Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly
Contemporary
June 1, 2021, Self Published
Purchased

Review by Melinda

This is a powerhouse of a novella from what I think is a debut author. Discovering an author at the beginning of their career can be so fun to follow them on their path and I hope to do so with Anita Kelly. I love a good fluffy romance which I define as one that is soft and without heavy conflict. I need those kinds of romance constantly and I alternate often between angsty or plot/worldbuilding heavy PNR and then these soft romance. Sing Anyway fits the soft category perfectly.

I always say that novellas have to be so difficult to write – you have to strike the right balance with the length, plot and character development, and have us believe the chemistry. All in such a short time.

Sam is a non-binary history professor who loves to go to karaoke bars and crushes on Lily every week when they go. We start this novella on a night when Sam’s friends do not show up fortuitously because it gives Lily a chance to flirt with Sam. Sam is adorably nerdy and into trains and maps, and just not that used to flirting, so is unsure how to go about this.

I love both of these characters equally, which is truly a hard thing to pull off – I always love one more than the other. But both of them pulled at my heart so much. I immediately loved Same but when we get into Lily’s head we see that she is this fat, beautiful woman who makes her own clothing because traditional clothing lines are incredibly awful for many fat bodies. Lily puts on this big persona for karaoke and she doesn’t believe that she deserves Sam outside of this act she she puts on, which is so relatable, because who doesn’t try to act more or better in certain settings?

This novella just felt so well developed – plot and character wise – in such a short time that I’m kind of astonished that it was so short. It seemed like I knew Sam and Lily so well. Sam has so many feelings about their gender expressions and that comes through on the page just in their conversations with Lily and in their thoughts so clearly. There’s a clear theme of self acceptance running throughout this book, and that everyone deserves to be loved just as they are, and Sam and Lily both have that in the end.

I can’t wait to read more from this author because I loved this so much. And I really really want Lily to make some clothes for me!

Content notes: dysphoria, mentions of societal fatphobia

Grade: A+

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