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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read as an audiobook! Very interesting and cool premise, Laure was a truly morally grey character that slowly descended into even more madness and evil because of her circumstances. It covered some really important themes like racism and institutional exploitation in a unique way that I liked. I’m not familiar with ballet especially Parisian ballet, so that was all new to me and some of Acheron and Lethe and the powers was confusing for me. Also, I really didn’t like the romance too much and found it a little cringey tbh.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Classism
I'm still exhausted by YA, but this one is actually dark, and quite delicious.
dark
medium-paced
dark
emotional
tense
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great cover! This is a serious ballerina book. I would not have known that by the cover. This is about making deals with evil forces in the catacombs of Paris to be the best dancer. What lengths are you willing to go to be the best? Turns out there are a lot of secrets among these top dancers. Audio was creepy when I was alone at school. Finished it on a road trip to a soccer game. You just can’t rust anyone who might be a threat or competition to earn a full-time spot in stage.
medium-paced
I really was back and forth on this book. I was super interested at the start but it slowly faded and then it would get interesting again only to stop being interesting. In the end I did enjoy the book, more the ballerina aspect of the story than the end where she is Acheron . I don't believe I will read the second book just due to that. I also found the whole battle with Coralie to be confusing and weird. I figured she would have made a deal with Lethe and be the "bad guy" because she honestly wasn't a good friend ever.
Books with a villain/anti-hero MC are typically a hit-or-miss for me. When done well, it can be so satisfying but when done poorly, it will remind of this book. The concept was such a win - ever since watching Black Swan, every ballet book just has instant intrigue from me.
What did not work for me unfortunately was the prose - I like beautiful writing, don't get me wrong but when the beautiful writing is used as a prop to encapsulate the lack of concept, I don't enjoy it. We did have a concept of Acheron and Lethe but the background context to it just wasn't good enough - at no single point did I feel like I had an understanding of what the author intended because we started with this foreboding sense of the monster slowly taking over Laure and how she was almost afraid of what she would become and by the end of it, the monster is almost shown to be a sympathetic character and I feel like I missed the progression which would explain such a contrast in viewpoints.
The love plotline was so stilted and weird and felt very out of place like it was immensely jarring to finish a chapter with gore and violence and suddenly, they're kissing? Like what? The murder plotline is something that is started to drive the plot forward but almost immediately abandoned with no real findings from Laure but just hypotheticals strewn in here and there and the answer to this plotline is too conveniently just thrown in her lap as opposed to be something she looks for.
Just no.
What did not work for me unfortunately was the prose - I like beautiful writing, don't get me wrong but when the beautiful writing is used as a prop to encapsulate the lack of concept, I don't enjoy it. We did have a concept of Acheron and Lethe but the background context to it just wasn't good enough - at no single point did I feel like I had an understanding of what the author intended because we started with this foreboding sense of the monster slowly taking over Laure and how she was almost afraid of what she would become and by the end of it, the monster is almost shown to be a sympathetic character and I feel like I missed the progression which would explain such a contrast in viewpoints.
The love plotline was so stilted and weird and felt very out of place like it was immensely jarring to finish a chapter with gore and violence and suddenly, they're kissing? Like what? The murder plotline is something that is started to drive the plot forward but almost immediately abandoned with no real findings from Laure but just hypotheticals strewn in here and there and the answer to this plotline is too conveniently just thrown in her lap as opposed to be something she looks for.
Just no.