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A review by kaelaceleste
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk
5.0
Ok I absolutely loved this?????
This was such a pleasant surprise! It honestly takes a lot for me to enjoy a YA novel so much lately but I really, really loved this one. The characters were super cute and easy to root for and it dealt with way deeper issues than I was expecting.
This book tells the story of Alina, a teenage ballet dancer who dreamed of dancing professionally, but unfortunately got injured in a pretty traumatic way that hit the brakes on her career. The story deals with her healing from that both physically and mentally, and trying to make sense of what her life looks like without that vital part of her identity. Along the way she tries to find that passion again in other ways, like spending time with new friends she didn't get to before because of her rigorous schedule, and new hobbies like being part of the school musical.
But what I loved most of all was that this was such a love letter to ballet. It was really clear that the author either has experience with ballet or did a lot of really great research, because everything was sooo much more realistic and accurate than other fictional ballet novels I've read. There were so many little details that were correct that other stories get wrong, and the fact that she actually referenced other ballets besides the Nutcracker was just
This was such a pleasant surprise! It honestly takes a lot for me to enjoy a YA novel so much lately but I really, really loved this one. The characters were super cute and easy to root for and it dealt with way deeper issues than I was expecting.
This book tells the story of Alina, a teenage ballet dancer who dreamed of dancing professionally, but unfortunately got injured in a pretty traumatic way that hit the brakes on her career. The story deals with her healing from that both physically and mentally, and trying to make sense of what her life looks like without that vital part of her identity. Along the way she tries to find that passion again in other ways, like spending time with new friends she didn't get to before because of her rigorous schedule, and new hobbies like being part of the school musical.
But what I loved most of all was that this was such a love letter to ballet. It was really clear that the author either has experience with ballet or did a lot of really great research, because everything was sooo much more realistic and accurate than other fictional ballet novels I've read. There were so many little details that were correct that other stories get wrong, and the fact that she actually referenced other ballets besides the Nutcracker was just