This book was amazing. The main character Aisha experienced racism and bullying at her ballet school in Alberta. She is given a new opportunity at a new school in Toronto. This book is emotionally riveting and this story deals with countless important topics. I can't wait to purchase a copy when it comes out.

Dance, Ballet, mental health, race, bullying, eating disorders

Thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for the advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Aisha is a ballerina. She is also black. And she is tired of the discrimination that exists in the ballet world, because she doesn’t look like a ballerina is “supposed” to look. She changes schools, but racism and bullying are a part of her new ballet program as well. Her father tries to support her long-distance, but her mother pressures her to push herself in both dance and diet, under the guise of helping her to live her dreams. Meanwhile, her closest friend and dance partner has become distant, dealing with his own issues. As the story progresses, Aisha’s own mental health issues begin to surface, and we learn more about her history. Will she be able to follow her ballet dreams, or will she learn to dance it out another way?

Beautiful in many ways, this story addresses the racism that continues to exist in ballet, as well as pressures that affect many dancers and teens in general. Highly recommend for both teens and parents.

The former dancer in me absolutely loved this book. The current adult in me was truly baffled as to what kind of parents allow their teenage child to live alone? and not just one parent - but two different parents of two different kids. And no one even questioned it? This is some Dylan McKay stuff here. (yes - I'm showing my age).

At any rate - the descriptions when Aisha was dancing were beautiful and made me want to move my body with her. I wish more time had been given to her repairing her relationship with Neil at the end.

4.5/5 rounded down to 4 stars

I just want to start off by saying that I loved this book so much. It only took me a few days to finish it, and that’s because I literally couldn’t put my phone down. I just wanted to know what happened next! This is not a book I would usually pick up, as I tend to choose lighter reads, which this is definitely not. This caught my eye when scrolling on NetGalley because of the cover. I will always read a book about dance, since it is fun for me to read books about one of my own hobbies. I didn’t read the description until much later, and I was worried I wouldn’t like it when I finally did. I won’t go into details on what the book is about, you can just read the description of the book. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up loving this book.

The book is beautifully written with very few flaws, and I love how immersive the story was. I was placed in Aisha’s shoes as she deals with practically everything going wrong in her life, between all the other students being mean at her dance studio, to her best friend ending up in the hospital.

Obviously, the dance parts were my favorite. I liked how Aisha joined this class where she didn’t feel as comfortable as she did during ballet. In that class, she slowly learned how to have fun while dancing again and it was nice to see her relationships with other students and teachers there. In ballet, she was noticed by the teacher immediately and given a special role, something that hadn’t happened much at her old studio.

Every character was well developed, especially Aisha, Neil, and Ollie. They each had their individual struggles, some of which never got solved, but they all had a realistic ending. The author definitely spoke from her own experience or did a ton of research. I was fully immersed in the story and had a hard time putting the book down.

There were only a few things I didn’t enjoy:
1. It felt like everyone besides a few adults and Aisha’s friends were against her. Almost every other student in her old and new schools were rude, which felt a little unrealistic that EVERY SINGLE PERSON would be very mean.
3. The tension between Aisha and her mom was mostly shown through flashbacks, and never fully explained until it got towards the end. I wish it wasn’t this “mystery” of what happened between them that made their relationship so bad, and I feel like it could have been said earlier on.

As someone who used to do ballet, Aisha’s journey really resonated with me. I didn’t enjoy it as much as she does in the book, but I could easily understand her reasoning for some of her actions (especially the ending of the book).

I REALLY REALLY REALLY recommend that you give this book a chance, I am glad I read it, and I feel like everyone can connect to Aisha in some way, whether you are a dancer or not.

There are three types of books: the ones that grip you from the start, the ones that grasp you eventually, and the ones you’re unable to feel attached to no matter how hard you try… So I'm excited to say that “when it all synchs up” is a case of the first mentioned.

This book deals with so much and I am eternally grateful to the author for the note at the beginning in which she warns you of the sensitive topics it broadens on. By the time such topics were talked about in the reading, I felt ready to read them and it was all thanks to that heads up. <3

Aisha Bimi is a Black teenager who breathes for ballet. She's outstanding at it and the most talented of her classes — but her chances of acquiring big dancing opportunities stay slim because of the racism targeted at her from both peers and instructors that force her to remain stuck in a place that’s too small for her.

Tired of the awful treatment that is causing her mental health to plummet, she visits her hometown to see her best friend, only to discover that he is not in a good state either.

After auditioning at the school where her best friend attends and being accepted, she decides to stay, but soon realizes that her problems continue to follow her and she can only find happiness within herself.

It is a beautiful story of friendship and first loves. Again, it touches on sensitive topics such as (trigger warnings ahead): racism, police brutality, alcoholism, mention of sexual abuse, toxic parents, eating disorders, bullying, mental illnesses, trauma, and mention of suicidal attempt.

But, in one way or another, the author manages to balance these heavy topics with more lighthearted scenes that show the reader the beauty of an infinite friendship that can triumph against all odds and a gradual romance for which you can't help but melt. There’s also great queer representation!

The only things I must complain about is that I wanted to know more of a specific secondary character, and that the end felt a bit rushed.

Oh, but I love these characters with my entire heart, bones, and soul. I recommend this to every teenager and adult. It truly is a beautifully told story. The field trip chapter gave me all the giddy feelings. <3

Many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ❤️

You know that feeling when you feel that you found a book that's written just for you? When someone has written down the things that you wanted to say but couldn't? That's what this book felt like for me.

As a Black Girl who grew up doing ballet, I could see so much of myself in Aisha. Growing up, I didn't notice some of the things I do now because I just liked doing ballet. But looking back, you notice subtle things like wearing pink tights that don't match your skin color and not seeing any ballerinas that look like you (Michaela DePrince and Misty Copeland came into popularity a lot later in my dancing career). I still love ballet, but I had to take a break from it after high school, so I can relate to Aisha loving ballet but the culture of it taking a toll on her mental health. Also, seeing the microaggressions she has to deal with makes me mad because it's frustratingly real, and her choosing to ignore it can feel frustrating as well, but it's accurate because dealing with it can feel so exhausting.

Waiting for change to come is exhausting in general, and Aisha taking control of where she practices is a nice character moment, and she does see a good change. But everything has its downsides and seeing the amount of pressure Aisha puts on herself and how her relationships with her best friend and potential love interest fluctuate because of it just feels, again, so accurate.

On that note, I feel that this book does a great job of exploring her relationships with her best friend, Neil (finally boy-girl platonic friendship rep), and her potential love interest, Ollie, who is another one of Neil's best friends. Watching the three of them navigate their relationships with each other while dealing with their own problems is done so well in this book, and I feel like we do get a fair insight into these three characters' problems even though the book is written from Aisha's POV.

Overall, this book was an amazing read, and I'm so honored that my first ARC ever was this book.

The reasons I gave this book five stars:
This book made my heart happy
Will read Forever
Full-on Connected
I See Me

Again, An Amazing Book, but please check out the trigger warnings for the subjects you might be sensitive to.

This Book in Emojis: 🗯🩰😔🎀💭

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book for an honest review!

This is a winner of a YA read! Ameyaw brings the dance, the high school setting and Toronto to life in this novel that follows young artistic students through a year or so of their lives.

Aisha (Ish) moves (slightly impulsively) from Edmonton to Toronto (where she grew up) for a year of high school after being r for a lead role at her ballet focused academy because of the colour of her skin. In Toronto she's welcomed into her childhood friend's diverse circle and immediately forges a connection with Ollie, the boy next door.

There's so many issues to grapple with in this novel from eating disorders, racism, bullying, parent issues and of course, all the interpersonal relations of teenagers! That said, Ameyaw does it all justice and brings it to life for the reader. Enjoyed, will recommend!

When it All Syncs Up was such a beautiful book, it celebrated black girl joy. Black girl dance. I made me smile and scream with being over joyed. I wish I had this book growing up.

I read an eARC of When It All Syncs Up by Maya Ameyam. Thank you NetGalley and Annick Press Ltd.

This book has a focus on mental health. With her friend falling into heavy drinking where the first we meet he’s in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. His friend, whom Aisha starts having feelings for, gets anxious when speaking in front of people. Aisha has to deal with the racism that comes with an old, very “tradition” based dance such as ballet. She also deals with ED as a consequence of feeling like she needs to fit the body type of classical ballerinas, and how that spiral within the book itself.

The book starts out with Aisha at her private ballet school, trying to get into a program against the other girls in the summer program, and although she does so well that the Madam asks her to show the others. But after, when she checks, she realizes she didn’t make it. After so much time of dealing with comments on her looks by other girls, and being looked over by teachers, and knowing that she doesn’t fit the classic look of ballet.

She goes to meet her friend but ends up finding him in the hospital with his friend looking over him. Once he gets back home, he starts talking to her about auditioning for the programs at his school. This is a public arts school, which if they have in Canada the way they’re written in this book, I’m so jealous.

She ends up auditioning, and then asking her father if she can stay with her friend so she can stay and be at the public school there because she gets a student teaching position, something she feels like because of how she looks, she’d never get at her private school, no matter how good she is. Her father is concerned, firstly because he’s not even in Canada, also he already paid for the fall semester of her private school, and she never said anything about being unhappy about her school before.

And lastly, because she would be living in the same city as her mother, and he doesn’t want her to have any contact with her mother.

Still, she ends up staying, and she finds that while she’s still finding many of the same problems with her peers even though she’s a student teacher in the class, and feels she has an actual chance for the solo. Still, she also starts to take Modern Dance with her friend as the student teacher, where they get paired up to dance in showcases a lot because of their chemistry.

I found this book interesting. While I was never serious about dance, I did become aware of a lot of its pitfalls, especially as I got older, and I also found it interesting this book’s take on Modern Dance, mostly because I’ve seen some people’s take on it that way, I’ve also seen it as more as a take on ballet. As a “do whatever you want dance”. And one that jus tis supposed to connect you more with the music.

The mental health aspect of the book was also interesting, I wished it had dealt more with recovery. Though I understood that the book wasn’t so much about that as her real beginning to finding herself and them beginning their real road to recovery and finding where they can really start to heal.

Overall though, it was a great book, and to anyone that found the description interesting should definitely pick it up to read.

I absolutely adored this book! It was a fantastic read. Super moving! Loved the characters and the story! Bravo!

I really loved this protagonist, and the idea of having to learn how to personally express one's self through dance instead of just technique. The racism Aisha faces is heartbreaking. I struggled to finish reading in time because the momentum of the plot, stringing one thing to the next is slow, so I wondered where we were going. I hope to pick this one up again later and give it another shot though, as there's a lot going for this book and I want to see what happens!

This book was beautifully written but hard to read.

Maya perfectly encapsulates the harsh realities of the dance world from eating disorder's to blatant racism.

I loved our main character Aisha. Her character development from beginning to end was real and vulnerable. I wish the books I read growing up had featured more characters like her.

Eating disorders are a tough topic for me to read about personally, but Maya and her characters did a great job handling a difficult topic.

Will I be buying and reading everything and anything Maya releases in the future? Absolutely!!

Aisha dreams of dancing, but she also knows that the ballet world is stacked against her: in whitewashed Alberta, her skill and talent are never quite enough to compensate for the fact that her teachers see her skin color first, and everything else second. In Toronto, maybe, things can be different—Toronto, where her best friend lives, and where there's a quiet and alluring musician next door, and where Aisha is not the only Black girl around. But while some problems can be outrun, others are shadows nipping at one's heels.

I've been reading a lot about ballet recently—not a new interest, but there's been a fantastic crop of new books—and Aisha underscores some of the things that Alice Robb, Chloe Angyal, Georgina Pazcoguin, and others have written about: the landscape is changing, but not quickly enough; certainly not quickly enough for many of the talented young dancers who are being pushed out today for their skin tone or the length of their neck or the shape of the muscle in their thighs. At one point, watching a professional performance, Aisha notes that "I'm painfully aware there isn't a fully Black female dancer in the entire show" (loc. 2037*), and what goes unsaid is that there are far too many people who *wouldn't* be aware, or who wouldn't see a problem if they were.

So I'm always delighted to see books that take this and tackle it head-on (readers might also be interested in "The Other Side of Perfect" by Mariko Turk). I waffled with the rating, though, or rather am still waffling with the rating. Aisha is great as a main character, and the love interest is also solid—some complexity to him, and I do always love a romantic conflict that cannot be solved with a simple conversation or two. But there's so much going on in the book: racism, family trouble, mean girls, romance, a drinking problem, an eating disorder, abuse, anxiety, other family trouble, two types of dance... It's not that all of that can't be going on at once, but I wouldn't have been sorry to see one or two issues dropped in favor of giving more space to the others, and to more general worldbuilding for the Toronto setting.

At the end of the day, I'm mostly just pleased to see the face of YA dance literature changing alongside the dance world. I hope "When It All Syncs Up" (and its gorgeous cover) will make it to many school library shelves.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.

*I read an ARC, so exact quotes and locations may change.

This is a fabulous debut novel from Maya Ameyaw, which features a young black ballet dancer, touches on the racism seen in the ballet and dance world but also what happens when stress and anxiety is internalized to an unhealthy degree. When sixteen year old Aisha is looked over for a lead role once again at her ballet school, she transfers to the school her friend Neil attends. Once there, she realizes that maybe this school and her ballet school aren’t that much different. Along the way she meets new friends and works through her past traumas.

I just could not put it down while reading! I really enjoyed the exploration of relationships in this book, both familial and friendship and moving into something more than friends. The characters were well developed as was the plot of the story. This is in the running for favorite book of 2023 and will be among my recommendations for friends to read.

There are many topics that are talked about in this book that may trigger readers. Those include disordered eating, alcohol abuse, minor drug use, physical abuse and sexual abuse.

"When It All Syncs Up" is Maya Ameyaw's debut YA contemporary fiction story which focuses on Aisha, a beautiful and talented dancer and her experience at a new school. After burning out at her last dance school, Aisha auditions last minute at her BFF'S school for the arts and makes it in as a teaching assistant. In the process of some drama with her BFF Neil, she meets his bff, the sweet musician Ollie and something sparks between them - is it friendship or more?

This was comped to "Tiny Pretty Things"(which I loved) and while there are some parallels between Aisha and Gigi's experiences (racism, bullying, family drama etc.), the overall vibe/drama/themes are completely different. I would say in "When It All Syncs Up" dance is the background element... yes Aisha is a dancer but classic high-school drama, friendships and complex family relationships take center stage. The petty high school drama: gossiping about first kisses, young crushes etc. etc. is what drives a lot of the story ( & also what makes it STRONGLY YA [note: this is fair since it is listed YA, I just wanted to point it out since YA can be such a spectrum]).

There are a lot of subplots, themes and issues explored within the story and while they're all so important, in my opinion, it was a few too many for this particular book and weighed down the overall plot instead of enhancing it with depth:
- exploring sexuality, homophobia
- bullying/racism
- underage drinking, alcohol dependency, cannabis use
- parental abuse, negligent parents
- budding romances
- therapy
- platonic friendship
- high school mean kids and associated petty drama, verbal abuse
- dance department drama
- being a dancer, being a dance assistant, choreographing a dance
- disordered eating, body dysmorphia
- dissociation/depersonalization
- Anxiety, depression
- Music/theater/art and choosing a career path etc.

Overall, while I didn't quite love it, I did enjoy it. It was fast paced and flew by (I read it in a day). Aisha was soft yet tart (in the best way), she stood up for herself, was talented, beautiful, smart and knew how to command a room, but also had a soft, tender side when it came to dealing with her thoughts, feelings, friendships & family. Ollie was so sweet and a gentle soul in every way, his subplot moments were lovely and kindly done. Neil... wasn't my favorite but while he was chaotic he still had love for his friends and musicals (gold star!) and had a lovely healing journey. There's a lot packed into this book and I applaud Maya Ameyaw for tackling so much! I look forward to her next book and for more healing and important stories to come.

P.S. I love this cover - the colors and shadows are A+!
P.S.S. Yes, it is hard for me /NOT/ to think of the Neopet when I read "Aisha" even though I know it is a lovely name that means "life" in Swahili

Pub Date 06 Jun 2023 | Annick Press Ltd., Annick Press

When It All Syncs Up was so good, I was shocked to learn that it is a debut! Sixteen-year-old Aisha is experiencing racism and bullying at her ballet school in Alberta, so when she is given the opportunity to audition at a new school in Toronto and be closer to her best friend (Neil), she leaps at the chance. She is forced to reconcile with Neil's hardships while holding space for her new love interest (Ollie) and her own mental health issues. Aisha has a complicated relationship with her body and food thanks to an abusive mother and previous dance teacher who pushed her to conform to the standard, "ideal" ballerina body. When she and Neil have a difficult time connecting during their dance duos, her estranged mother starts contacting her again, and Aisha starts noticing that her mental health is spiraling, she is forced to choose between who she has been told she has to be to seem worthy to others and how to find her worthiness in who she naturally is.

This book made me cry, and it gives some valuable insights into how harsh the ballet world can be, specifically for Black people. We've heard plenty of stories about white ballerinas and the struggles they face in the industry, but this narrative adds many more layers and delineates how much harder it is for Black ballerinas just to exist in the same spaces as their white peers. The mental health journeys in the book are relevant and relatable, and the author did a fantastic job of representing them. As someone who experienced depersonalization a lot in my teen years due to abuse, I really resonated with that precinct of Aisha's story. I am not flippantly saying this because it is Black history month (this book came to me unexpectedly)- When It All Syncs Up is truly one of my favorite books so far this year, and I think it is a staple in contemporary YA readership. Buy it for yourself, buy it for your age-appropriate teens, and take the time to really digest it. (The author has clear content warnings at the beginning of the book for those who want to make sure they can read it safely.)

I will read anything Maya Ameyaw writes in the future. These characters were so real and well-developed. When It All Syncs Up should be required reading for any dance school's students in order to cultivate awareness, acceptance, and allyship of/for Black people's experiences in the industry. High school libraries should have this on their shelves as well. Thank you to Netgalley, Maya Ameyaw, and the publishers at Annick Press for sending me an e-ARC of this gem. I will be recommending it to everyone!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for the eARC! WHEN IT ALL SYNCS UP was a stunning YA contemporary debut about mental health, love, and learning who you are. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

Note that there are some potentially triggering topics in this novel, so I'd recommend looking through the list of content and trigger warnings that the author provided on Goodreads.

WHEN IT ALL SYNCS UP tells the story of 16-year-old Aisha Bimi, one of the only Black ballerinas at her competitive ballet school in Alberta. After losing out on an important opportunity for her ballet career because her teacher doesn't think she "has the right look" for a ballet solo, Aisha transfers to a public arts school in Toronto where she reconnects with an old friend, meets a new friend who may be something more, and comes to terms with both her mental health struggles and her place in the ballet world.

Is it too early to say that this is going to be one of my top books of 2023? The story dealt with so many important topics—mental health, sexuality, racism, bullying—and I appreciated how Ameyaw didn't shy away from the very real experiences these characters were going through. The writing was just so real and raw and honest. The characters themselves were all so layered and fleshed out—I loved Aisha as a narrator and really felt for her, and her love interest Ollie was so sweet while also dealing with a lot of difficult issues of his own. The bi rep was so great too. I'm also a sucker for stories set in Toronto, and so much about the setting and the characters had a very familiar Toronto feel to it.

Overall, this story was engaging and heartbreaking, but ultimately very hopeful. Without spoiling anything, a highlight for me was the very powerful field trip scene.

Annick has released a lot of great YA recently, and this is definitely another to add to that list. I'll for sure be keeping an eye out for future releases from this author, and I'd highly recommend adding WHEN IT ALL SYNCS UP to your 2023 TBR!

this book gave me all the feels! i laughed, cried, smiled, and everything in between. this was the second book I've read in which i could sincerely connect to the main character and I really appreciate that.

This story about a Black teen ballet dancer who deals with racism and bullying is raw and dark at times but simultaneously hopeful and feels incredibly personal. A great debut!

From the moment I started reading, Maya Ameyaw pulled me into the story, and I read breathlessly. My heart ached, and goosebumps danced on my skin. Not only because of Aisha but also because of Neil. Even though their struggles were the clearest, I had a soft spot for Ollie, this quiet and musical guy, who I wanted to hold and hug so much. When I realized what had happened to him, my stomach contracted.

Mental health issues, racism, and bullying are a huge part of the story, but a lot more is going on, and if you get triggered easily, I’d strongly advise reading the trigger warnings carefully. As a Dutchie, I loved the references to Michaela DePrince, who danced at the Dutch National Ballet and played in the music video of Chef’Special ‘Afraid of the Dark’. That song, about mental health issues, including the video, is so fitting for this story, especially because Aisha mentions that she’s still so terrified to go to the dark places other
dancers tackle with ease:

‘I am still afraid of the dark
Even though there's a sky full of stars
I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on the run
Can you leave a little light on?’

Even though this book isn’t marketed as an LGBTQ+ book there are subtle references in it. I loved those references about not being sure (yet) how to identify in sexuality and that it’s okay not being sure and not having a label.

Maya, thank you for this wonderful debut! I read it in less than two days and can’t wait for your next book!

(3.5 STARS)

First I would like to say thank you to the author of this book, Maya Ameyaw for gifting me a digital ARC. She inspires me daily to keep chasing my own dreams.

While When It All Syncs Up, is not my typical YA read, (I'm a romcom girlie through and through) it was an emotional story that doesn't shy away from tough topics.

Things I Loved About When It All Syncs Up :
- Therapy (The good, the bad, the ugly)
- Addresses tough topics (eating disorders, addiction, racism)
- Girls shooting their shot (I loved it felt so proud of Ish!)
- Sharing playlists with your crush (My absolute love language)
- Learning more about the Black Ballerina experience (There are more Black ballerinas besides Misty Copeland people!)

I also really appreciated Aisha and Neil’s secret being kept for the climax, it was built up well and was satisfying to see the tension implode. In regards to Ollie's confession, I would have loved to have found it out a bit earlier. He was mostly quiet for 70% and never fully expressed himself. It would have been nice to see them have more discussions about his confession and help readers understand why they really connect.