booklover450's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Bullying, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Car accident, Drug abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Racism
why_en's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spoiler
i barely remember what happened lol honestly it got boring in the middle but picked right back up with the last few chapters but damn Bette and June are really bitches wth so I don't feel bad about what's happening to them lol. the only people i was really rooting for were my girl Gigi and Alec, even Will oml and I did love how cunning Henri is but he's still creepy.it also took me longer than usual to finish this cuz maybe because it's contemporary? also i dance and it gave me lowkey PTSD since i went to an arts high school and was close to the dance department students so the characters remind me so much of some of them 🤡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Animal death, and Medical content
Minor: Xenophobia
safbecca's review
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder
lostintheplot's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Body horror, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, and Racism
a_renee_long's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book was hard for me to pick up. I am currently training in ballet and a lot of the struggles are relatable but the plot and problems go slightly overboard. I really think that it is a good book, it just wasn’t my style. For me the book was quite repetitive and in the end didn’t answer many main questions….. maybe they will be answered in the second book? Anyways, well written, but a different vibe than I like, and too repetitive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Pedophilia
danaslitlist's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was on board with this book until 80, where some red flags popped up and then at 90% my fears were confirmed that yes, the book was going in that direction. I don’t appreciate the one Black character (arguably the main character) being absolutely gaslit and abused, especially when the book tries to make commentary on the racism black ballerinas face in the industry, only for her to really just suffer at the end.
It just felt mean and not rewarding. If the ending had been different this wouldn’t have been a problem but the last 10% buried my hopes.Â
This books also tries to cover some really dark and heavy topics but doesn’t give enough time to flesh them out and feels like a cop out.
Probably won’t be picking up book 2 (I thought this was a stand-alone but apparently not). Honestly this should’ve been one book with some edits done to cut back on parts that drag.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, and Hate crime
idonoteatchairs's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Animal death, Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Vomit, Addiction, Eating disorder, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Racism, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, and Fatphobia
hopelesslydevoted's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It reminded me of a mix of pretty little liars and black swan. The only reason why I marked it down to three is because I wish I would have had more of a warning with the depictions of eating disorders. Obviously I should have done more research but it was still a lot more than I thought I could handle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Drug abuse
solaria's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Very engaging and creative. I enjoyed having the different perspectives of Gigi, Bette and June who are all unreliable narrators in their own way as they explore different circumstances that none of them have encountered before. The twists were very good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
itsmeyseniab's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm BUMMED.
When I think of the plot the first word that comes to mind is repetitive. While this novel is relatively easy to read, it took me a lot longer to finish it than I anticipated going into it. After I read the description I thought this was going to be a new favorite, but I'm so disappointed. This entire book was just so over the top, which is fine and great escapism, but I just did not care about what happened/what was happening at all. Our main conflict between the three girls had so much promise, but it just fell flat - it all just felt as though the intense hatred they had for one another had no real reason behind it other than "the new girl is getting all the attention because she's a great dancer OMG so horrible" ... come on. It's as though it didn't dawn on anybody that hey, maybe people get the parts that they get because they're talented.
The characters... YIKES. I love character-driven stories. Even if I'm not enjoying the novel at all, I can always find at least ONE character that I care about. YA'LL I STRUGGLED TO FIND ONE IN THIS (and still haven't if I'm being honest). I wasn't sure which character I was meant to root for, and can confidently say I didn't enjoy any of their storylines 100%. Gigi, the new girl, was way too naive for my liking. June's chip on her shoulder got really repetitive to read about. Bette's constant denial of her being a bully made her a really terrible "villain". I appreciated how the authors attempted to share the good and bad sides of each character but they were so underdeveloped and I simply did not care about any of them. The romances were jarring, the girls' scenes with each other were so lackluster, and ultimately I think the three POVs hurt the novel more than it helped, not because it was confusing, but because it made all of our experiences with each character very surface-level. Every time I felt as though I was finally peeling back the layers of each character the chapter would end and immediately jump into the next POV.
All that being said, I am VERY interested to check out the series once it comes out on Netflix! I think this story would translate way better on film than it did on paper. I will say that I can see why it is described as a hybrid between Black Swan and Pretty Little Liars (but I'd recommend those two works WAY before I recommended this novel unfortunately :/).
When I think of the plot the first word that comes to mind is repetitive. While this novel is relatively easy to read, it took me a lot longer to finish it than I anticipated going into it. After I read the description I thought this was going to be a new favorite, but I'm so disappointed. This entire book was just so over the top, which is fine and great escapism, but I just did not care about what happened/what was happening at all. Our main conflict between the three girls had so much promise, but it just fell flat - it all just felt as though the intense hatred they had for one another had no real reason behind it other than "the new girl is getting all the attention because she's a great dancer OMG so horrible" ... come on. It's as though it didn't dawn on anybody that hey, maybe people get the parts that they get because they're talented.
The characters... YIKES. I love character-driven stories. Even if I'm not enjoying the novel at all, I can always find at least ONE character that I care about. YA'LL I STRUGGLED TO FIND ONE IN THIS (and still haven't if I'm being honest). I wasn't sure which character I was meant to root for, and can confidently say I didn't enjoy any of their storylines 100%. Gigi, the new girl, was way too naive for my liking. June's chip on her shoulder got really repetitive to read about. Bette's constant denial of her being a bully made her a really terrible "villain". I appreciated how the authors attempted to share the good and bad sides of each character but they were so underdeveloped and I simply did not care about any of them. The romances were jarring, the girls' scenes with each other were so lackluster, and ultimately I think the three POVs hurt the novel more than it helped, not because it was confusing, but because it made all of our experiences with each character very surface-level. Every time I felt as though I was finally peeling back the layers of each character the chapter would end and immediately jump into the next POV.
All that being said, I am VERY interested to check out the series once it comes out on Netflix! I think this story would translate way better on film than it did on paper. I will say that I can see why it is described as a hybrid between Black Swan and Pretty Little Liars (but I'd recommend those two works WAY before I recommended this novel unfortunately :/).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Racism, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, and Child abuse