Blog Tour: The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz (Review, Giveaway)
11:30 AM
Today's the day! I'm honored to be participating in the blog tour for Nikki Katz' stunning novel The Midnight Dance (out October 17th, 2017, through Swoon Reads)--which was one of my favourite YA reads of the year.
If you're looking for a vivid, deliciously dark and swoon-worthy novel to cuddle up to this autumn, The Midnight Dance is more than up to the task. Follow the cut to learn more about the novel and to find out just what made me love the novel so very much. And don't forget to enter the wicked give-away that is heading your way!
The Midnight Dance
Nikki Katz
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: October 17th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
When the music stops, the dance begins.
Seventeen-year-old Penny is a lead dancer at the Grande Teatro, a finishing school where she and eleven other young women are training to become the finest ballerinas in Italy. Tucked deep into the woods, the school is overseen by the mysterious and handsome young Master who keeps the girls ensconced in the estate – and in the only life Penny has never known.
But when flashes of memories, memories of a life very different from the one she thinks she’s been leading, start to appear, Penny begins to question the Grand Teatro and the motivations of the Master. With a kind and attractive kitchen boy, Cricket, at her side, Penny vows to escape the confines of her school and the strict rules that dictate every step she takes. But at every turn, the Master finds a way to stop her, and Penny must find a way to escape the school and uncover the secrets of her past before it’s too late.
Review
There's something deliriously beautiful about the world portrayed in The Midnight Dance. It is both utterly compelling and deliciously dark, leaving readers on the edge of their seat for the duration of the novel. Perhaps one of the most stunning debuts in YA fiction this year, fans of Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices and Jacqueline Garlick's The Illumination Paradox, will flock to the way in which The Midnight Dance is crafted.
One of the most striking things about the novel is the chill you are often faced whilst reading it. You cannot escape it--not even at the beginning. That feeling of wrongness about the central mystery of the book. This fact makes The Midnight Dance standout in terms of other releases this year. Well, that, and the cover (seriously--I need to get my hands on a copy to photograph it and reread ASAP).
As a whole, there's this uniqueness about it that really pulls you into the story--there's that thrilling aspect to it that toys with your nerves. The Midnight Dance, always, has a romance that does not make the story suffer for. I found that the tangles of genre and suspense really make the novel a fast pace read. I devoured it in one sitting because I simply could not put it down.
I didn't want it. I've been nursing a wicked book hangover ever since.
Everything is well plot and entwined with the central story. Nearly every tick, every intricate detail pulls at a thread until all is unraveled and we are faced with the truth about Master and his school for girls. Katz does a wonderful job to write compelling characters that balance out the darkness that the story holds--you can certainly see how much work went into tying these moments into the bigger picture.
Honestly, my skin crawled at so much in this. From Penny's inability to remember times in her life, to her determination in knowing that something was wrong, there isn't a single moment that goes by in The Midnight Dance where the suspense of it all sends your heart into a frenzy and the goosebumps begin to appear. While the story develops, and the reader puts pieces together, there are a few lighter moments in the thick of it; like the bond the girls share with one another at the school and the romance between Penny and Cricket.
I loved the way the timeline was split in two--the Master before creating the school, his motives for doing so, and then after--and found it to be really satisfying. It helped with the general flow of things (even though it didn't need that boost--that's how good it is) and put us in the minds of two very but no less captivating characters: Penny and Cirillo.
If you're looking for a novel that is suspenseful, chilling and twinged with just a bit of romance, The Midnight Dance is for you. I can't stress how much fun I had with this book. I straight up loved it and can feel it in my bones that it's not only one of my favourite releases this year, but now one of my favourites of all-time.
I can't recommend it enough.
Can I give it more than five stars?
FOLLOW THE TOUR
October 16th
–blogs and coffee >> Guest post
–Comma Hangover >> Excerpt
–MNBernard Books >> Interview
–Gemmas Book Nook >> Review
–blogs and coffee >> Guest post
–Comma Hangover >> Excerpt
–MNBernard Books >> Interview
–Gemmas Book Nook >> Review
October 17th
–Girls With Books >> Excerpt
–Smada’s Book Smack >> Review
–Darque Dreamer Reads >> Review
–Lisa Loves Literature >> Interview
–Reaching While Rooted >> Review
–Girls With Books >> Excerpt
–Smada’s Book Smack >> Review
–Darque Dreamer Reads >> Review
–Lisa Loves Literature >> Interview
–Reaching While Rooted >> Review
October 18th
–CBY Book Club >> Excerpt
–Booked J >> Review
–readingwithwrin >> Review
–The Bibliophile Confessions >> Excerpt
–Angelic Book Reviews >> Review
–Caffeine and Composition >> Review
–CBY Book Club >> Excerpt
–Booked J >> Review
–readingwithwrin >> Review
–The Bibliophile Confessions >> Excerpt
–Angelic Book Reviews >> Review
–Caffeine and Composition >> Review
October 19th
–The Candid Cover >> Interview
–The Booknerd Dragon >> Review
–Bibliofagista >> Review
–Books of a Shy Girl >> Review
–The Mind of a Bookdragon >> Review
–The Candid Cover >> Interview
–The Booknerd Dragon >> Review
–Bibliofagista >> Review
–Books of a Shy Girl >> Review
–The Mind of a Bookdragon >> Review
October 20th
–Dani Reviews Things >> Guest post
–Bibliobibuli YA >> Review
–Spinatale Reviews >> Review
–Jena Baxter’s Bookworms >> Review
–Dani Reviews Things >> Guest post
–Bibliobibuli YA >> Review
–Spinatale Reviews >> Review
–Jena Baxter’s Bookworms >> Review
AUTHOR BIO
Nikki Katz is an author and editor living in sunny San Diego with her three children. With a BS in aerospace engineering, Nikki first put her writing skills to use publishing four nonfiction books. She moved on to writing young adult fiction, her favorite genre to read as well. The Midnight Dance is her debut novel.
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