[Review] Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Bunheads

Author: Sophie Flack

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/03/2012

Publisher: Atom (Hachette)

Pages: 294

Source: For review

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

My Rating:

Honest and insightful.

My thoughts

I was only able to REALLY appreciate this book once I'd looked the author up a little bit online. Sophie Flack is a former ballerina, picking up the art from a young age--so right from the get-go you know that she really knows ballet--and was at the NYCB as a member of the corps de ballet for 9 years. After she lost her job (as a result of company layoffs), she decided to step away from dancing and pursue something new. She actually got her book deal because of an interview she'd done at the New York Times, which I think is just really cool. During her time at the company she kept a journal, which she used as a kind of mould for Bunheads. It is not an autobiography so much as it is a fictional telling that reveals many truths about the ballet world.

[Review] Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

Dance of Shadows

(#1, Dance of Shadows)
Dance of Shadows | Untitled

Author: Yelena Black 

Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/02/2013

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 385

Source: For review

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity


My Rating: 



My thoughts

Note: there are slight spoilers in this review. I figured them out when the elements were first presented to me, so I don't consider them outright spoilers, but if you want to go into this book knowing NOTHING, don't read on!

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You do not need to be a dancer to have an interest in all things dance. I'm a fan of the likes of SYTYCD and Bunheads and I always do a double-take when I come across dancing (style doesn't matter to me). So, naturally, books that involve dance interest me greatly, and I was really excited to read Yelena Black's debut novel Dance of Shadows. I think I could have loved this book, but there were just so many things I found irritating about it that detracted from its entertainment value.