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A review by allisonhollingsworth
The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
3.0
I was really excited when I found out I won this book in a giveaway, so thank you, Goodreads!
I saw this book lots of places and I have to admit, I was really drawn in by the cover and when I started the book I didn't know anything about it other than it involved dancers. Let me tell you that this book is not about dance at all. Instead, I was taken on a journey about this girl in the 1800s who doesn't know she's being brainwashed. It was all so very jarring, I tell you. The book was intriguing in that Penny is trying to figure out who she really is and finding herself. But at the end of the book, I still don't get a sense of who she is. I know that she doesn't like dance, and I know she loves her family and her sister - who we don't hear about until toward the end of the novel - but what else makes Penny, Penny? I felt that was lacking in the story and would have made her quest of finding herself that much more powerful. Instead, I found myself having a hard time feeling invested in her character. The relationship with Cricket helped. He brought out small pieces of her, and I'm always a sucker for old friends turned lovers trope. I needed more information about Master, too. I believe there's more to his past and to what he did than just being made fun of by his sister. I would have loved to explore more of that, but the writer did do a great job of making him creepy! But I have to say my favorite character in the whole book was Alidoro. I felt that he had the most personality and I would totally read a story about him:
Penny, to Alidoro: "You've proven yourself to be quite resourceful. What did you do now?"
Alidoro: "A better question might be, what didn't I do?"
I saw this book lots of places and I have to admit, I was really drawn in by the cover and when I started the book I didn't know anything about it other than it involved dancers. Let me tell you that this book is not about dance at all. Instead, I was taken on a journey about this girl in the 1800s who doesn't know she's being brainwashed. It was all so very jarring, I tell you. The book was intriguing in that Penny is trying to figure out who she really is and finding herself. But at the end of the book, I still don't get a sense of who she is. I know that she doesn't like dance, and I know she loves her family and her sister - who we don't hear about until toward the end of the novel - but what else makes Penny, Penny? I felt that was lacking in the story and would have made her quest of finding herself that much more powerful. Instead, I found myself having a hard time feeling invested in her character. The relationship with Cricket helped. He brought out small pieces of her, and I'm always a sucker for old friends turned lovers trope. I needed more information about Master, too. I believe there's more to his past and to what he did than just being made fun of by his sister. I would have loved to explore more of that, but the writer did do a great job of making him creepy! But I have to say my favorite character in the whole book was Alidoro. I felt that he had the most personality and I would totally read a story about him:
Penny, to Alidoro: "You've proven yourself to be quite resourceful. What did you do now?"
Alidoro: "A better question might be, what didn't I do?"