Strange Sweet Song by Adi Rule (review)

With a name like Sing and with two world-renowned musicians as parents, seventeen-year-old Sing da Naveli was always destined to be a musician. Now she’s here at her dream school, Dunhammond Conservatory, and the academy’s production of Angelique, Sing’s favorite opera, offers Sing a chance to finally prove her worth to her father—if she can land the lead role. The opera, however, is rumored to be inspired by the bloody past of the school and a supposed evil that lurks in the forest that surrounds its grounds. As rehearsals begin, Sing finds herself as inexplicably drawn to the forbidden forest as she is to Nathan Daysmoor, a broody young man assigned to be her vocal coach. The cache of standard YA elements—a girl suffocated by parental expectations, a wickedly handsome love interest, a catfight among Sing’s peers—make a compelling story. A second narrative strand follows a mythical beast in the surrounding woods, from its fall from the heavens centuries ago, to its despair at killing its sibling, to its joy at birthing a cub, to its recent interest in human activity and specifically, their ability to feel joy and despair. The two storylines come together in a climactic scene that demands an accompaniment of swelling music, and the resolution manages a bittersweet blend of tragedy and happiness. Music buffs will relate to Sing’s passion and insecurities, and readers who enjoy a good melodrama will be captivated.