Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Dances by Nicole Cuffy

14 reviews

ddgwriter's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

teryn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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crystalmariecom's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had a tall task; to do a Brooklyn accent, Eastern European, Geechie Southerner, et cetera. She did a pretty good job. :)

As far as the actual book, I am not a dancer at all, and much of the dance terminology was unfamiliar to me, but this is what I love about reading. I get to learn something new, even as I am being entertained.

I loved CeCe's story and how it unfolded. I couldn't have guessed the twists and turns. Even as a non dancer, I could picture much of what the author describes in vivid detail, especially after doing a little googling of words like "arabesque."

Nicole makes all of the characters, even the challenging ones, easy to love. I can't wait to see what else she has for us.

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liamliayaum's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

If you aren't familiar with ballet or dance terms, it will be difficult to see the true beauty of the words. I only know a handful. The writing is lyrical and the book is split into what I'm assuming are the parts of a ballet. Cece is a Black ballerina with a heavy weight on her shoulders, dealing with family and relationship issues.

The writing was however a bit disjointed and it felt like it ended in the middle of a thought. All in all, a slow burn read that focuses on a Black ballerina.

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.0

My first pick from the Carol Shields Prize longlist was Dances, an immersive look into the life of Cece Cordell, the first Black principal at the New York Ballet. The story traces both her personal and professional lives. Her personal life certainly had interest including a complicated family background - a mostly absent father, a practical mother more concerned with survival than encouraging her daughter’s dream, an artistic older brother who did everything he could to support her but who fell prey to addiction and has chosen to go no contact, a less than fulfilling romantic partnership, and upheavals within her close friendship group. However for me the book really excelled in its exploration of Cece’s professional life. There is lots of ballet terminology including dance steps and choreography. I have zero knowledge of this so couldn’t picture the dances in my head. But it mattered not a jot because the words themselves rhymthically danced on the page, conveying Cece’s love of what she does and her talent. The hard work, dedication and determination required to excel; the sweat, the blisters, the constant niggling injuries, the personal sacrifices are all realistically represented. As a ballerina Cece’s body is always under scrutiny - by herself and others, more so once she is named principal, and especially because hers is a Black body, a rarity in the ballet world, that does not conform to the small, petite stereotype of an “ideal” dancer. Cuffy’s exploration of this is thoughtful but readers triggered by disordered eating and a focus on body size may find aspects of this story hard to get through. To me the author was not promoting these things, merely including them in an accurate depiction of the ballet world, and trusting that the reader would draw appropriate conclusions. The other aspect of this story that stood out to me was way it explored the devotion required to be an artist and how it could be a fine line between that being a positive or negative thing, between success or self-destruction. The juxtaposition of Cece and Paul’s experiences, albeit in different areas of artistic expression, really highlighted this. If I had one disappointment with the story it was the lack of resolution to the chasm that developed between Paul and Cece. It really felt unresolved. Part of me was frustrated; the other part recognised that sometimes that’s reality and admired the author for not tying everything up neatly. While I have no desire to take up ballet I very much enjoyed being immersed in the world of a dancer and seeing how being Black in a very white space impacted a dancer’s experience, adding an additional layer of challenge and complexity.

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jocelynzoe's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

3.25

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neighborhoodkat's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

ukponge's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

Content Warnings

zoefranka's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings