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A review by krista7
The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz
3.0
Note: Unbiased review provided in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.
I'm between a 3 and a 3.5 on this one.
"Midnight Dance" is a YA-and-up level book that owes more than a bit to Gregory Maguire, who has dedicated decades to rewriting fairytales. I just can't decide *what* fairytale, classic or new, is being reworked here, as I can see so many of them in the bones of the story--the 12 Dancing Princesses, the Phantom of the Opera, the kitchen boy story (of Tsarevich Alexei), Coppelia, the Night Circus, and so on.
So what is this book? It's a vaguely historical thriller dosed with a lot of magical realism and a spot of steampunk thrown in. At the end of the 1800s, a man runs a ballet boarding school in Italy. All of the girls in the school are orphans or impoverished by family background (that is, far lower in power than him). One of the girls, Penny, begins to see a discrepancy between the world around her and her memories (and often, lack thereof). What if the world she knows is built on a lie?
What's good about the book is that it is fun, atmospheric, and it sells the scary in the form of the Master. It certainly makes the reader believe Penny's confusion, as we're often left confused, too.
What's in need of help is the back half of the book. The ending is rushed and the need for the famous midnight dance isn't made clear for the reader--it just seems like a flourish thrown in by the author for a fun time. And the framing of the dance world needs more meat to it; for a "ballet book," the dancing seems to do little beyond giving us tutus and first position.
All in all, it was a fast read and one I enjoyed--I just wish there'd been more in this world to explore.
I'm between a 3 and a 3.5 on this one.
"Midnight Dance" is a YA-and-up level book that owes more than a bit to Gregory Maguire, who has dedicated decades to rewriting fairytales. I just can't decide *what* fairytale, classic or new, is being reworked here, as I can see so many of them in the bones of the story--the 12 Dancing Princesses, the Phantom of the Opera, the kitchen boy story (of Tsarevich Alexei), Coppelia, the Night Circus, and so on.
So what is this book? It's a vaguely historical thriller dosed with a lot of magical realism and a spot of steampunk thrown in. At the end of the 1800s, a man runs a ballet boarding school in Italy. All of the girls in the school are orphans or impoverished by family background (that is, far lower in power than him). One of the girls, Penny, begins to see a discrepancy between the world around her and her memories (and often, lack thereof). What if the world she knows is built on a lie?
What's good about the book is that it is fun, atmospheric, and it sells the scary in the form of the Master. It certainly makes the reader believe Penny's confusion, as we're often left confused, too.
What's in need of help is the back half of the book. The ending is rushed and the need for the famous midnight dance isn't made clear for the reader--it just seems like a flourish thrown in by the author for a fun time. And the framing of the dance world needs more meat to it; for a "ballet book," the dancing seems to do little beyond giving us tutus and first position.
All in all, it was a fast read and one I enjoyed--I just wish there'd been more in this world to explore.