It’s only mid-January, but I’m already sure Gissane Sophia’s A Certain Step is going to be one of my favorite books of the year. Big words, I know, particularly early in January when everyone still has lofty goals of reading an absurd number of books this year. But it doesn’t matter if I end up meeting those goals or surpassing them, the truth is Ethan and Willa have wormed their way into my heart, and not only is there not going to be any way to remove them—I don’t want to.
For me, the sign of a good book is a sense of comfort. When the book works, it makes you feel good not just about reading it, but about the process of meeting these characters, and being part of the story. But a great book, the kind you obsess over? That experience, which doesn’t happen as often, is often reserved for the kind of books I cannot stop thinking about. The ones that end, and yet don’t, because I cannot stop thinking about them. The ones that made me go to bed imagining scenarios about what could have happened next.
And when I said next, I do mean after the book ended, because I read A Certain Step in one sitting, another great sign that I truly enjoyed the book. I usually read at night, when there’s nothing else to do, and stop when it’s irresponsible for an adult with things to do in the morning to still be awake. With this book, I did not stop even when I knew I was past the point I’d regret it the next day. Instead, I told myself it was the weekend so I was allowed, and I kept reading. And if I couldn’t get up the next day, well, that’s between me and my conscience.
I reviewed Gissane Sophia’s first book—To The Skyline—which I also enjoyed very much. But we all have our favorite tropes, and A Certain Step seems tailor-made for me. There’s friends to lovers, but not just any friends to lovers, but the kind you’d get if you watch a procedural for five seasons and are dying for the two partners with unbelievable UST to get together. But that’s not all. We also have mutual pining; a trope fanfiction excels at but which books somehow seem to never truly take advantage of.
When I say A Certain Step goes for it, it goes hard. Hard. Ethan’s pining is next level. And he’s also not the only one who’s pining! There’s mutual pining here, which might just be my favorite trope in the history of tropes. And all of this is somehow set in a Pride and Prejudice Broadway musical? If someone had engineered my favorite things and put them in a book, I’m pretty sure A Certain Step would be the result.
But books still have to be written, and they have to be written well. It’s one thing to have all the right ingredients, just ask AI. It’s another thing to make the final recipe work. And Gissane Sophia doesn’t just have a good idea on her hands here, she captures the magic of two characters that at times you feel like you know, yes, but that at most times, you just want to smash together like in that meme that says “Now, kiss.”
That’s how I feel about Ethan and Willa. It’s just that I also feel that, after they’re finished kissing, I would like to know how their lives turned out. Can someone write fanfic? Can I? Can we stay in this universe so others can give me periodic updates about their lives? Considering this is the first in a series, the answer seems to be yes, and that’s a good thing. It was either that or my brain was going to come up with fifty different scenarios, and nothing quite compares to canon.
In conclusion, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Go read A Certain Step by Gissane Sophia now. It’s an outstanding book, from a writer with clear ideas and an even clearer grasp of what romance should be. You’ll thank me for it later after you’ve fallen in love with Ethan and Willa. And then come talk to me about it so I’m not alone here. Please, and thank you.
A Certain Step is available now wherever books are sold.
