bookcrazyblogger 's review for:

Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small

3.0

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Marine Duval (French-born) and Kate Sanders (American-born) are ballet dancers/best friends. They’re each in training at the exclusive Paris Opera Baller School. They’ve made it through the critiques, Marine’s twin Oli’s death, and all the pressures that are put into young ballet dancers, including unhealthy weight loss programs. Now 16 years old, they’re in competition to win The Prize: aka a permanent place with the Opera’s ballet corps. With the pressure on, both Kate and Marine capture the attention of The Demigod aka Cyrille, the number 1 male dancer in the school. While Kate yearns for his heart, Marine is the one to capture the dancer’s attention. How far will these girls go to win it all? Are they willing to lose their lives, their friendship, their everything? While I loved dance, I will be forever grateful that I quit my studio before going on pointe. I will never have the body of a ballet dancer: I have too much hips and boobs. The French are intense in this book and the adults even more so. They live and breathe dance. This novel doesn’t shy away from the tricks that dancers use to be the best: constant, feet-breaking exercise, drug use, anorexia and the competitive spirit that means only one will ever make it to the top. The only issue I had with this book was that it felt too short and I also wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. Perhaps it’s the French way but these kids acted like they were in their early 20’s. It felt odd that they never even ended up with a degree.