"Mia Callan is a seventeen-year-old girl from a suburb of Minneapolis. Mia's parents homeschool her, and she has a job as an ethical hacker and many clients. But something is wrong with Mia's life. She has an eating disorder, which her mom, Sara, tries to ignore. Mia loves running to leave her pain behind, at least for a while. Milo Chatham is also seventeen; he has epilepsy that ruins his life with horrible seizures and affects his family. Milo is severely depressed and even suicidal. He meets Mia at her home when he comes for a piano lesson with her dad, Seth. Milo dreams of a girlfriend so he can be like a normal guy and finds a loved one in Mia. But clouds grow dark over their heads, and words about a psych ward sound more often from their parents. Also, a girl named Kira persistently asks Mia to attend a party while her parents are away. Mia learns the hard way that no one can be fully trusted, even in her safe neighborhood. Dancing Without Music by Angela Grey and Paige Peterson is for mature readers fighting mental disorders or wanting to support those around them with similar conditions.
Dancing Without Music is sometimes a hard but necessary and educational read. Angela Grey and Paige Peterson give many practical recommendations throughout the book about the importance of therapies and the right medications, warning that parents or close friends of troubled teens should not ignore their mental disorders. Grey and Peterson show us how disastrous depression can be even for such a talented and deeply feeling person as Milo, as he suffers from horrible guilt toward his family, especially his younger brother, Beckett. Attentiveness, love, and forgiveness are a must when you want to help a struggling loved one, say Grey and Peterson. Another significant message it sends is that parents should always remember that children are indicators of the problems in the family. That's why signals like eating disorders or excess physical activity should not be overlooked. It also has aspects of a crime drama, providing us with breathtaking twists and turns in the plot. It inspires us never to succumb to blackmail and to stand our ground even in the case of sexual assault. We are reminded that there are always those ready to give us a helping hand despite the most unfortunate circumstances. I recommend it to fans of the family or crime drama genres.—Reviewed by Nino Lobiladze for Readers' Favorite