Read as part of CBR16Bingo: Disco. The book is set in the 1970s, in New York City, has a prominent theme at a discotheque and has the word “disco” in the title.
Imagine if Harriet the Spy was a high school girl of Hispanic descent in 70s Brooklyn and you’d have the vibe of this one.
There are two stories here, one about Holly and the other about Xander. I don’t want to spoil them but the dueling narratives do not imply an unlikely friendship. In fact, for a book that is stylistically young adult, it’s a bit edgy with Xander’s character, which I didn’t expect. I admire the swing but I’m not sure it fully worked for reasons I can’t spoil.
Holly is great and I loved reading about her trying to figure things out. She has a fun curiosity about her and it was enjoyable reading her cook.
The mystery is interesting enough but what I really enjoyed was the 70s Brooklyn setting, brought to life by someone who knows it. Back before Brooklyn was overrun by the hipsters and then the trust fund/venture capitalist vultures, a time when it had a true multicultural soul and disco reigned.
Narvaez writes this like it’s the first of a series. I’d be open to it but again, I wasn’t as engaged with Xander’s POVs as I should have been. I would have loved to read the story alternating from the perspective of Holly and her NYPD Detective mom. Although YA books rarely use adult POVs, they can be effective. In fact, my favorite YA novel of all-time — a mystery novel, no less —The Westing Game did this quite well.
Still, it’s Narvaez’s series and if he wants to write a second, I’d be interested to see where it goes.