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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: restrictive eating, body dysmorphia, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, drug use
Bright Burning Stars is a book about ballet, female friendships, and finding our own path. It's a book about ambition, dreams, and sacrifices. You can feel the competitiveness in the air, in the sweat, in the sound of ballet music. This boarding school meets ballet academy is one of ruthlessness. But at the same time, we witness this image of friendship in this desert. And we become transfixed as we watch is unfold as two very different, but empathetic girls struggle with the balance between their dreams and their lives.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/blog-tour-bright-burning-stars-by-a-k-small/
TW: restrictive eating, body dysmorphia, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, drug use
Bright Burning Stars is a book about ballet, female friendships, and finding our own path. It's a book about ambition, dreams, and sacrifices. You can feel the competitiveness in the air, in the sweat, in the sound of ballet music. This boarding school meets ballet academy is one of ruthlessness. But at the same time, we witness this image of friendship in this desert. And we become transfixed as we watch is unfold as two very different, but empathetic girls struggle with the balance between their dreams and their lives.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/blog-tour-bright-burning-stars-by-a-k-small/
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood
I have to say I really enjoyed this novel from A.K. Small. I did ballet until I was 16 and I found this to be authentic and an accurate view of the "ballet world" with maybe a few extra pieces added for dramatic effect. The ballet language seemed natural and not forced within the storyline and I ate up all the friend drama, boy drama and everything in between. I think this would be great for a teen looking for a ballet story with a little grit.
dark
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I shook my head. What do you know about love? I thought. But then I felt bad. M knew a lot about love, but a different kind of love.
First one star read of 2020? Took me long enough, I think.
This might be a little rambly because fuck it, I had to read this for uni.
What can I say about this? I hated it. This had everything going for it to be a great read: the concept, messy friendships, hot dudes, a ballet school in PARIS! However, the potential was squandered beyond salvation, and there are very few redeeming qualities about this book and so many things that are wrong with it. From the clunky writing (The scent of my cedar and tea tree shampoo filled the room. --> unless someone broke shampoo bottles all over the floor, this doesn't make sense), the scarce descriptions (I know it was set in Paris but the atmosphere was nil), the wooden, shallow secondary characters (please drop Cyrille, Jean-Paul, and Benjamin into the nearest volcano), horribly unlikable main characters who do not know how to be compelling to keep me reading, to the slapdash handling of mental health issues, this book is a mess. What else? Ah yes, the pacing is all over the place, the plot is wafer-thin. After reading Elena Ferrante, poorly written toxic female friendships stand out like a sore thumb to me, and in the case of Marine and Kate, it was hard to care about their friendship, considering there was little to no set up before they set it on fire. I didn't see why they were friends, except that they shared Beyoncé songs when they were upset, and they sometimes slept in the same bed. BFFs forever, I guess.
There are dark themes present, but they are not treated with the respect or gravitas they deserve, nor are they fully explored in a way that makes sense.
Take Marine and her battle with an ED. She starves herself throughout the book, something that seriously messes up with your mind and your self-image for years. How did she overcome it? She just... reached enlightenment after fainting in the studio and got over it after the boy she liked (WHO IS KIND OF AN ASSHOLE??) told her she was beautiful with a few kilos. Suddenly, she stopped starving herself. That was when the mild annoyance turned into rage. I still struggle to this day with my ED, which first manifested in high school, and I can assure you that the desire to stop eating doesn't just go away because your crush is like, "you cute any way you look bb."
Then there is Kate. Messy, messy Kate, who falls in love with the first eggplant emoji that walks by her and gives her a modicum of attention. Listen, I get her. I was boy crazy too, but her need to disassociate from the truth so often and so willingly as if she could bend reality to her will didn't sit right with me. How often did Benjamin, the older creep from the company, tell her this was to have fun and not a serious affair? TOO OFTEN. Kate chose to ignore it, going as far as telling Marine that he was practically her fiancé and then becomes distraught when he tossed her aside. But that's ok because she's depressed and depressed people do that, I guess? It's her way of self-harming. Not that she ever addresses it or seeks help before she achieves her dream in the end so, good luck to her.
Also, both Kate and Marine were somehow always pitch-perfect dancers even when their bodies were failing, or one of them was high on jingle jangle or whatever the fuck.
Yeah, Kate sucked. Scratch that. Everyone sucked in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Self harm
I surprised myself by tearing thought Bright Burning Stars in an afternoon. Small does a great job of immersing you in the world of ballet, but even more than that, she does a great job of illuminating that time as young adults where emotions and relationships felt huge and all consuming. I found it to be an absolutely magnetic, character driven read.
I predict people are going to find this book "problematic" and I understand why. BUT. I was a ballet dancer for 15 years, and I can tell you that the ballet world itself is incredibly problematic, so I hope people can understand that this book was designed to be problematic to expose how dark and problematic the ballet world is.
"Would you die for The Prize?"
This was the question Marine, Kate, and all the other First Division dancers at the Paris Opera Ballet School were asking themselves, as they began their final year of training. This was their last opportunity to prove they deserved the top spot, and the company position that came with it. However, only two - one male and one female, would get The Prize.
I have read several books set in the world of elite ballet, and like those, this was intense. Like most of the other books, this one focused on the "dark side" of ballet. There was the physical strain on the dancers' bodies, which they tried to soothe with ice baths, warm water bottles, and lots of pain reliever (and not always the legal kind of pain reliever). Then there was the extreme mental stress, the head games, the sabotage, the body dysmorphia, and insecurities. It was super cutthroat, and Small expertly pulled me into their mess. I felt the hunger pangs, the aches, and that out of control type of spiral right there along with the characters.
But you know how Kate and Marine made it this far? By the power of the friendship they had forged from their very year at the ballet school. Since the age of 12, they had been supporting one another, but during this critical year, cracks started to form in their friendship as Kate began to make a string of poor decisions in order to give herself an edge in winning the prize, and Marine starved herself in oder to attain that perfect ballet body.
I worried for both Marine and Kate, though, probably more for Kate. Marine was lucky to have a few other solid relationships, and Luc was an especially strong ally. Once Kate and Marine were on the outs, Kate was alone, thousands of miles from her home in Virginia, and still nursing the wounds left when the mother, who had abandoned her. I was content with the ending Small wrote for Kate, because it was hopeful, but I loved the ending she gave to Marine. It was a little unexpected and quite wonderful.
One of the reasons I wanted to read this book was because it was about ballet dancers, and Small opened that window into their world quiet wide. I have already mentioned all the physical and mental pain, but she also invited us to "see" them dance. I got a good sense of the euphoria both Marine and Kate experienced, when they performed, and I loved being part of the action. She described the mood, the music, the costumes, and the movement in such a way, that I could fully envision it.
Overall: A compelling look at the world of elite ballet, which deftly took us through the highs and lows one experiences in their pursuit of The Prize.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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I was lucky to get an ARC from the author and digital copy from NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, especially from their own points of view. I found myself siding with Marine and feeling frustration and anger towards Kate. This book does a good job of exploring the trials and tribulations of being a teenager and does a great job relating the difficult life of elite athletes and dancers. Overall, a very enjoyable and quick read.
Spoiler Alert: If you are struggling with an eating disorder or are in recovery from an eating disorder, this book might be triggering.
Spoiler Alert: If you are struggling with an eating disorder or are in recovery from an eating disorder, this book might be triggering.
Marine and Kate are best friends and each other's dance competition at their ballet school, Nanterre, in Paris, France. When they were younger they swore with their Moon Pact to either both win The Prize (a prestigious opportunity that picks only one female and one male dancer to join Paris' ballet corps) or both walk away. It isn't until they are in Division One that the reality of the matter is presented. Only one girl can win the competition; one will continue their dream while the other will pack their bags and never return.
Their once perfect bond of friendship begins to shatter as these truths come to light. They drift apart and battle separate demons that further divides their friendship into acquaintances and then rivals. Kate finds solace in cigarettes, drugs, and The Demigod, a fellow male dancer with striking looks and flawless ballet grace, while Marine focuses on improving her technique and dropping more weight from her rail-thin frame. After weeks of growing apart, Kate finds herself pregnant from a one-night stand with The Demigod who no longer wants anything to do with her, and Marine becomes paired with The Demigod (by their instructors) for the remainder of the year and starts her journey into anorexia and bulimia to transform her body into one that will rival Gia, the other female competition.
The story was enjoyable, although everything was predictable from the beginning. I knew what would result after reading the first chapter and getting introduced to Kate and Marine. When the ending arrived, I was proven right. I shared a connection with Marine since her struggle was so beautifully portrayed over the course of her year in Division One. You see her thoughts change with each chapter and how she spirals into her own worst enemy before finding her way out of the fog. She transforms into the skinniest girl in Division One and yet she still looks in the mirror and sees fat on her arms, hips, and thighs. I wish we could have seen more of her falling and rising, but since each chapter alternated between Kate and Marine we only get a glimpse into the damage she's inflicting on her body.
Kate, on the other hand, I did not like because of her personality. She claims she and Marine are best friends, but Marine is the only loyal and caring person in this friendship. Kate secretly is jealous of Marine and spites her over petty things. She is rude and manipulative to her (back at the beginning when they are still best friends) and Marine just shrugs it off. Thankfully it reaches the point where Marine realizes Kate is sabotaging their friendship by keeping things from her and purposely cutting her down (Kate is very hateful when she discovers Marine has been partnered with The Demigod) so she drifts off and finds solace in the one thing she can control: her weight.
While Marine grew into a stronger character at the end (literally; she is very selfless), Kate was still the same: vindictive, self-absorbed, selfish, arrogant, and making the same mistakes she did at the beginning of the year. I know their falling out had to be included to cause friction between the characters, but I wish Kate had transformed into a likable individual.
Thank you NetGalley and Edelweiss for the ARC.
Their once perfect bond of friendship begins to shatter as these truths come to light. They drift apart and battle separate demons that further divides their friendship into acquaintances and then rivals. Kate finds solace in cigarettes, drugs, and The Demigod, a fellow male dancer with striking looks and flawless ballet grace, while Marine focuses on improving her technique and dropping more weight from her rail-thin frame. After weeks of growing apart, Kate finds herself pregnant from a one-night stand with The Demigod who no longer wants anything to do with her, and Marine becomes paired with The Demigod (by their instructors) for the remainder of the year and starts her journey into anorexia and bulimia to transform her body into one that will rival Gia, the other female competition.
The story was enjoyable, although everything was predictable from the beginning. I knew what would result after reading the first chapter and getting introduced to Kate and Marine. When the ending arrived, I was proven right. I shared a connection with Marine since her struggle was so beautifully portrayed over the course of her year in Division One. You see her thoughts change with each chapter and how she spirals into her own worst enemy before finding her way out of the fog. She transforms into the skinniest girl in Division One and yet she still looks in the mirror and sees fat on her arms, hips, and thighs. I wish we could have seen more of her falling and rising, but since each chapter alternated between Kate and Marine we only get a glimpse into the damage she's inflicting on her body.
Kate, on the other hand, I did not like because of her personality. She claims she and Marine are best friends, but Marine is the only loyal and caring person in this friendship. Kate secretly is jealous of Marine and spites her over petty things. She is rude and manipulative to her (back at the beginning when they are still best friends) and Marine just shrugs it off. Thankfully it reaches the point where Marine realizes Kate is sabotaging their friendship by keeping things from her and purposely cutting her down (Kate is very hateful when she discovers Marine has been partnered with The Demigod) so she drifts off and finds solace in the one thing she can control: her weight.
While Marine grew into a stronger character at the end (literally; she is very selfless), Kate was still the same: vindictive, self-absorbed, selfish, arrogant, and making the same mistakes she did at the beginning of the year. I know their falling out had to be included to cause friction between the characters, but I wish Kate had transformed into a likable individual.
Thank you NetGalley and Edelweiss for the ARC.