125Pages

How It Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes
Published by HarperTeen on June 14, 2016

How It Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes is a story set in a summer camp for high performing teens with anxiety issues. The story follows Sam, a ballerina with body hate issues, as she has gained 14 pounds and now feels like she is losing herself. I was very interested to read this story as my high school best friend was a ballerina and when we lived together when we were twenty, I saw how deep these issues can run. While this had a great message, I quickly tired of the whiny tone used by the teens in the story. I understand they were all at the camp for issues, but the way they were portrayed erred more to bratty than to anxious. There was also a slight “romance” story line that I actively disliked as it was more harmful than anything and just turned me off, add in the awful obligatory YA parents and this was just an okay read for me. There were some fantastic moments, don’t get me wrong, and I loved Sam’s roommate as the girl who felt she did not need any help, she was a snarky delight. However the total outcome was less than stellar for me.

I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.