A review by beautifulpaxielreads
Dancing Barefoot by Alice Boyle

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Dancing Barefoot is author Alice Boyle's debut novel, although you'd never know it from the confident, assured writing style that brims over with heart and humor. And it is unapologetically Australian, which I love to see.

The FMC,  Patch, is a fantastically written protagonist - flawed, messy, good-hearted, and witty. She is incredibly easy to sympathise with - if you've ever felt like you didn't fit in or have felt pressured to live up to other people's expectations, you will find something to relate to in Patch.

I may come back to this review once I have more time, but here are my thoughts on a couple of other things about this book I liked:
  • The parents! So often in YA, the parental figures are lacking - sometimes they're barely present at all - so it was lovely to see such responsible, loving parents who truly cared about their kids and wanted the best for them. Shout out to Patch's dad in particular here. And Evie's parents were pretty cool too. 
  • Patch's best friend Edwin is transitioning from male to female and is out as trans. While I'll leave it to trans folk to speak on their accuracy, I thought the scenes discussing his dysphoria and medical treatments were handled very sensitively. 

The reason I didn't give this the full five stars is because I initially felt that sometimes Patch made poor decisions and jumped to conclusions - although these issues do get addressed later on. I also have mixed feelings about the
redemption arc of Abigail, the "mean girl" of the tale, and how much she really deserved that arc.
But that may just be my own feelings getting in the way.

I truly enjoyed reading this.

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