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caffeineandcomposition's review against another edition
4.0
Dancing, private schools, unreliable narrators, I love it all! Plus that cover is gor-ge-ous! We open on the normal school day for Penny, but then a sense of unease and discomfort slowly sets it. In all honesty, I did get sidetracked from the book because my life experience a crazy two weeks, but if I had hunkered down I would’ve read this cover-to-cover in about 2.5 seconds. As it were I was almost late to work because I needed to finish it ;).
There’s something not quite right about this school, and I loved how the piece slowly unraveled rather than all at once. And Penny grows from a submissive schoolgirl into someone with her own thoughts and voice, which is a very important step for her. We also get flashbacks that set up how the school came to be and give us information on the mysterious “Master”.
I highly enjoyed this one, and would certainly recommend that you read it. There’s a ton going on in the book but it never gets too bad or overwhelming. It’s also interesting because there’s the juxtaposition of a historical setting and newer technology and science. Although to be honest, you don’t get too much historical detail, and the only reason that I really noticed it as past was the constant reminder of what year it was at the beginning of the chapters. Of course, this was to denote flashback and current day, so it’s not all that bad.
I was provided this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
See more reviews here at Caffeine and Composition.
There’s something not quite right about this school, and I loved how the piece slowly unraveled rather than all at once. And Penny grows from a submissive schoolgirl into someone with her own thoughts and voice, which is a very important step for her. We also get flashbacks that set up how the school came to be and give us information on the mysterious “Master”.
I highly enjoyed this one, and would certainly recommend that you read it. There’s a ton going on in the book but it never gets too bad or overwhelming. It’s also interesting because there’s the juxtaposition of a historical setting and newer technology and science. Although to be honest, you don’t get too much historical detail, and the only reason that I really noticed it as past was the constant reminder of what year it was at the beginning of the chapters. Of course, this was to denote flashback and current day, so it’s not all that bad.
I was provided this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
See more reviews here at Caffeine and Composition.
ellesreadingnook's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
littlelarks's review against another edition
2.0
Fooled by a beautiful cover once again!
This book is barely about ballet (& I was so! excited for a YA book about ballet) & is filled with some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue and tropes I’ve read in a while, I don’t think I made it through a single page without rolling my eyes at least once.
This book is barely about ballet (& I was so! excited for a YA book about ballet) & is filled with some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue and tropes I’ve read in a while, I don’t think I made it through a single page without rolling my eyes at least once.
bookworms_closet's review against another edition
2.0
Complete waste of a brilliant idea. It could have been so great, so magical. But the story made absolutely no sense and the writing was immature.
allymemes's review against another edition
1.0
The cover is the only redeemable thing about this book. The main character sucks, the love interest has the personality of white bread, the plot was convoluted and somehow too fast and too slow at the same time. Would not recommend.
fafabookcorner's review against another edition
Mini review:
DNF
I read part of this book on Swoon Reads.
This book is just not for me. It seems to be a bit of thriller. Which is a genre I avoid.
Still recommend.
DNF
I read part of this book on Swoon Reads.
This book is just not for me. It seems to be a bit of thriller. Which is a genre I avoid.
Still recommend.
justkeyreads's review against another edition
4.0
It was masterfully parts dark, creepy, stunning, strengthening and powerful. I was looking forward to reading this book and was pleasantly surprised how entranced I was sucked in with the storyline and its world.
Penny along with eleven other girls lives that they know are on an island with no previous memories of their previous lives are living under this guy named Master (whose real name is Cirollo) who experiments on them like dolls and he the vengeful puppeteer. What he was doing and did to Penny and those girls were just downright despicable. But Penny who was the spark on a dark world fought against Cirollo and had strength that far passed what Cirollo thought he could do to her. I loved the sweet romance between her and Cricket that blossomed as she discovered the vengeful plot.
Penny along with eleven other girls lives that they know are on an island with no previous memories of their previous lives are living under this guy named Master (whose real name is Cirollo) who experiments on them like dolls and he the vengeful puppeteer. What he was doing and did to Penny and those girls were just downright despicable. But Penny who was the spark on a dark world fought against Cirollo and had strength that far passed what Cirollo thought he could do to her. I loved the sweet romance between her and Cricket that blossomed as she discovered the vengeful plot.
reader_fictions's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
Ah, Swoon Reads, here we are, doing this dance once again. You have a beautiful cover and promising premise and I know better, but oh I just cannot resist your allure. I cannot quit you, Swoon Reads, but sometimes I want to. The Midnight Dance is Dollhouse meets the Chemical Garden trilogy, and it’s okay but it’s not great.
Early on, I actually found myself oddly captivated by The Midnight Dance. I found the writing pleasant and easy to consume, and something about it made me want to keep reading, despite not being especially into the characters or story. So that’s good, because it means I might try more Katz in the future.
First warning, don’t come for the ballet, because there’s actually not much ballet in here. And the MC hates ballet, so it’s really not about that. It’s basically like if the dolls from Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse were only tasked to be ballerinas. Which is kind of cool, except I have so many questions. Why does this dude have so much money to spend on this? Because this is a costly operation and putting on the occasional ballet just cannot bring in that much dough. His evil plan is a harem of ballerinas, which is creepy af, but we’re not exactly talking world domination here and also why ballerinas? I know why he’s obsessed with tech but I do not get the ballet connection at all.
Romance-wise, this is so completely Chemical Garden. Penny (it’s not weird for me to have to look her name up bc my memory but I actually don’t even recognize her name two weeks later, so yeah not the most memorable book tbh) is realizing that something’s weird, because she’s starting to have memories that don’t fit her life. She’s basically been trained to be into stockholm syndrome creep dude, but she’s got ~feelings~ for the cute house boy, Cricket. There is no chemistry any which way, and I really didn’t care about this.
The Midnight Dance really just needed more: more characterization, more pizzazz, more dancing, and way more world building. I kind of enjoyed reading it, but I forgot it again almost immediately after. By no means the worst Swoon Reads has offered, but not particularly satisfying.
Ah, Swoon Reads, here we are, doing this dance once again. You have a beautiful cover and promising premise and I know better, but oh I just cannot resist your allure. I cannot quit you, Swoon Reads, but sometimes I want to. The Midnight Dance is Dollhouse meets the Chemical Garden trilogy, and it’s okay but it’s not great.
Early on, I actually found myself oddly captivated by The Midnight Dance. I found the writing pleasant and easy to consume, and something about it made me want to keep reading, despite not being especially into the characters or story. So that’s good, because it means I might try more Katz in the future.
First warning, don’t come for the ballet, because there’s actually not much ballet in here. And the MC hates ballet, so it’s really not about that. It’s basically like if the dolls from Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse were only tasked to be ballerinas. Which is kind of cool, except I have so many questions. Why does this dude have so much money to spend on this? Because this is a costly operation and putting on the occasional ballet just cannot bring in that much dough. His evil plan is a harem of ballerinas, which is creepy af, but we’re not exactly talking world domination here and also why ballerinas? I know why he’s obsessed with tech but I do not get the ballet connection at all.
Romance-wise, this is so completely Chemical Garden. Penny (it’s not weird for me to have to look her name up bc my memory but I actually don’t even recognize her name two weeks later, so yeah not the most memorable book tbh) is realizing that something’s weird, because she’s starting to have memories that don’t fit her life. She’s basically been trained to be into stockholm syndrome creep dude, but she’s got ~feelings~ for the cute house boy, Cricket. There is no chemistry any which way, and I really didn’t care about this.
The Midnight Dance really just needed more: more characterization, more pizzazz, more dancing, and way more world building. I kind of enjoyed reading it, but I forgot it again almost immediately after. By no means the worst Swoon Reads has offered, but not particularly satisfying.
michelecisneros's review against another edition
1.0
This review is based on an ARC I received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts on this book are my own.
I was intrigued by the cover and the premise of the book but the actual book itself was kind of disappointing. I didn’t really grow to care about any of the characters in the book which was a shame as I then didn’t really care if they got out of their predicament or not. I also felt like this story progressed very slowly and it took me a while to get through. I left the book being just as confused as I started this book as a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me.
I was intrigued by the cover and the premise of the book but the actual book itself was kind of disappointing. I didn’t really grow to care about any of the characters in the book which was a shame as I then didn’t really care if they got out of their predicament or not. I also felt like this story progressed very slowly and it took me a while to get through. I left the book being just as confused as I started this book as a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me.