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leroberts's review
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-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
janvpals's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
fountain_ken's review
3.0
This book was So Much. (Sometimes it felt like too much.) It's very realistic, fearless in embracing grit and the more unattractive aspects of life. I'll admit, i teared up at parts. Loved some of the references: "She sprays my entire head, enough to choke Mötley Crüe."
oboyliz's review
5.0
This book was everything I hoped it would be. The characters are well developed. Each character plays a part in this story to help move the story forward. Once I started reading this story I couldn't stop. I would highly recommend this book.
morganperks's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
That was bittersweet all around. Such a beautiful story of family and forgiveness. I appreciated how dancing was such a huge part of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical content, Car accident, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Transphobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Racism, Physical abuse, Death, Bullying, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Body shaming, Homophobia, Violence, and Alcohol
jacklynartemis's review against another edition
4.5
A few of the characters were nonsensically dramatic at various points but overall an incredibly moving story.
liralen's review
4.0
Minnesota, the early 80s: Rosa is a dancer, destined to be a star—but she doesn't want to be a star. She wants to rewind a few months, to when her sister Gloria was the future star and Rosa had more latitude to dream of the non-ballet dance that is her first love.
But Gloria's life has changed forever, and so has Rosa's, and somehow she has to figure out where she lies between her father's expectations and her own.
This is grungier, sweatier than so much YA ballet fiction, and mostly what I love is that for the most part the characters don't get everything they want. Some of it—yes. But there are also tremendous sacrifices to be made, some more voluntarily than others. A nice departure.
But Gloria's life has changed forever, and so has Rosa's, and somehow she has to figure out where she lies between her father's expectations and her own.
This is grungier, sweatier than so much YA ballet fiction, and mostly what I love is that for the most part the characters don't get everything they want. Some of it—yes. But there are also tremendous sacrifices to be made, some more voluntarily than others. A nice departure.
jewel_bailey's review
3.0
This book was great. The characters were vibrant, and three dimensonal and so, so real. The dialogue was fantastic, and I loved the relationships between the characters. The descriptions were so vivid.
I will say though, it took me a while to get into the book, and the first chapter was a little confusing with the amount of characters being introduced within a such a short amount of time.
All in all, though, it was lovely.
I will say though, it took me a while to get into the book, and the first chapter was a little confusing with the amount of characters being introduced within a such a short amount of time.
All in all, though, it was lovely.
tibcanread's review
4.0
4.5/5
CW: fatphobia, diet culture, smoking, graphic description of injuries, queerphobia, police brutality, recounting of a character getting hit by a car, seizures, hospitals, medical, loss of a loved one recounted, mentions of the AIDS crisis, alcoholic parent, parental abandonment recounted, mentions of sex work, self-urination
There's so much to this story. Ballet. Prince. The 80's. Some pretty heavy subjects. Prince!
I'm so glad I didn't put this off any more than I already did. Rosa has a lot on her shoulders. Her alcoholic father is her ballet master and she can never be good enough for him, especially with her full figure (something that is not common in professional ballet, especially in the 80s). She feels like she can never live up to the legacy her professional dancer mother and endlessly graceful sister left for her. The rest of her classmates hates her for being the master's daughter. The guilt of her sister's accident weighing heavy on her. But then Nikki shows up and everything changes.
This book felt brand new and nostalgic all at once. It was heavy, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all at once. You can absolutely tell the author has danced herself as every single dancing scene felt lived in and the emotions felt so real. It really feels like the author put a piece of her heart into this story. The description of the kind of damage ballet dancers were sickeningly accurate, so be aware of that. I loved watching Rosa grow as a person, as a dancer, as a daughter and sister as she learns that she isn't the only person with baggage. All these characters jumped off the page and I want nothing but the best for all of them.
I loved every moment of this story and I can't wait to read more from this author in the future!
CW: fatphobia, diet culture, smoking, graphic description of injuries, queerphobia, police brutality, recounting of a character getting hit by a car, seizures, hospitals, medical, loss of a loved one recounted, mentions of the AIDS crisis, alcoholic parent, parental abandonment recounted, mentions of sex work, self-urination
There's so much to this story. Ballet. Prince. The 80's. Some pretty heavy subjects. Prince!
I'm so glad I didn't put this off any more than I already did. Rosa has a lot on her shoulders. Her alcoholic father is her ballet master and she can never be good enough for him, especially with her full figure (something that is not common in professional ballet, especially in the 80s). She feels like she can never live up to the legacy her professional dancer mother and endlessly graceful sister left for her. The rest of her classmates hates her for being the master's daughter. The guilt of her sister's accident weighing heavy on her. But then Nikki shows up and everything changes.
This book felt brand new and nostalgic all at once. It was heavy, heartbreaking, and heartwarming all at once. You can absolutely tell the author has danced herself as every single dancing scene felt lived in and the emotions felt so real. It really feels like the author put a piece of her heart into this story. The description of the kind of damage ballet dancers were sickeningly accurate, so be aware of that. I loved watching Rosa grow as a person, as a dancer, as a daughter and sister as she learns that she isn't the only person with baggage. All these characters jumped off the page and I want nothing but the best for all of them.
I loved every moment of this story and I can't wait to read more from this author in the future!
renatasnacks's review
I was excited to read this bc I love Center Stage and am forever chasing YA novels to give me that high. ([b:Tiny Pretty Things|18710209|Tiny Pretty Things (Tiny Pretty Things, #1)|Sona Charaipotra|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413576484l/18710209._SX50_.jpg|26568298] so far was the closest.)
This book for me though....was not it.
I think there are aspects to like here--I think the Prince-centric 80s Minnesota setting is cool, I think the queer teen drag scene is cool, I think it's cool to highlight the talents & struggles of dancers of color.
But the plot itself was SO SWEATY, and not just because of all the hard dance practices. (Rim shot) It just felt like I could realllly see the seams where the author wanted X emotional effect and therefore Y had to happen and therefor character had to do Z thing even though Z thing didn't really make sense. Like for example early on we see that Rosa's sister is a paraplegic and it's clear that Rosa is hiding something about that (even though it's her own narration which is already kind of a shaky narrative device in the first place, of like why the narrator is clearly hiding something from....herself?) But the reveal that
Anyway I'm leaving out a star rating because there aren't so many reviews of this up yet and I don't want this responsibility but I did not really like this book and I kept incredulously telling improbable details aloud to my coworker.
If this were a Disney Channel movie I'd definitely watch it but the problem is dance movies can get by on super thin plots/character developments because it's nice to watch dance performances but dance BOOKS have a higher bar to clear and IMO this one did not do that!!
This book for me though....was not it.
I think there are aspects to like here--I think the Prince-centric 80s Minnesota setting is cool, I think the queer teen drag scene is cool, I think it's cool to highlight the talents & struggles of dancers of color.
But the plot itself was SO SWEATY, and not just because of all the hard dance practices. (Rim shot) It just felt like I could realllly see the seams where the author wanted X emotional effect and therefore Y had to happen and therefor character had to do Z thing even though Z thing didn't really make sense. Like for example early on we see that Rosa's sister is a paraplegic and it's clear that Rosa is hiding something about that (even though it's her own narration which is already kind of a shaky narrative device in the first place, of like why the narrator is clearly hiding something from....herself?) But the reveal that
Spoiler
her sister is disabled because she and Rosa were fighting at home inside the house and then Rosa got mad, took her sister's shoe out of her hand, went outside and threw the shoe into the street, and then her sister chased the shoe into the road and got hit by a truck??? whaaaat?!?! SO SWEATY, rly feels like the author could have taken another whack at that and come up with some less bonkers reason why Rosa might feel guilt about her sister's injury IMO!!!!Anyway I'm leaving out a star rating because there aren't so many reviews of this up yet and I don't want this responsibility but I did not really like this book and I kept incredulously telling improbable details aloud to my coworker.
If this were a Disney Channel movie I'd definitely watch it but the problem is dance movies can get by on super thin plots/character developments because it's nice to watch dance performances but dance BOOKS have a higher bar to clear and IMO this one did not do that!!