e-Audio, 03:17:17
Narrated by: Vico Ortiz
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: February 5-6, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-ALC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review.)
Content Warning: Ableism, Chronic Illness, Medical Content, Injury/Injury Detail, Bullying
For Readers Interested In: 2sLGBTQ+, Most Anticipated, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports, Novel in VerseA poignant novel in verse where, after a life-changing accident, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion. From the Newbery Honor Award-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.
All these months of staring at the wall?
All these months of feeling weak?
It’s ending—
I’m going back to fencing.
And then it’ll be
like nothing ever happened.
No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident.
After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?
In this moving novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person’s achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times…. I am NOT a fan of novels in verse. But every so often I’ll hear about a book that’s such a Nikki book that that doesn’t even matter. And this is one of those times! There’s sports, romance, and the main character is not yt. lol
I can’t lie… The reason I was so excited for this was the sports aspect. I’ve read exactly one book about fencing like last year, and it was so good. So basically I added this to my TBR as soon as I heard about it. That book was a MG graphic novel and this one is a MG novel in verse. This one doesn’t have as much fencing dialogue as the other, but I still enjoyed it. There IS some internal dialogue that the main character has that any athlete can relate to. She does mention some fencing terms, but it’s not a lot if that makes sense.
Usually I don’t like novels in verse because of the way they make the story feel choppy or they don’t tell an entire story. But this one doesn’t feel like that. I felt every emotion that Vale had lol So basically I was so emersed in the story I didn’t notice if there were any scenes that felt choppy. The information about her accident isn’t really there and her diagnosis isn’t exactly clear, but I thought that was more intentional than just being left out. I loved this book and I am happy to add this to some lists to help more people find it.
There is a lot of rep in this, so i would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. They are Latinx (Puerto Rican). There is plenty of rep of her culture in this, my favorite part being the dancing she does with her dad. There’s disability rep which is evident in how she comes to terms with admitting that she might need help. She has chronic pain in one of her legs after she’s involved in an accident. I related to this as a former athlete because I know what it’s like to suffer an accident and try to come back after it. It’s pretty daunting, so I can understand they heartbreak and fear.
I also loved the character growth in this. She is still learning and feeling and so much about herself, her body, and her pain. I was impressed with all the things this young girl had learned. She also learned about crushes and what its like to have one on another girl. She went through a lot and I can’t lie, I was hella impressed that she was able to keep up with everything.
I loved this book so much. The text itself is easy to read and there’s a lot of blank space on the page for those reluctant readers. But the book itself is good enough to keep even the most reluctant of readers engaged.
Overall, I give this
