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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Ballet took up so many hours of my life — a lifetime ago— so I read this with the same energy that made me see center stage a bunch of times. It’s nice to see a book like this that isn’t a YA book.
dark
tense
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
I expected a lot more thriller and plotting. It was a fine novel, but based on the description, it didn't meet expectations.
Based on the synopsis I was hoping for a thriller with ballerinas as the main characters. That was not what I was given. This is a story of friendship between 3 ballerinas (Delphine, Lindsay & Margaux). The story shifts between the trio’s adolescent years and the present day. It explores of complexities of female friendship, the drive towards physical perfection, ambition, & passion. If you like character driven stories with those themes you will probably enjoy this one more than I did. The first half of the story is very much setting the stage for things to come in the second half. You’re immersed in the Parisian world of ballet and these 3 women’s lives. You discover the lengths they went through to reach their goals and in the present-day Delphine has returned to the Palais Garnier opera house to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career. The second half of the story picks up a bit more and rounded out the read quite nicely.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was super underwhelming. For a book titled “The Ballerinas,” I was left wanting for more ballet content. I really wish more time was spent in the timeline set in the past, when the main characters were young girls. The plot was so slow-moving and the author tried to tackle too many “hot button” topics, none done particularly well. Super disappointing.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.25 stars. Picked up a lot after the first 100 pages or so. Unexpected ending !
For the majority of the book, my foremost thought was...This is sooooo Boring. It was just so slow. And I didn't like any of the characters. And the whole thing is actually about ballerinas. Nothing else. Everyone in the story is apart of the ballet company or married to someone in the ballet company. I get it, ballerinas at this level having little else in their life because they are working toward being the best. I just expected a book to have a bit more than that.
Stella was the gem of this book, to me. But she was rarely in it.
I didn't even like Margot or Lindsey until almost the very end. And the author shoved just about every hot topic into the book that she could.
Literally the only reason I kept listening was to find out this big lifechanging thing that Margot and Delphini did to Lindsey. Then once I got to it, the thing they did wasn't as big of a deal as I expected...although by then, something new and actually interesting had happened, so then I needed to listen to the end.
It was still just meh for me. Although I do think it would be some other reader's cup of tea. Just not mine.
Stella was the gem of this book, to me. But she was rarely in it.
I didn't even like Margot or Lindsey until almost the very end. And the author shoved just about every hot topic into the book that she could.
Literally the only reason I kept listening was to find out this big lifechanging thing that Margot and Delphini did to Lindsey. Then once I got to it, the thing they did wasn't as big of a deal as I expected...although by then, something new and actually interesting had happened, so then I needed to listen to the end.
It was still just meh for me. Although I do think it would be some other reader's cup of tea. Just not mine.