Sing Like No One’s Listening was a novel packed with all that: sarcasm, humor, romance, sorrow. It’s been a long time since I last read a novel like that, so it’s safe to say that I was very, very into it the moment I started reading it. Everything about it, from the storyline to the characters, was just so simply perfect, so light-hearted and so good. Words cannot do it justice, in all honesty. I related to the characters, but most of all, it was so easy to take a profound liking to Nettie and Fletch. Their relationship was so cute and fun, and every single meeting, every conversation and every scene between them was far from boring and very much enjoyable. Yes, the novel was long, but never did it feel like the author was dragging it or didn’t know where she was going with it. As I said, it was perfect beyond words, every bit of it. Besides Nettie and Fletch and their amazing chemistry, Alex, Leon and Kiki are not the kind to be overlooked. Even their characters were so interesting and great. I was very, very impressed. Oh, and last but not least, the writing style was everything. That’s the whole reason why I admired the book so much. Vanessa Jones’ writing style is what kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading this novel. I would very heartily recommend Sing Like No One’s Listening to all young adult fans!

I loved this book. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars is that there was a lot of predictability and cliché, but it was one of those books that just spoke to me. I mean, musical theater? singing? sweet rom-com? Check, check, and check! I was the kid who stayed up late to watch Fame when I was younger and this felt like a modern reboot. I seriously inhaled this book in under 24 hours.

Singing is an emotional thing. It helps express emotions, but it also is better if it comes from an emotional place. When Nettie's mother died, it was hard for her to keep singing. When she accidentally listened to an old voice mail right before a huge audition, it was a mental block and she couldn't get a sound out. For reasons we don't know at first, she still manages to get into the performing arts school she was auditioning for, but she continually feels like she is not up to par. It doesn't help that two "mean girl" second year students are out to get her, in part because of the boy she has a crush on. Nettie is finally able to sing sporadically when she stumbles into an empty studio and an unknown piano player is playing behind a screen. Full of emotional highs and lows, this was a truly enjoyable book.

Nettie has an iconic mother, a nasty grandmother, and a life that people would kill for (on the outside looking in). When she gets accepted into Duke's, despite a botched audition, she finds herself having to jump many hurdles. As the story unfolds, readers get to peek inside of the complications of grief, stress, and show business. Thankfully, Nettie is surrounded by wonderful friends and people to help her find her voice.

I loved this story. It was a quick read. Everyone, at some point, can identify with Nettie's helplessness. The message that is important to me, however, is to find your voice when you've lost it. Jump through as many hoops as necessary to get it back. There's a life lesson to be learned. You can overcome every moment that renders you helpless. I saw a review that likened this book to High School Musical. I'm somewhat inclined to agree, BUT I think this, in my opinion, is even better!

Sing Like No One's Listening follows Nettie during her first year at a performing arts college. After Nettie receives a voicemail from her dead mother on the day of her audition to her mother's alma mater, Nettie suddenly finds herself unable to sing. To make matters worse, her entire time at college depends on her ability to do so, but she discovers that she's able to sing in an empty rehearsal room with a mystery pianist accompanying her from the room next door. She embarks on a journey to try re-gain her voice. 

I loved the premise of the book. Nettie's grief over leaving her mother and her struggle ensuing felt real. I thought those aspects of her and her character were well-developed. Even the competitive nature of the performing arts school felt very real and on point. However, I felt as though the character development was lacking in many of the characters throughout the novel. I struggled to understand why characters acted the way they did and what pulled them together. It took some time to get into the novel for this reason as well. There wasn't an immediate pull to any of the characters. The closeness that readers so often need felt like it was lacking.

Overall, I thought the book and the events within it were good, but I struggled to connect to and understand the characters. I never felt like I got a good picture of who each important character was at their core, and at times they felt one dimensional rather than like real, multifaceted humans. It is for this reason that I felt the need to rate the book three stars out of five.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book but ultimately had a lot of issues with the writing style and the broad caricatures that were the characters in this story. As I was reading this book, all I could think of was the Hilary Duff movie Raise Your Voice. The "mean girl" characters felt very flat and one dimensional. Nettie's character seemed pretty flat and unremarkable. I don't know as much about European school systems and had to look up what age Nettie was supposed to be because the writing made her feel so childish at times. I think the premise is there but there were just a lot of little things that added up and made this book feel a little unbelievable for me.

Yikes! What a book.

This book was a difficult read. When I read ohmigod written like that (exactly like that), I asked if this went through a editor. 

The story felt very middle school / high school creative writing project. There was a story there but I don't think it the writing showcased it well enough for me to care. The author clearly knew what she was writing about - seeing that she went to a drama school herself. I just don't think 'writing' was strong enough to carry this story.

**Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & the publisher for a chance to read & review an E-ARC of this novel!**

It started out with a Fame vibe...and ended up in High School Musical territory...not bad...just not my cup of tea. Please find my extended thoughts below...along with some spoilers (beware). :)
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Things I Liked: 
-the music focus...I LOVE music & musicals! I felt that this novel did depict the cut throat world of music/theatre/showbiz pretty accurately. 
-the friendship component...I LOVED Alec, Kiki, & Leon. They steered Nettie in the best directions when she was blinded by her crush(es), they were funny, & the banter between them all was written beautifully! It made me laugh quite a few times. 
-the cool teachers...Steph & Michael...they were funny & helpful in a sea of musical theatre fiascos. 
-how honestly the novel portrayed LGBTQ+ issues & discrimination...I think this is very important! The novel also highlighted how people can combat these issues in healthy ways by investing in themselves.  
-the author's connections to the world of showbiz! I really like that the author has experienced some of the concepts in the novel herself. 

Things That Didn't Sit Quite Right With Me: 
-I have so many unanswered questions (Why did that voicemail from Nettie's mom come through at such an inopportune random time? What was Nettie's mom hiding about her past? What was Ms. Duke alluding to when she talked about Nettie's mom stopping dance? What happened between Nettie & her grandmother? Why was there such tension between Nettie's mom & the grandmother? Did the dance teacher from hell ever get in trouble for her abusive teaching style? How did Ms. Duke respond to Nettie's performance? What happened to Jade at Duke's after the blackmail? How did Steph respond to Nettie's performance? Did Nettie's friends just forgive Fletch?.....)
-the random plot points/changes...like the weird voicemail delivered right before her audition...Nettie falling & hitting her head after Fletch dropped off his letter...Nettie seemingly just hating her grandmother (without more context I didn't really understand this plot point)
-I didn't like how the whole Nettie/Fletch ("Netch") thing just resolved itself. He was a jerk & she was not communicative. I can see this turning into an unstable relationship & I felt like the book sort-of romanticized that.

Overall, I gave this novel 2 stars. It was a solid 3 star read for me...until about 75% of the way through. At that point it just started to feel more drama filled without any purpose (just for the sake of drama or lengthening the book). But this is not a horrible story or read! I just don't think it ended up being for me. I think it would be a fun read for a younger crowd, people who love music/musicals, & those interested in the happy-ever-after style romance stories.

Thank you to Peachtree Publishing for sending me an ARC.

This book was such a beautiful tale of literally finding your own voice again after a tragedy.

Nettie Delaney has been accepted to the same prestigious theatre school that her mother went to, the only problem is that she hasn't been able to sing since her mother died. With help from a mysterious piano player, Nettie just might be able to find her voice again.

The characters and the emotions felt so real to me. I really loved that aspect of it. It was a simple plot but the characters and emotions were so complex that it didn't need anymore.

However, there were a couple of loose ends in the plot that I really felt needed to be tied up. There were so many hints about her father and some of the teachers and I would have liked the ends to be tied up a bit.

The theatre nerd in me was delighted with this. 4 stars.

As someone who is just beginning to fall in love with theater, I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated the nod to popular productions such as Hamilton and my favorite, Dear Evan Hansen. This book has complex situations, and I unfortunately did not finish it. I didn't love how the writing chose to lead these characters, but this only my opinion.

Thanks to Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC for providing a digital ARC of Sing Like No One's Listening via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Confession Time: I'm a theatre nerd. Not a theatre geek or thespian like this books main character because I haven't done any out of school productions since I was 11 and signed up for after school theatre camps, but I've been obsessed with all things musical theatre for as long as I can remember so this was a book I was destined to either hate or love. At first, I was excited. You can always tell if a book is pandering to theatre kids or written by a theatre kid based off of the musicals they mention (basically if your MC only takes in Hamilton, DEH, and les mis lyrics, we have a problem) and Nettie roles up to her audition and announces that she's about to sing "I'm Not Afraid of Anything" and you instantly know a theatre kid is writing this because while every female mezzo in existance has sang JRB for at least one audition, he's not super well known outside of the world of theatre. I was excited. It was all downhill from there.

One of my biggest pet peeves with characters hobbies is when they become character defining while also being too broad to actual define anything. Nettie feels like she was meant to be the least offensive character ever. She's shy but stands up for the little guy. She's awkward but friendly. I consider liking theatre to be a big part of my personality so I don't fault the character for that, but this book mentions musicals every three seconds. And it's every musical. I'm not saying a theatre kid can't love both Elf the Musical and Miss Saigon but they can't also love every musical in existance. You learn just as much about a character through their likes as through their dislikes and Nettie's love of and constant references to musicals ended up just annoying me because they felt more like a gimic since actual opinions because her opinions on every single musical was the same. 

Time for side characters. We're starting with Alec because oh my god did I hate him. Some gay stereotypes are true. Some stereotypes become extra true with theatre kids because theatre kids are extra. I didn't hate Alec and his big, cartoonish personality when we met him because theatre kids are notorious for being over the top but 99.999% of the time that's a front. Nobody mentions being queer every 3 seconds or starts and ends every phrase with "darling" when they're around people they're comfortable with and used to talking to. Alec becomes the best friend character and I wanted to slap him out of the stereotype he was enforcing. Then there's the love interest. Fletch. Who is literally a sad boy with a guitar. I've said it once and I'll say it a million more times. Song writing/baking/poetry loving does not a love interest make. I couldn't get into the love story because I hated both of it's components. Finally, the mean girls every YA book thrives off of drove me more insane than normal. Nettie's at an ultra competitive theatre school and right off the bat girls she's never talked to are blatantly threatening here. They're caricatures. Teen girls in general are a lot more passive aggressive and theatre kids are literally trained for it. In an industry that's all about making connections, nobody's going around blatantly hating and disrespecting people to their faces.

I had so many hopes with this book. A story about grief, finding your voice, and musicals? By an actual theatre kid no less? At the end of the day it didn't feel like a story, it felt like a pile of cliches and over generalizations with a never-ending list of musical name-drops sprinkled on top.

Sing Like No One’s Listening is a great light read for any reader out there, especially if they are looking to cleanse their reading pallete. Being a fine arts enthusiast myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of a fine arts school and the integration of musical terms, instrumentalists, dancers, singers, etc. (even the addition of a “rest” between paragraphs was super cute!), especially those referring to certain musicals such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, etc.  

I found that the storyline followed the typical formula of a contemporary novel. We have the main character (Antoinette) who has several love interests, a group of friends she can count on, and of course a couple of enemies. Said protagonist has a problem she needs to overcome while dealing with these other characters and eventually the problem is resolved at the end and everyone is happy. It did seem a little cliche to me and I found that much of the details in the story were predictable. It was interesting seeing Nettie’s perspective towards her performance anxiety as I find myself having to deal with performance anxiety. I totally understand the difference between performing alone versus in front of a group of people. 

While the story itself was enjoyable, I did not like how Nettie was babied throughout her time at the institution. While I understand her circumstances were special, the way she was treated did not feel authentic in terms of it being a real world scenario. There definitely was a lot of hand-holding done by the teachers which would not be acceptable in reality, especially if Duke’s is a high caliber school. 

Overall it was an okay read. It had a plot much like one of those contemporary teen drama movies you would find on Netflix. One thing I would’ve liked is to see more realistic renditions of Nettie’s treatment at the school.

DNF @ 30%. I really wanted to like this. The performing arts side of the story was fantastic, as I expected, but Nettie’s treatment by her peers and teachers was SO brutal and the book SO bleak at times that I just couldn’t get into it.

This was as if I had wrapped up an entire tv season of an arts academy in one book and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! I loved the realistic way in which anxiety and grief were portrayed. It was such a captivating story and honestly I couldn’t get enough. I enjoyed the miscommunication between the love interest and the banter between friends. I adored the angst and drama, but most of all I loved the protagonist’s journey to discovering her voice again after the death of her mom. I thourougly enjoyed this book and if I’m being honest I would love to read more about Antionette’s journey at her arts academy and her relationship with her friends and love interest!

"Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth."

The sensitivity of dealing with death and the emotional impact it can have. I thought the book dealt with this topic so well. I especially loved the main character, Nettie, and enjoyed "spending time" in the musical theatre world conjured up. I also loved the other characters; there is a lot to explore in this novel and not all of it is through the main cast. Nettie happens to have a very supportive trio of sidekick in Kiki, Alec and Leon who happen to have their own stories and struggles. This added nicely to the mix. I would recommend this for everyone but especially going through loss, mental health, and theater.

Vanessa Jones' novel, SING (Like No One's Listening) is a musical theater or musical person's wet dream. It's a mixture of FAME!, Center Stage (there's ballet), one of the many Cinderella Story movies that involves the really hot guy and the girl with the desire to be a singer and has a really great voice, and every other musical movie out there. It can be a bit smaltzy at times, but for the most part, I enjoyed it for what it was; a really cute and breezy YA novel about a singer and her first year at a performing arts college.

Nettie Delaney lost her singing voice after her mother suddenly dies from a long term illness. Her mother was a pretty well known ballerina in her hey day and was a student at Duke's College of Performing Arts or whatever its actual name was. Nettie botches her audition, but somehow made it, and thinks, after finding out that the director (whose family owns the school) were friends with her mother when they were much much younger. As she struggles to find her voice, she meets new friends, a new boy that captures her interest, as well as a few enemies. Because what book about a performing arts school doesn't have drama and cattiness.

The great thing about this book is that Vanessa Jones actually did go to a performing arts school and was in musical theater. It's obvious this woman knows her stuff, and it shines in the novel. The history of ghost singers that becomes a project between Nettie and her crush, Fletch (because why not?) was fascinating. I do wish, however, that there was more focus on that project than a lot of the unnecessary drama that felt shoehorned in for the sake of page count.

Speaking of the unnecessary drama, the two girls that become enemies with Nettie felt almost as if they were caricatures  of actual performing art students. Yes, it is highly competitive and yes, people are looking out for each other, but the drama wasn't about talent. It was over a boy, and that felt lazy and contrite. I would have believed Jade and Natasha finding Nettie competition regarding talent, but over some dude who has a pretty smile, plays the guitar, and can carry a tune? Oh, and he's white so now we have White Guy With Guitar happening, and it couldn't be more cliched if it tried.

WGWG, by the way, is Fletch. Shocking, I know.

The other issue I had with this book is the obvious hand holding that the teachers did with Nettie. Home girl went through almost her entire first term unable to sing a note. She's awful at ballet, can pass a dance class, but her whole point of being at this school is singing/musical theater. And it isn't until last maybe 100 pages, possibly less, does she actually belt a tune out and show exactly why she should be at that school in the first place. I did appreciate that Miss Duke basically told her that if she doesn't show up that her time at the college was through after the summer. But even still, she got far more allowances that actual students would have gotten. Tragic backstory aside.

The other highlight of the story are the secondary characters, Alec, Leon, and Kiki. They were all great, fleshed out, and weren't just side notes in Nettie's story. Alec was written almost stereotypical of a gay dancer, but his arrogance and confidence wasn't really all that out there. Jones probably ran into dancers like Alec all the time. Either way, I really did adore him and Leon and Kiki.

I wanted to give this 4 stars because I really did enjoy the hell out of it, but the lack of resolution about Nettie's mother's history really brought it down. There was so much the writer could have done with Nettie finding out who her mother was and why she gave up ballet and cut off ties to that world, but we never got it. Instead we had to have another scene where Nettie was all "bad headspace" over Fletch and that drama. There was so much potential there, and I saw it there, shimmering in the distance, but it never happened. I wanted less smaltz and more history. Because of that, this got stuck at a solid 3 stars for me.