A review by ifyouhappentoremember
Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead

3.0

I should have loved this book. Not only was it about ballet, but it also had a surprise, relevant-to-the-plot appearance by the 1986 musical, The Phantom of the Opera. It had my two favorite things! Unfortunately, I was not astonished or enthralled by this book. Just vaguely underwhelmed.

I think it comes down to the ending. Baffling choices were made, to put it mildly.

I did enjoy all of the ballet references, homages, and parallels. I had fun making the connections between the real-life people and ballets that inspired the characters and ballets of the story.