heatheray's review
5.0
I loved Adagio from the moment I first laid eyes on the cover. How beautiful is that? There are some books that I am always drawn to because of my own history, that it includes anything with dance, especially pointe work.
I always wonder when there is technical points in a book, like the type of move the dancer is doing, or how it feels to pull down deep inside you to make yourself even taller while someone is berating your technique, if the writer was a dancer at some point in their life or if they just did really good research. I don’t know which is is for Delancey Stewart, but all of those little bits of information add so much to the book. One moment I can think of is how Anna’s toes were after spending 8 hours in her pointe shoes. I don’t know if people who don’t dance realize how brutal en pointe dance can be on a dancer’s body.
I think she did an awesome job of showing how life is behind the stage for dancers. It is cut throat and a lot of people will do anything that it takes to get that lead role.
I adored our main characters in this book. Anna and Cain just felt right for each other. I was pulled in from the very first page and just kept swiping until I got to the end. I don’t think I went to sleep until 3 AM the night I started this book.
I wanted so badly for everything to work out for Anna, not just with Cain, but with the company as well. She pulled at my heart strings so much.
I cannot wait to see whose story is coming up next in this series, Hal or Ian or Carla. I’m really hoping that it is Hal’s. There was a lot going on there as a side story in Adagio.
I am so glad I got a chance to read Adagio! Thank you so much for my copy!
5 stars!
I always wonder when there is technical points in a book, like the type of move the dancer is doing, or how it feels to pull down deep inside you to make yourself even taller while someone is berating your technique, if the writer was a dancer at some point in their life or if they just did really good research. I don’t know which is is for Delancey Stewart, but all of those little bits of information add so much to the book. One moment I can think of is how Anna’s toes were after spending 8 hours in her pointe shoes. I don’t know if people who don’t dance realize how brutal en pointe dance can be on a dancer’s body.
I think she did an awesome job of showing how life is behind the stage for dancers. It is cut throat and a lot of people will do anything that it takes to get that lead role.
I adored our main characters in this book. Anna and Cain just felt right for each other. I was pulled in from the very first page and just kept swiping until I got to the end. I don’t think I went to sleep until 3 AM the night I started this book.
I wanted so badly for everything to work out for Anna, not just with Cain, but with the company as well. She pulled at my heart strings so much.
I cannot wait to see whose story is coming up next in this series, Hal or Ian or Carla. I’m really hoping that it is Hal’s. There was a lot going on there as a side story in Adagio.
I am so glad I got a chance to read Adagio! Thank you so much for my copy!
5 stars!
thefox22's review
3.0
*Review can be found here.
I've been reading more books about ballet, so I jumped at the chance to review Adagio. I loved that it was New Adult. And I was intrigued by the synopsis, "an engaging drama-filled ride through the darker parts of the ballet and the lives of those who live to dance." This book definitely explored the darker side of the ballet and what people will do to become the best.
Rating: 3 Stars!
Ballet is competitive, the stakes are high, and people will do whatever it takes to win. Anna and Cain know that better than anyone. They live this life day after day. The competition is even fiercer when Anna is offered a position in the Union ballet company. But it comes at a price, one she's not sure she's willing to pay. What do you do when what you've worked so hard for is being dangled in front of your face and tortures you endlessly? What do you do when someone takes advantage of your dreams and makes you feel like you owe him something for making it come true?
Anna Glaser has worked hard to dance professionally, and the director finally offers her a chance with the Union. But Anna feels the strings that came along with the position, and she's not sure what to do about them. And she's even more unsure about Cain, the boy who makes her want to become friends with him. For all her life, her best friend has been ballet. She's shy, socially awkward. It's hard to make friends when you don't know who to trust and when people have hurt you in the past. Anna knows she's good, and that has turned her into steel when dealing with other dancers. But Cain breaks through that tough barrier and makes her feel wanted. Cherished. He helps her become more confident in herself and teaches her to stand up for who she is and what she wants. And what she wants is him.
Cain Gilliam is one of the company's best male dancers and also one of the notorious bachelors. But he's so much more than a pretty face. He's sweet, caring, determined to become Anna's friend. He dances in the company, works at a bar, and lives with his two best friends, Hal and Ian. I honestly don't remember much else about Cain, other than what I just said above. It takes him awhile to want a relationship with Anna because he's had bad ones with other dancers before. He swore to himself that he wouldn't date another dancer, but he wants Anna.
I liked their relationship, to a degree. It was sweet and charming, but I think it was sorely underdeveloped. There wasn't as much depth as I would have liked. They both helped each other move on from their pasts, but they also didn't spend much time together. I feel like the I love yous were too fast. Anna spent much of the book going back and forth about Cain, wanting to focus on ballet instead, wondering what Sebastian would do if he found out, coming to terms with her past boy heartache. It was a lot of: I should. I shouldn't. I should. I shouldn't.
The plot, though, was the weak point. I had no clue that this was going to turn into a freaking mystery with suspicious conversations behind closed doors and a supposed murder. I thought this would just be a contemporary, and I would have liked it more if it had stayed true to that. It became more about this thing that happened in the past than Cain's and Anna's relationship. And I didn't think the story needed the added drama with Hal and Julianna, Jimmy and Suzanne. I kept thinking to myself: was all of this necessary? It didn't add anything to the relationship between Anna and Cain. It made the secondary characters feel more real, but I just felt that all of that added drama overshadowed the romance. I wanted more focus on them than what everyone else was doing.
Adagio was a fairly light contemporary romance set in the competitive and sometimes dark world of ballet.
I've been reading more books about ballet, so I jumped at the chance to review Adagio. I loved that it was New Adult. And I was intrigued by the synopsis, "an engaging drama-filled ride through the darker parts of the ballet and the lives of those who live to dance." This book definitely explored the darker side of the ballet and what people will do to become the best.
Rating: 3 Stars!
Ballet is competitive, the stakes are high, and people will do whatever it takes to win. Anna and Cain know that better than anyone. They live this life day after day. The competition is even fiercer when Anna is offered a position in the Union ballet company. But it comes at a price, one she's not sure she's willing to pay. What do you do when what you've worked so hard for is being dangled in front of your face and tortures you endlessly? What do you do when someone takes advantage of your dreams and makes you feel like you owe him something for making it come true?
Anna Glaser has worked hard to dance professionally, and the director finally offers her a chance with the Union. But Anna feels the strings that came along with the position, and she's not sure what to do about them. And she's even more unsure about Cain, the boy who makes her want to become friends with him. For all her life, her best friend has been ballet. She's shy, socially awkward. It's hard to make friends when you don't know who to trust and when people have hurt you in the past. Anna knows she's good, and that has turned her into steel when dealing with other dancers. But Cain breaks through that tough barrier and makes her feel wanted. Cherished. He helps her become more confident in herself and teaches her to stand up for who she is and what she wants. And what she wants is him.
Cain Gilliam is one of the company's best male dancers and also one of the notorious bachelors. But he's so much more than a pretty face. He's sweet, caring, determined to become Anna's friend. He dances in the company, works at a bar, and lives with his two best friends, Hal and Ian. I honestly don't remember much else about Cain, other than what I just said above. It takes him awhile to want a relationship with Anna because he's had bad ones with other dancers before. He swore to himself that he wouldn't date another dancer, but he wants Anna.
I liked their relationship, to a degree. It was sweet and charming, but I think it was sorely underdeveloped. There wasn't as much depth as I would have liked. They both helped each other move on from their pasts, but they also didn't spend much time together. I feel like the I love yous were too fast. Anna spent much of the book going back and forth about Cain, wanting to focus on ballet instead, wondering what Sebastian would do if he found out, coming to terms with her past boy heartache. It was a lot of: I should. I shouldn't. I should. I shouldn't.
The plot, though, was the weak point. I had no clue that this was going to turn into a freaking mystery with suspicious conversations behind closed doors and a supposed murder. I thought this would just be a contemporary, and I would have liked it more if it had stayed true to that. It became more about this thing that happened in the past than Cain's and Anna's relationship. And I didn't think the story needed the added drama with Hal and Julianna, Jimmy and Suzanne. I kept thinking to myself: was all of this necessary? It didn't add anything to the relationship between Anna and Cain. It made the secondary characters feel more real, but I just felt that all of that added drama overshadowed the romance. I wanted more focus on them than what everyone else was doing.
Adagio was a fairly light contemporary romance set in the competitive and sometimes dark world of ballet.
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