrying for their safety.
There were times when I was reading the story and it would reference something I had recently said or did. I thought the psychic connection there was funny. (For instance, I had a piece of banana bread one morning and then a moment later, I was reading about Tilly baking banana bread.)
Overall, I just loved this book so much and didn't even mind that it wrapped up neatly. I am excited to hear that there will be a third in this series. I hope there will eventually be a book about Sabrina, as I want to hear more of her story. Everywhere can be read as a stand-alone, but there are spoilers for <It Started with Goodbye, in case you were planning to read that one too. (And you totally should!)
Dream cast (some were chosen for It Started with Goodbye and some may be spoilers for that book)
Tilly: Lilimar
Paolo: Caleb McClure
Charlotte: Tiffany Espensen
Sabrina: Zoé De Grand Maison
Tatum: Rowan Blanchard
Seamus: Jordan Fisher
Sage: Renee Props
Belen: Patricia Velasquez
Blanche: Liz Torres
I don't know where to start with this book because I just love it that much. I read It Started With Goodbye and enjoyed it; was one of my favorite reads of 2017. But this one blow past that one. I don't know if it was because it's based around dance, I love anything to do with dance. Or because of the lead character passion. Or because I already know a bit about this world & characters because of her other book. I just found that Christina's writing had grown in this book, the pacing and characters are perfect.
The lead, Matilda Castillo aka Tilly, is a girl who's following her dreams. Even when it could get her in trouble with her Mom. For me, I love that she's overcome an injury still has the passion and drive to go for her dreams. It inspires me to want to keep going after mine.
The way the New York and the city plays into the book is neat. I always enjoy books more with the characters' environment plays into the story.
I enjoy the balance of different relationships from new roommates, stepsisters, to mother & daughters, grandmother, to her and Paolo. Just a nice mix, that fit together nicely.
I love how this book it is woven together with It Started With Goodbye. I love that you can read these books as stand-alone or together. With that said, I think this will be one of my favorite reads of 2018. This book just warmed my heart.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction