Reviews

First Position by Melissa Brayden

lydiastorytime's review against another edition

4.0

This book was everything I didn't know I always wanted. I have seen or read so many straight dance romances and this was far superior. I love the simplicity of the story and its cute romantic nature. I worried part way through it would be another tragedy. A happy gay ending is too rare and wonderful.

lesburrata's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

farmerkristyn's review against another edition

5.0

My gay heart cried so hard. I got so attached to these characters and their perfect romance, how am I supposed to go on without them?

indoorswoman's review against another edition

Prose style

readsbylaura's review against another edition

4.0

So much diversity in this book, I loved it. It was well written and deserves so much praise. So good.

rikerandom's review against another edition

3.0

Ich habe absolut Null Ahnung von Ballet. Wirklich gar keine. In der Grundschule war ich mal bei einer oder zwei Balletstunden, aber das war’s dann auch schon. Dementsprechend wenig habe ich auch von dem ganzen Fachgeblubber in „First Position“ von Melissa Brayden verstanden. Vielleicht lag es daran, dass ich so wenig mit Protagonistin Ana anfangen konnte. Aber ich glaube eher, dass mein Problem ihr Charakter war. Sie war mir einfach nicht sympathisch, ihre ganze Art, ihr verkümmertes Sozialverhalten, die Orientierung einzig und allein auf den Erfolg, das war nicht meins.

Trotzdem war dieser Roman wirklich gut geschrieben und die zweite Protagonistin, Natalie, war mir sehr sympathisch und die Handlung zwar alles andere als schwer vorherzusehen, aber trotzdem interessant, selbst wenn man keinen Plan von Ballett hat. Außerdem mochte ich das Ende, auch wenn das irgendwie etwas abgehackt war. Kein schlechter Roman aber es gibt bessere von Melissa Brayden.

12dejamoo's review

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Such a shock to go from a string of YA romances to this because I was not mentally prepared for sexy times even though I should have been. Anyway, this was okay/pretty good. There was something about it that was off for me but I couldn't for the life of me articulate what it was.

I did legit cry at the end but I was also really tired and emotional already.

A couple of moments to note: being a Hemmingway fan is such a red flag; pretending that Shake Shack is an unknown is so funny to me; having to read Punce it. Punce it. Punce it. to represent club music beats is an experience I never want to re-live.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content

pritabread's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

sapphiread's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i did not know what to expect when going into this, but i'll admit i did enjoy this book. i've always thought of ballet of such a meticulous sport, and after reading this it just makes me want to go and watch ballet edits on TikTok to be honest lol, its just so beautiful. i loved how jocelyn was still there for sylvie after years of basically hating each other, so cute. 

jellifysh's review against another edition

4.25

 Huh. I didn't think I'd enjoy First Position as much as I did, courtesy of not knowing shit about ballet. But fortunately, you didn't need to understand much, if at all, to be able to read this book.
Which I can't tell if I'm a fan of or not.

Let me explain: It is a light romance novel with our Ice Queen Ana and New and Fun Natalie, who have to work together to make their joint lead role performance The Best. Pretty standard stuff. I enjoyed especially Ana's POV, because she's a stubborn perfectionist that won't take a no, even from her own body (Reminds me a bit of Carrie Soto actually, which just happens to be a book I'm also reading).
But for a person whose entire life is ballet, it feels a bit. Shallow, I guess? Shallow in the way ballet is talked about, that is. We're told she does pirouettes and other moves that I don't know the name of, and I get that she's a professional and wouldn't mentally explain her own moves, but I would've wanted a bit more explanation of the whole setting. I don't just read to be entertained, I also want to learn new things and new points of view, and I still know just as little about ballet as I knew when I started this.

But do not get me wrong. I enjoyed this greatly. The flowing POV between Natalie and Ana took a bit to get used to, but I deeply enjoyed reading about their journey, and I liked the way that, whereas Natalies relationship with Morgan broke apart because they changed too much when they were (physically) separated, Ana and Natalie found their common ground again and made it work.
All in all, very fun! I had a good time!