Sing if you Can't Dance by Alexia Casale
| Sing if you Can't Dance by Alexia Casale | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Utterly addictive to read, I felt like I was back doing my A Levels and watching burgeoning relationships and friendship dramas play out around me! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 336 | Date: July 2023 |
| Publisher: Faber & Faber | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9780571373802 | |
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It's hard enough to navigate your teenage years without suddenly finding that you're having to navigate a life-changing disability too, but that's what Ven is dealing with after collapsing on stage in the middle of a dance performance that was going to change her life. But she comes back fighting, desperate to avoid the pity stares, and desperate to get back to a life that's as normal as she can possibly manage. Meanwhile there's a new (cute!) boy in school, her music A Level performance piece to try to sort out, and just the day to day traumas of all the challenges her body continues to throw at her to navigate. So even though she can't dance anymore, might she be able to sing her way through instead?
Told in first person narrative, the book is immediate and intimate, and you really feel like you get to know Ven, as you're privy to the inner workings of her mind. This does also mean that sometimes you really like her, and sometimes she's really annoying! But it makes it an incredibly engaging read. I was completely caught up in Ven's life, and eager to know how things would work out for her as I read. She is sharp, energetic, witty and sarcastic. She thinks a lot of herself, and is very selfish, but she works really, really hard, and I just wanted things to turn out okay for her.
Ren is the love interest in the story, and I enjoyed the slow tease of their relationship, and then the wild ups and downs as they are both coming into things with their own hangups and issues. It felt like a very real teenage romance, and I enjoyed watching it play out. I also really enjoyed seeing Ven with her best friend, and how the two of them were coping with the massive changes to their relationship since Ven's diagnosis. Again, it felt very realistic as a friendship. Ven doesn't really have many other friends (you can sort of understand why as you read!) but then that makes it all the more special when she starts to build new links amongst her classmates. I found it quite emotional when some of them started opening up to her, helping her and asking for her help in return. The teens all feel like real people, and I thought the different challenges amongst them were interesting and well done.
It feels like an empowering story, and there's a lot around perseverance and courage, and hope. There is also a lot about chronic pain, and medical issues, and it is sometimes dark and traumatic. But I would say that overall the book feels fun. Ven's family often made me laugh, and I really enjoyed the back and forth between Ven and her parents. The planning of the music festival is interesting to read about, and provides a good framework for all the other storylines to hang from.
I have a dear friend with a disability and I found myself thinking of her often as I read. Seeing Ven battling with her own body is heartbreaking. She is so desperate to be able to do things, and to avoid everyone's pity, that she pushes beyond her body's limits and then crashes down even harder. It's written honestly and openly, and it can be difficult and uncomfortable to read of the challenges she's facing, and the things that her body is doing that she then has to deal with. But I think this is a really important book because of that. You don't often get a leading character who is disabled, and Ven is a brilliant, frustrating, glorious girl who I hope many others will read about, and perhaps learn a little bit more about the challenges that many, many people face in their everyday lives.
You might also like to try reading Things We Couldn't Explain by Betsy Tobin.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Sing if you Can't Dance by Alexia Casale at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Sing if you Can't Dance by Alexia Casale at Amazon.com.
Check prices, read reviews or buy from Waterstones. Waterstones currently charges from £2.75 for orders under £20, over which delivery is free. You may also click and collect from a Waterstones bookshop at no charge.
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