⭐⭐⭐⭐¼
Dance of the Copsewood
K.V. Meadows
Dance of the Copsewood drew me in right away with a blurb promising magical realism, cozy romance, witchy vibes and a sentient cottage. The opening scene alone was enough to catch my interest and lead me to wonder about the rest of the story.
Cadence, our main character, is a ballerina who has headlined for years for a large dance company. That is, until she suffers a medical episode onstage and has to take time away. Her annoyingly supportive friend whisks her away to a magical cottage while they get a second medical opinion, and it’s here that Cadence begins to face old traumas, adjust to her new life with neurological disability, and… fall for her best friend’s brother?
K.V. Meadows summed up this story really well in her acknowledgements: “To my husband who said that I couldn’t write a rom-com … well, you were right haha (rude!)” Dance of the Copsewood may be a cosy romance, but it’s inherently a story of trauma, healing, grueling recovery, and hope.
The usage of a magical Shadow creature as both a literal monster and the embodiment of trauma and fear was fascinating, and I loved the mysteriousness of the cottage and woodland creatures. River’s blasé attitude about magic and the strange happenings kept me smiling, and so did her complete lack of surprise or annoyance about her brother and Cadence hitting it off.
Dance of the Copsewood was a fun read on the surface, but it packed a good emotional punch as well. I recommend it for snarky banter and one liners, mysterious magic, quirky characters, and of course the tiny fox familiar.
⭐⭐⭐⭐¼
Thank you K.V. Meadows for the advance readers copy ✨
Dance of the Copsewood releases March 30th and is available to preorder here.
The Midnight Review 