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lydsansthekidd's review against another edition
4.0
Personally, out of the two Berrier books that I've read, I like this one a lot more. While I was drawn to the other book for its unique way of telling a story, I LOVE the concept of this book. This isn't the first time I've seen magic and dance be connected, but that's okay. It's so beautiful and well done and intriguing whenever people use it. Adding the taboo concept of it being illegal gave it a super interesting twist.
First off, the story starts with a character in jail, which if that doesn't immediately pull you in, I don't really know what will. The first thing that you're shown is that dancing has consequences, even if magic isn't involved. The reason this sucks? Because our main character, Ellise, is a dancer. From this point, it goes into explaining why magic is illegal. Simply, there was a magic catastrophe that literally made an entire village disappear. The catch, there were never any bodies. With the help of her friend Denise, Ellise researches the odds and ends that just don't add up and finds her prison buddy Lester. And that's all the further I'm gonna go. If you want to know why Lester was in prison AND what happened to all of those people, then you're just gonna have to read it yourself. Come on, it's a measly 73 pages.
If the plot isn't convincing enough, the world in this book is just built enough that it catches your attention. I really wish there was even more world building and the book was bigger because I have so many questions. Don't get me wrong, the story ends exactly how it should, but I wanted MORE.
For the story being as short as it is, I wouldn't say the characters are uninteresting. Ellise has this same need to bring people together like many of the characters from A Book Without Dragons that I sort of love. She doesn't come across as preachy. She just wants to find friends and a sense of belonging. I want the unity and simplicity that these characters try to achieve. Lester also carried a lot of weight for me. Originally, when he was in jail, I was picturing someone twenty times more terrifying than the actual teddy bear boy that I got. Best blushing dance boy.
Maybe one day I'll get a sequel where I get to see how magic becomes reintegrated into the world. I'd be super pumped for that tbh. Give me more Ellise, Lester, and Denise adventures!
First off, the story starts with a character in jail, which if that doesn't immediately pull you in, I don't really know what will. The first thing that you're shown is that dancing has consequences, even if magic isn't involved. The reason this sucks? Because our main character, Ellise, is a dancer. From this point, it goes into explaining why magic is illegal. Simply, there was a magic catastrophe that literally made an entire village disappear. The catch, there were never any bodies. With the help of her friend Denise, Ellise researches the odds and ends that just don't add up and finds her prison buddy Lester. And that's all the further I'm gonna go. If you want to know why Lester was in prison AND what happened to all of those people, then you're just gonna have to read it yourself. Come on, it's a measly 73 pages.
If the plot isn't convincing enough, the world in this book is just built enough that it catches your attention. I really wish there was even more world building and the book was bigger because I have so many questions. Don't get me wrong, the story ends exactly how it should, but I wanted MORE.
For the story being as short as it is, I wouldn't say the characters are uninteresting. Ellise has this same need to bring people together like many of the characters from A Book Without Dragons that I sort of love. She doesn't come across as preachy. She just wants to find friends and a sense of belonging. I want the unity and simplicity that these characters try to achieve. Lester also carried a lot of weight for me. Originally, when he was in jail, I was picturing someone twenty times more terrifying than the actual teddy bear boy that I got. Best blushing dance boy.
Maybe one day I'll get a sequel where I get to see how magic becomes reintegrated into the world. I'd be super pumped for that tbh. Give me more Ellise, Lester, and Denise adventures!
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