Magical world both around and within yourself ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The lyrical prose paints a magical world within our own shores, hidden in plain sight like Wakanda but more Wonderland.  Everything is more than meets the eye, there is always so much more beneath the surface, from the mysterious mythology to the complexity of mother-daughter relationships.

I was curious then reeled in from this siren song of a mystery girl in a Midsummer’s night dream realm. The first chapter alone I had 26 highlights for the imagery alone, Like the sea metaphor throughout, you take for granted the power of the writing. There’s always something deeper under the surface.

Real Life juxtaposed with this fantastical world-building was well done. Angelic and mythical beings are just your everyday mirror. Being set in a sleepy little ocean-side town that had elements of Amsterdam, Paris, and a whimsical afternoon tea shack right across the bay from San Francisco…it was extra trippy reading this while literally having afternoon tea in Amsterdam after just coming from Paris and living in San Francisco 😆 The descriptions are en pointe like the ballerina she is. This would make the most visual Disney or anime movie with the ocean and flowers and colors overflowing everywhere.

This would be an especially great gift for young girls so they feel less alone in their turbulent emotional experience. If anybody has ever been young, vilified and outcast for your complicated feelings or ever made an unforgivable mistake in life- you should read this. If anybody has ever had to start a new life for yourself without your past mistakes haunting you- you should read this.

EXTRA DIVERSITY PROPS Reading has been my go-to coping mechanism since the Pandemic. Who doesn’t want to forget the world sometimes. But the best ones bring you back to the “real world” and inspire you to make your reality as magical a ride too.

And out of hundreds if not thousands of books, maybe a handful actually had an Asian main character?!? Most Asian mother-daughters are born from a culture where all feelings are not only suppressed and “bad” in order to be a “good” daughter. Even celebration and joy is muted, so forget about rage and frustration. Love is rarely spoken out loud and self-love is a foreign selfish concept. It accurately reflected the cultural dynamic with limited dialogue (most traditional Asian families don’t speak directly especially about their feelings), and the colorful emotional world around served as a way to communicate what she struggled to express in words.

I was thrilled seeing a young AAPI lead and astonished this was a first-time author.
It’s heartening and important to see representation and to show that emotions are living messages. That you need to feel to heal, accept and love all parts of yourself, and release your own expectations that parents and society throw on you. Only then you can be free to be your authentic self. And that entire self is beautiful and worthy and deserving of being loved. Girls need this. Thank you!!!

UPDATE REGARDING OTHER REVIEWS

After posting my review I am stunned at the undeserved vitriol and hate on NetGalley. This coordinated gang bang of 1-2 ⭐️ petty reviews of a debut author is the epitome of mindless mob mentality. At best, there is a cultural divide lost in translation and it’s just misunderstanding. At worst, many of these just appear jealous that they aren’t published authors and wish they could be, and they feel in their power by tearing down others.

This is not constructive criticism, this is casual and callous cruelty.

I read a book a night sometimes and have gone through thousands of books. This is nowhere near the simplistic basic writing of many YA books and debut authors. Even Twilight’s twist on vampires overrode how banal the actual writing was and nobody was complaining about that. Just because it’s YA doesn’t mean it should be dumbed down. Here you have to discover the subtext, nothing is as it appears on the perfect facade surface- both the island itself and the people.

They miss the ENTIRE moral of the story and do not take into account the nuance. No action is black and white. You’re not unworthy because you’re not perfect. They are unable to understand how complex and seemingly contradictory nature of warring teenage emotions and reactions can be and how misunderstood they feel. They embody the Mean Girls and bullying mentioned in the beginning of the story. Maybe because mean girls in real life would not have such a quick redemption arc and we all wish they’d suddenly be so nice?

People are triggered when they see too much of themselves and have not yet had the courage to confront that part within. They hate about others what they hate most about themselves. They hate others living their dream life. Their heightened emotions, exactly what the story speaks about, can distort the truth standing in front of them.

When people react instead of respond to the story, when they lash out because it’s taken too personally...the review becomes more about themselves than the actual story or technical writing. Maybe the author could make the book longer and flesh out the mean girls/villains sub-narrative more, develop the relationships deeper so the motivations behind the change are more apparent. But that does not mean a rating needs to be penalized to DNR.

Those reviewers miss the point about not judging an entire person for a singular thing and can only be consumed by their rage. The child-mind (psychology term for still learning state) has yet to understand that beneath rage is extreme hurt. This aftermath of coming to consequences with your actions maybe was too much for them to comprehend in their life stage. The brain doesn’t even stop developing this emotional cortex until age 26! It’s a coming-of-age journey to go from angsty wild emotions to come to an emotional depth and understanding.

As the character did- we grow and learn empathy and compassion for why people do the things they do, and forgiveness for others and yourself is paramount. I hope one day those reviewers can read this from the perspective of a teenager who is growing and learning, because there is a lot of value to be had from this for kids who are navigating processing all these overwhelming feelings. Uncharted emotions can make you do things that are irrational.

I hope the author isn’t discouraged or damaged by these small people who have yet to understand these characters, themselves, or the ripple effect of their own heartless actions.

They don’t understand the moral of the story: that you are more than the worst thing you’ve ever done.

This story helps you navigate all relationships both past and present- with your mother, your friends, but most importantly yourself. It’s that scary relationship with your shadow self and the “imperfect” and “ugly” parts you don’t want others to see but must ultimately learn to love in order to grow. It does what great books do and inspires discourse and critical thinking about emotions and feelings once taboo.

Keep going developing your craft, you are gifted! Next one can be about surviving and thriving the mean girl mobs, just look at Taylor and her post-snake era.

I DNF’d this book at around 23%. The marketing for this book was top-tier but it the end did it absolutely no favors. You cannot promise something such as “Hades x Persephone meets Phantom of the Opera” and not DELIVER and this absolutely did not. This book really tried to get by on coquette vibes alone. The writing needs so much work and it was painful to even get as far as I did.

Oh no. This was not it. What a painful reading experience. The prose needed such a heavy hand in the editing room. The characters felt extremely self inserting / Mary Sue. This felt like a checklist of tropes and phrases without any rhyme or reason. Beyond the premise being interesting, nothing else was worth it

Dance of the Starlit Sea is a whimsical and beautifully vulnerable take on contradictions- dainty petit fours packaged expectations of perfection, and the untamed gardens of lila’s unresolved and feral demons. And only when you fully surrender to the seductive call of the darkness lurking beneath the sea, in facing every facet of anger and shame’s shadow, can you begin to heal and embrace the mesmerizing kaleidoscope of what loving every part of yourself can do.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for the eARC.

I really wanted to like this book. I love ballet. I love mythology and mythology retellings. I just didn’t feel like I saw the relation to Phantom of the Opera from the description, and the reference to ballet was haphazard and odd. I get that there was supposed to be a magical element on the island, but it didn’t really flow. Plus, one fall with an outburst and she is sent away? I also didn’t see a real link to consider it a retelling of Hades and Persephone.

Lila is the FMC. She is more Mean Girl than anything. Damien is the MMC and her love interest. Neither character really had growth and development. I didn’t feel attached to them at all. There was a lot of repetitiveness that got to the point to where it was annoying. Especially talking about Lila’s nails. Ok. That was a weird thing to keep repeating over and over.

I feel like with some work and editing, this book could be better. I want it to be. In its current form, it was difficult to get through. I did finish so I could write a review. I will not post on social media or review sites until at least a week after its release, since it is less than a 3 star review. Others might enjoy the story, and I don’t want to negatively impact the author.

I ended up DNF-ing this book pretty early on. It just isn't written very well unfortunately. It's definitely going for flowerly/purple prose but it comes acros as very stilted, I think because it's trying to add drama but it just feels a little cringe inducing instead. I think authors need to understand that adding forced breaks into every sentence doesn't read well, those need to be added sparingly and only when there is actual drama to be had. I think the plot was a really cool idea though so I was excited to read it. I think if it could go through some intense editing it would be so much better and worth reading. But personally, I don't want to waste my time on poorly written books.

Sent to live with an aunt she barely knows - on her eighteenth birthday, no less - Lila is sure her dreams of becoming a star ballerina are forever dashed. So when her aunt and a friendly local girl try to convince her to complete in the island's pageant, she relents. After all, what else does she have to do? But there's more to Luna Island than meets the eye, and soon Lila finds herself caught up in a fantastical mystery that could prove deadly. Will she learn to trust in herself and the people who love her before its too late?

While I enjoyed the plot of Dance of the Starlit Sea, the characters (particularly Lila) were a bit difficult to love. Making mistakes and doubting yourself/your value is one thing; rooting for a character who is constantly fluctuating between redemption and doom is another. I also found her romance with Damien and friendship with the other girls on the island a bit far-fetched, given how little time seemed to be invested in those relationships.

All told, a promising storyline without the necessary character development to truly draw me in.

CW: parental abuse, violence (strangulation), blood, gaslighting, kidnapping, allusions to hallucinogenic drug use

“Defective. Ballerinas don’t fall onstage. Purple babies don’t survive. Perfect daughters don’t throw tantrums.”

Dance of the Starlit Sea by Kiana Krystle was not what I expected it to be.

Lila Rose Li was a magnificent and revered ballerina in her home of California, but when the pressure to be perfect caught up with her, she was shipped off to the lovely Luna Island as her penance. Considering Luna Island is the perfect mixture of Stars Hollow of Gilmore Girls and Cousins Beach of The Summer I Turned Pretty, it didn’t feel much like a punishment…at least at first. As luck would have it, Lila arrives on this island paradise just days before the start of their Angel of the Sea pageant that only happens every 7 years. This competition is like no other; the winner gets, not only praise, but also is named High Priestess of the angels who bless the island. With the help of her new friend, Roisin, Lila enters the pageant and is engulfed in the world of Luna Island and its…less than angelic lore.

I have a lot of feelings about this book, but I want to preface my thoughts by saying that this is not a book that I would typically pick up. I am not a big fantasy/paranormal romance reader, so please, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

Overall, this is a book about girlhood and angst and the intrinsic need to prove yourself.

I thought it was a fun and exciting read that kept me interested until the very end. The writing was stunning; it is apparent that the author had a very clear vision of every aspect of the plot, characters, and setting. The plot was appropriate for the author’s intentions. I’ve seen a lot of criticism that a beauty pageant as a mask for a devil worshiping cult could have done so much more, and they are right, it could have-- if it were intended for a different audience with different intentions. Yes, a badass dark romance thriller would be INCREDIBLE with this concept, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t. This plot is appropriate for the intended audience and appropriate for the backstory presented in Lila. Just because the concept would lend itself to other tales doesn’t negate the validity of this one.

Dance of the Starlit Sea wasn’t perfect, but it was an entertaining read with heart that should be celebrated.

That said, I do have a couple critiques.

As aforementioned, it was beyond apparent through the descriptions that the author had a vision of every interaction that occurred, but there were a few occasions where the descriptions overshadowed the plot. This happened specifically during the dancing scenes, and, while it only took a reread or two of the passage to catch on, it still is a hazard with artistic and flowery writing.

Similarly, there were a couple words and phrases that were reused just a touch too often. This tends to happen when you search and search and search and find the perfect word to describe something-- which is awesome!-- but repeating descriptors that aren’t commonly used may make them stick out all the more. The main culprits here are the stiletto nails and “gossamer.” Both are perfectly applicable and excellent uses of the words, but they’re just so specific that when you see them repeated it feels like “Man, didn’t I just see this word?”

Overall, 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for sending me this beautiful vibe of a book. This book was empowering and full of girl power. Angles, demons, magic, and beauty. A MC learning to love themselves and women supporting women in the midst of competing. A reminder of the way the world should be. We can all seek to succeed, while still encouraging the others soft d us to be their best as well.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. I really thought I would enjoy this. At the beginning, I loved how aesthetic the descriptions were but it soon became extremely repetitive and dragged the pace of the story. It was unbearably slow. I also did not like any of the characters.

I’m disappointed with this book. The premise was amazing- Hades and Persephone? A ballerina? Mysterious island? Yes, please!

It was a bunch of purple prose. The main character was hard to relate to. I could not force myself to finish the book. Seeing that the author is bashing people for honest reviews makes it even more disappointing. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

After finally getting this to send to my e-reader.... First of all, thank you for the opportunity to read this! Unfortunately it just fell flat for me and I could not get into this story.

Dnf @ 26%

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for providing me with this arc in return for an honest review.

This book has such a beautiful cover and sounds so cool in theory but oh boy even at 10% I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it. So far the book is barely following the plot depicted in the summary and the plot in general is all over the place. Too many things are trying to happen at once and none of them are working.

I really wish they would’ve actually chosen a genre and a time period for this book! Alas! No one did. We’re on a magical island with “angels” who are basically the fae but why aren’t they called that? Who knows. There’s a fallen angel whose name is Lucifer and he’s known as the Devil but does this book have any relation to Christianity? Nope. We’re supposedly in modern day but there is this remote island that people can’t get to because there tickets go missing and they miss the boat and blah blah blah. Also couldn’t even figure out if this island was like a basic little village or a whole city and nothing helped to determine that. Overall, not a single decision was made regarding the plot or world of this book.

Speaking of choices, many were made for the main character, all of them horrible. Lila was a ballerina and starring in her first show when she fell on stage for the first time and that caused her to apparently get into a violent outburst with her parents which result in her being sent away to live with an aunt she’s never met before on this fantasy island, because of course. She’s also, insufferable. My biggest pet peeve in books if FMC’s who hate themselves. There’s absolutely nothing that turns me off more than having to read how much a character hates themselves and feels like they’re a disappointment in FIRST PERSON MIND YOU. I had enough of those thoughts in middle school I don’t need to read them again. Also every other character in this book is trying to help her (despite how shallow every relationship is, but that’s a different paragraph) and she just won’t take any of it.

Every relationship is so shallow. You’ve known this girl for TWO DAYS and you’re listening to her tell you that you can basically become a god? Come on now. Not to mention the weird beginnings of this relationship with her and this angel fae man who she’s seen twice like what in the world.

Also the writing style itself is so juvenile it’s honestly kind of painful. Like I know this is a book written for teens and maybe I would’ve enjoyed it in middle school but reading it at 18, it reads like a poorly written Y/N fanfiction. Also the plot itself is juvenile in the sense that there’s literally your basic high school mean girls as antagonists but there hasn’t been any mention of school except to say that Lila graduated early so who knows.

Overall, the fact that I have that much to say about this book without even reading it to 50% says a lot about it. Also if you look at the 5 star reviews on Goodreads for this book, half of them are fake accounts used to boost the book so!

Thanks NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book, the premise had all the troupes I love and in what seemed to be an interesting and different way. Unfortunately it fell short at almost every turn. I think this could be a good book though, it just needs to maybe do a few more rounds of editing to fix the randomness of some parts and the non cohesiveness of the story. It reads like it was written by creating scenes then just cutting and pasting them together and not taking the time to make things flow.

When it comes to the characters I neither like nor dislike them because I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about any of them that make them a separate character.

I was really intrigued by the concept of dance based magic but it was very haphazard and would make no sense if you didn’t know the dance terms. There needed to be a glossary or perhaps just an explanation worked in the first time the terms were used.

My favorite thing about this book are the gorgeous descriptions! Kiana’s writing is stunning and very aesthetic which might not be for everyone. Overall, I enjoyed the book!

I definitely read this book! Did I enjoy it? Probably! Was it good? No! I didn't really like Lila herself, she was very one dimensional and inconsistent but there were some very relatable moments from her. I too get angry to the point of violence, we've all been there, girl. The plot was very interesting, I love a competition and the island was so beautiful, I want to live there. I honestly felt more chemistry between Roisin and Lila than Damien and Lila, Damien felt very flat and also inconsistent. I wish there was more context regarding the magic and geography of the world we were in. The writing was also very odd and a little cringey. It felt like there were supposed to be girl power moments but they didn't really land. All in all, I enjoyed this but it left a lot to be desired.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book. This book reminded me of reading fairytales as a child and being impressed by the magic. This book was full of magic and I liked it. The story was easy to follow and it was very whimsical and at some parts dark. The ending was satisfactory and I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this to those that loved reading fairytales as a child.

So... This book happened.

When I heard this book was supposed to incorporate ballet and Phantom of the Opera I was delighted, unfortunately this book was - simply put - bad.

I’ve read some reviews and can't help but agree with them - this book is just about the vibes and aesthetic, there is no substance - not to the story nor the characters.

About the characters - Almost everybody in this book exists to boost up the main character, to tell her she’s enough - which wouldn’t be bad if they had any other personality outside of that or they are there to make her feel insecure (classic and tiring mean girl trope).
Our main character - Lila is -like other characters - bland - her only personality revolves around the fact she wanted to be a ballerina and she’s done something terrible so she's evil. (And later we find out what she's done but it was extremely hard for me to sympathize with her).
And the love interest…he exists I guess
The characters didn’t feel like people.

The mythology aspect of this book was (bad) confusing: how do you have Lucifer serve a Roman goddess? It just seems so strange and the rest of the angels…I'm tired. And: “Hades and Persephone” meets Phantom of the Opera where? Where was it? There was nothing of Hades and Persephone except name drop. Phantom of the Opera? Superficial, could be done so much better.
If we speak purely on aesthetics the book is beautiful, maybe too sugary but pretty, but books are not about aesthetics, you actually need a story, a story that has some substance and makes sense, a story where the characters are more than hollow shells.
It was said the book was to be about girlhood and female friendship…girlhood is more than pretty pink dress, desserts and tea from porcelain cups and there wasn’t much of the friendship.

This book had a lot of potential. I feel bad, I really wanted to like this, I can't think of anybody I would recommend this book to, maybe to a non reader? If you’re there just for the vibes or aesthetic. Maybe you'll like it.

I can be your angle or your devil.

This book is like reading a text description of someone's aesthetic Pinterest board.

This text is gilded with overly decadent descriptions, hiding an old story behind walls of excessive sensory writing. It's reminiscent of Stephanie Garber's Caraval in that way. There is too much time spent on fleshing out and describing the foods and decorations on every table and not enough working with the characters. In a way it is fitting that everything is gilded- pretty, shallow surfaces.

This book really highlights how certain aesthetics that work in one medium (ballet) can be detrimental when converted into another. Visual media like Ballets are so decadent and meant to be experienced but when converted into text it becomes an overload of unnecessary information to further the plot.

Since the text wants to be ballet related I'll use that to explain my thoughts.

It wants to be ethereal. It wants to be Black Swan. It wants and wants but I don't think it ever *gets*. It tries to fuse the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades with Christian beings. Angels and the Devil are bizarrely present in this.

This is like if a beachy Disney Channel Original movie tripped and fell onto Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, with a heaping of cultish language.

It's a bit of an overcrowded shelf. You have to look through the abundance of way too descriptive trinkets to see the story.

| ❝ Like the sea, I have a tendency to destroy things. ❞

ʚɞ ✧˖° thoughts

BOY OH BOY DO I HAVE A LOT OF THEM. I don't even know where to start or what to rate this book.. 2? 3 stars? Maybe 2.5? LET'S GO WITH 2.5 rounded to 3.

Things I liked

1. The prose
The writing is very descriptive and visual, in a colorful and vivid way that made me feel immersed in the world of Luna Island. It gave off HUNGER GAME, Barbie, and Winx club vibes with all the "feminine" aesthetics.


2. Character development
As flighty and immature as Lila was at the beginning of the book by the end of the book, she finally becomes aware of her worth and finally accepts her flaws along with her good qualities. She comes to realize that competition isn't all it's cracked up to be, and girlhood/friendship is more important in the end.

3. Best friend
Sadly, Roisin has more MC energy than Lila. She actually has a purpose other than pleasing Lila, although she had her fair share of helping her out. She had personality, and her main purpose was that she lost her girlfriend to the pageant where she was a (view spoiler) and decided to participate once more to find out what actually happened to Nadine
.

4. Basic mean girl
Insert Amelia the basic "mean girl" bitchy type. She was an asshole to Roisin and (view spoiler) Eventually Amelia realizes her mistakes and apologies to both girls. They accept her apology and hangout with her. The other girls agree with Amelia that what she did for Roisin was badass and really nice. They finally accept her as one of their own and it's a sweet moment.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

Things I didn't like

1. The prose
Don't get me wrong I loved it at the beginning but then it started to get repetitive and distracting as hell (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) IYKYK. words like: Lilac. Viridescent. Iridescent. Pearlescent. Opalescent. Stiletto nails. Were over used. If I took a shot every time I heard LILAC I'd be comatose. Purple is my favorite color but I'm currently tramatized by it.

2. Stiletto nails
Okay we get it Lila has stiletto nails. We don't need to be reminded every 5 seconds. We also understand that those are the same nails she (view spoiler)

3. Misleading
How are you going to have a fantasy book that takes place in the US on a "magical" island? I was pretty thrown off that this wasn't in some cool alternate world. Persephone is barely mentioned if at all?? I don't think I read a single phantom of the opera reference or anything. There is lore but it's mentioned once and never talked about again. It wasn't really explained 100%.

4. "The romance"
Damien Lila's love interest was very one dimensional. He has daddy issues and runs away from his problems just like she does.

Basically, he drugs her, saves her from drowning , then they dance together and suddenly fall in love. They fight, and their whole relationship is due to miscommunications. He saves her in the end, and they get together?? Kinda??? (view spoiler) Honestly, she had more chemistry and conversation with her best friend. I thought at one point they were going to get together.

5. MC Pleasers
Basically all the side characters were there to cater to Lila. Like literslly if she wasn't near them they kinda disappeared into oblivion. It's like they didn't exist unless she was near by??

✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡˚ side note
This book has so much potential but sorta fell flat. I'm keeping in mind that this is a debut book. There's room for improvement!