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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
Drunk review from the blog tour: https://willreadforbooze.com/2019/05/14/blog-tour-drunk-review-bright-burning-stars-by-a-k-small/
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kate Sanders and Marine Duval are best friends at the Paris Opera Ballet School, where they each hope to win The Prize at the end of their 6 year tenure, a spot in the Opera's prestigious corps de ballet. The only problem? There's only one spot and there are two of them.
Small's brilliance begins with the decision to tell her story in first person- from both girls' perspectives. With no clear favorite between the two, the story is free to twist and turn, and twist and turn it does. The girls, true to life teenage girls, constantly make awful decisions that put their careers at risk, and the weekly Boards, the rankings of all the dancers at the school, reflect it.
Although I often found myself lost among the unexplained ballet terms and occasionally explained french, it didn't create enough confusion to impact my enjoyment of the book. I'm somewhat sad that didn't have the ballet-know how to visualize performances. I feel like to truly appreciate the art in this book I would have had to read with youtube open.
The core of the book, and what made it such an enjoyable read for me, is that while frustrating at times, all of the girls' decisions are understandable. While not the darkest book I've ever read, this book does deal with some heavy issues, primarily depression, drug abuse, and eating disorders. They're all handled well and, refreshingly, not romanticized, but I think what would have bumped this book from 4 stars to 5 for me would have been some exploration of how the environment and culture surrounding these girls affected them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Eating disorder
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Eating disorder, Abortion
Minor: Alcoholism
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com
One thing you all may not know about me is that I am an absolute sucker for ballet books. I love love love the ballet! I’ve never danced for the ballet or even taken a dance lesson. I just love watching anything relating to dance. It’s probably because I wish I could do that for myself but alas, I am incredibly uncoordinated.
So imagine my excitement when Algonquin Publishing emailed me and asked if I wanted to participate in a blog tour to promote a book about ballet dancers. I didn’t even read the rest of the email and immediately responded with a resounding yes.
I loved this book so much. I didn’t expect it to be so sinister. One doesn’t expect ballet books with a sub theme of friendships to have such a sinister vibe to it but this one did and I lived for it. Even the two main characters, Marine and Kate, had these less than perfect vibes. I felt like they were just darker than what they appeared to be.
Marine and Kate were very different characters and they danced for very different reasons. Marine danced for her brother. Her story arc could be considered triggering as she develops an eating disorder and her thoughts slowly begin to revolve around her disordered eating. So major trigger warnings for that as it’s pretty graphic.
Kate danced because dance is her life. Her story arc involves something completely different than Marine. Hers involves drugs so there is a trigger warning for that. I loved how different both these characters are. If I had to choose between the two of them, I wouldn’t be able too. Each character brought something to the table.
That’s all for you get out of me. I want you all to read this book so I don’t want to give away any spoilers or anything like that. Overall, I loved this book so much. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book so I can reread it again and again. I highly recommend this book! If you can handle the trigger warnings, you won’t regret checking out this sinister book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Grief
This book has a theme of disordered eating. It is very prominent throughout the book.
Marine, notre monde, this world of ours--the stage and studios and barres--is intense and lonely. There is no space for friendships, love, or even an old and perhaps sacred bond between twins. Nothing shadows the art of dance. It's a union of body, mind, and music. Classical dance is known for being ruthless. Any retired company member would tell you that it is a one-man show. So commit to yourself and fight for your destiny, ma chère.
I never would've chosen this book on my own (just look at that cover) but was told it alternated POVs incredibly well. I don't know that I would be as effusive in my praise, the two narrators weren't nearly as terrible as most of the alternating POVs I've read.
I'm torn about how I feel about the actual book. Overall, it was a solid book-good writing, a tight storyline, complex characters/relationships. It's a quick but not necessarily easy read. This is a dark book; there's no way around it. It is an unflinching look at the underbelly of dance - addressing the demands these young girls must grapple with as they pursue their dream. Small's own experience is evident as she describes the competitive environment used to produce classical dancers in painstaking detail, and there is a raw authenticity that shines through.
Trigger warnings abound:
Other small (no pun intended) complaints I have about the book are that neither of the characters were particularly engaging, there's a little too much random French thrown around for no reason (and as someone knows French, I can tell you it did not add anything to the book), and the slopping writing that made the ending feel like an afterthought.
Rating:3-3.5 stars
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bright Burning Stars follows two young dancers, Marine and Kate, as they work towards their dream of becoming professional dancers, and winning first prize in a competition to be selected for a ballet company.
The book switches between perspectives, which for the most part was interesting. Getting the two different storylines, and also the different angles of the same events was also interesting. At times, however, it was difficult to notice a change in the perspectives. There were times when I would be reading and I wouldn’t be able to tell who was narrating, until something more defining to one of the characters happened, like talking to the other protagonist. There was a lot of individuality in the characters themselves, but there was not as much in the writing.
Marine was a fascinating character, and one who I was definitely rooting for the whole story. The way that her past, and the story with Oli, a character, unfolded throughout the book was fascinating, and was very well done. Marine also really struggled with her weight and with body image, and throughout the book suffered from an eating disorder. The way that was written I thought was done well, with how it was addressed, and with how it was discussed by the different characters.
On the other hand, I did not like Kate. She seemed to on one hand be fully invested in her dance career, and clearly was, however some of her decisions were really careless, and she really had trouble learning from her past mistakes. She so depended on the approval and attention of others, yet she was not always the best friend to Marine. Her storyline and character arc were very interesting to read about though, and I think that the way that her character was written was great.
Cyrille was one character who was very interesting, very well written, and was a character that I absolutely despised. In the beginning, he is portrayed as perfect, because that is how Marine and Kate see his dancing (and he is an incredible dancer). However, at the book goes on, more and more about him as a person is revealed.
Luc was wonderful, and I think really deserved more. He is another dancer at the school, and although he plays an important role in the book, I think that he should have had more backstory, and that we should have gotten to know more about him.
The plot itself didn’t have one key turning moment or revolve around one specific thing, but more followed the dancers over months of their life, leading up to the final selection of dancers. The plot was very compelling, and I was constantly entertained while reading.
The book handles more serious topics such as depression and eating disorders very well, all set on a backdrop that was fleshed out in a way that only added to the depth of the book. I really enjoyed reading it, and would definitely recommend it to someone wanting to read a darker and more serious YA book about young ballet dancers.
I really enjoyed reading Bright Burning Stars, and I think that it is a wonderful book. It does contain more serious and dark topics, which I think are handled and written very well, and has a compelling plot that pulls the reader in.
The book switches between perspectives, which for the most part was interesting. Getting the two different storylines, and also the different angles of the same events was also interesting. At times, however, it was difficult to notice a change in the perspectives. There were times when I would be reading and I wouldn’t be able to tell who was narrating, until something more defining to one of the characters happened, like talking to the other protagonist. There was a lot of individuality in the characters themselves, but there was not as much in the writing.
Marine was a fascinating character, and one who I was definitely rooting for the whole story. The way that her past, and the story with Oli, a character, unfolded throughout the book was fascinating, and was very well done. Marine also really struggled with her weight and with body image, and throughout the book suffered from an eating disorder. The way that was written I thought was done well, with how it was addressed, and with how it was discussed by the different characters.
On the other hand, I did not like Kate. She seemed to on one hand be fully invested in her dance career, and clearly was, however some of her decisions were really careless, and she really had trouble learning from her past mistakes. She so depended on the approval and attention of others, yet she was not always the best friend to Marine. Her storyline and character arc were very interesting to read about though, and I think that the way that her character was written was great.
Cyrille was one character who was very interesting, very well written, and was a character that I absolutely despised. In the beginning, he is portrayed as perfect, because that is how Marine and Kate see his dancing (and he is an incredible dancer). However, at the book goes on, more and more about him as a person is revealed.
Luc was wonderful, and I think really deserved more. He is another dancer at the school, and although he plays an important role in the book, I think that he should have had more backstory, and that we should have gotten to know more about him.
The plot itself didn’t have one key turning moment or revolve around one specific thing, but more followed the dancers over months of their life, leading up to the final selection of dancers. The plot was very compelling, and I was constantly entertained while reading.
The book handles more serious topics such as depression and eating disorders very well, all set on a backdrop that was fleshed out in a way that only added to the depth of the book. I really enjoyed reading it, and would definitely recommend it to someone wanting to read a darker and more serious YA book about young ballet dancers.
I really enjoyed reading Bright Burning Stars, and I think that it is a wonderful book. It does contain more serious and dark topics, which I think are handled and written very well, and has a compelling plot that pulls the reader in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Moderate: Death, Drug use
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion
Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide
Bright Burning Stars was the first book I’ve read that had gone this deep, into this much depth on ballet. Other books had referenced it or the main character was teaching it but I never readany that had to do with learning the dance style itself. Bright Burning Stars went deep in depth. A.K. Small had been born in France and studied in ballet her whole life. So she knew what she was writing about.
Marine and Kate were nearly model students and best friends. Something that “apparently” didn’t exist in this uber competitive world.
Kate, a foreigner from America, didn’t have rhythm and was missing some of the technicalities. But she had stage presence and that counted for almost more. The trouble with Kate is that she had her mind occasionally preoccupied with the opposite gender. Saar, Cyrill and Brandon. She would put too much stock in them and that caused more problems than what should have happened. She also had just a touch of manipulation which didn’t bode well for making friends. Thus isolating herself more and making things worse. So much worse. Poor Kate suffered quite a bit in Bright Burning Stars. Kate was not mentally healthy and she slowly, so slowly, realized this throughout the story. But that unhealthiness caused a downward spiral that only stopped after Marine stepped in.
Although, she had her own problems. Marine was not dancing for herself and therefore put way too much pressure on herself to succeed. She was not preoccupied by the opposite gender but rather on her looks. Not in vanity, but in an extremely unhealthy way. The Demigod, Cyrille, and Luc were the two boys that had a major impact on Marine’s life. They both helped and hindered her in their own way. Marine, as said by Kate in the book, was somewhat naive and prone to believe what everyone was saying. She didn’t want to think about anything other than succeeding. Because of that, Marine put a lot of stock on actions and that only increased the pressure on her. She had to show the person she promised that she succeeded.
In the end, both girls get healthier and get back together. But they each had to suffer before that to happen. Bright Burning Stars was an extremely well written book. A.K. Small’s writing was amazing. The imagery was superb and she tackled hard, still somewhat taboo subjects with delicacy yet strength. The incidents in this book was eye-opening. The peek into the competitive world of ballet, enticing. It made me realize that to make magic, you need blood, sweat and tears.
Marine and Kate were nearly model students and best friends. Something that “apparently” didn’t exist in this uber competitive world.
Kate, a foreigner from America, didn’t have rhythm and was missing some of the technicalities. But she had stage presence and that counted for almost more. The trouble with Kate is that she had her mind occasionally preoccupied with the opposite gender. Saar, Cyrill and Brandon. She would put too much stock in them and that caused more problems than what should have happened. She also had just a touch of manipulation which didn’t bode well for making friends. Thus isolating herself more and making things worse. So much worse. Poor Kate suffered quite a bit in Bright Burning Stars. Kate was not mentally healthy and she slowly, so slowly, realized this throughout the story. But that unhealthiness caused a downward spiral that only stopped after Marine stepped in.
Although, she had her own problems. Marine was not dancing for herself and therefore put way too much pressure on herself to succeed. She was not preoccupied by the opposite gender but rather on her looks. Not in vanity, but in an extremely unhealthy way. The Demigod, Cyrille, and Luc were the two boys that had a major impact on Marine’s life. They both helped and hindered her in their own way. Marine, as said by Kate in the book, was somewhat naive and prone to believe what everyone was saying. She didn’t want to think about anything other than succeeding. Because of that, Marine put a lot of stock on actions and that only increased the pressure on her. She had to show the person she promised that she succeeded.
In the end, both girls get healthier and get back together. But they each had to suffer before that to happen. Bright Burning Stars was an extremely well written book. A.K. Small’s writing was amazing. The imagery was superb and she tackled hard, still somewhat taboo subjects with delicacy yet strength. The incidents in this book was eye-opening. The peek into the competitive world of ballet, enticing. It made me realize that to make magic, you need blood, sweat and tears.
dark
emotional
tense
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
tense
medium-paced