by AK Small
Publisher: Alongquin
Pages: 304
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.
But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.
Kritters Thoughts: Marine and Kate become quick friends in a heightened situation as they are both competing for the one prize in a prestigious ballet school. When these students are living together and competing against each other, life is stressful 24 hours out of the day - there is no break from the stress.
Kate is an American from Virginia and a fish very out of water in Paris France. Marine is Parisian, but has her own hurdles as her twin recently passed away and dancing was a passion they shared. These girls want to become the best in their school to be able to move onto corps de ballet and there is only one spot. They will do almost anything to get that top spot and win the prize.
The pacing in this book felt frenetic and it felt as though it hopped from one spot to another. I know it read quickly for me, but it still felt as though the book was written with chaotic pacing in mind.
While my ballet days were numbered, I took all sorts of classes from the age of 5 up to college, when an injury stunted my ballet days, I grew to love watching it just as much and I love reading books in the world also! This book reminded me that I need to seek these books out more and read them here and there. Are there any ballet books that you would recommend?
After finishing the book, I immediately curled up and watched the movie adaptation, Birds of Paradise on Amazon Prime. I know it is an adaptation and the book is more an inspiration, but I felt as though it could have been a little closer to the plot. There were a few scenes in the book that I wished had been in the movie. As I said before the book felt like it moved at a quick pace, the movie instead floated and felt a little more fantasy. There were moments where it felt like it was far from the book and was an artistic choice. As I usually do, I loved the book more!
Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Algonquin. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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