Book Review: "Variation" by Rebecca Yarros

This was really good and really intense. Nothing like a powerful, all-consuming love story to get the blood pumping!

“Messy is good, love. Messy is where the best parts of life happen. You don’t have to be in control at all times. It’s okay if you fall apart. I promise I will be right here to put you back together if you just let me.”

Allie is an exceptionally talented ballerina. Her sisters are also dancers, and they all exist under the critical eye of their mother, who never achieved her own ballet dreams. She expects nothing but perfection at every second, and will tolerate no distractions from the achievement of the goals she has set for her daughters.

When Allie is injured during a performance, she goes to her family’s summer house to recover. The last thing she expects is to see Hudson again. Hudson, her best friend growing up, and her one true love. The one person she always hoped to see yet cannot bear to, even years later.

Hudson, a rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard, has one regret in life: that he left for basic training without saying goodbye to Allie. He has loved her since he was 17, and her absence from his life has haunted him ever since. When his niece Juniper asks for his help finding her biological parents, he enters Allie’s orbit again. Can they pick up where they left off years ago? And could that survive the secrets that both have kept hidden?

I’m a huge fan of Rebecca Yarros’ storytelling. There’s so much to love about this book—secrets, lies, family dysfunction, rivalry, drama, and some serious steam. I was hooked from the very first page, and while Juniper was very manipulative, I still enjoyed this book immensely.

Book Review: "City of Night Birds" by Juhea Kim

There’s something about making art—theater, dance, music, visual art, etc.—that provokes such strong emotions. That’s probably why artists are such rich sources of inspiration and drama, which make them perfect muses for fiction.

“The true cost of accomplishing something you want with your whole being is that the moment you get it, you realize that it’s not enough.”

Natalia, a prima ballerina, returns to St. Petersburg in 2019, two years after an accident disrupted her career. She is invited to dance again, something she both looks forward to and fears.

Being back in St. Petersburg evokes many memories for Natalia. She dreamed of being a ballerina since she was young, and achieved tremendous success, but at the same time, she also experienced rejection, loneliness, pain, and estrangement from her mother. And while she may be past her physical prime, she is determined to give an unforgettable performance.

She is reminded of Alexander, the talented dancer with whom she created magic—both creatively and emotionally. She also is reunited with Dmitri, the mercurial, spiteful genius who caused her a great deal of anguish and self-doubt.

This is a very introspective, slow-moving story, but I found it dramatic and utterly fascinating. It shifts back and forth through time, from Natalia’s childhood to the present, and follows both her career and her personal life. I loved the behind-the-scenes look at the cutthroat world of Russian ballet, and while at times I wished the pacing would speed up, I’ll definitely be thinking about this one for a while.

Book Review: "Skater Boy" by Anthony Nerada

With all apologies to Avril Lavigne:

“Wes was a boy
And Tris was a boy
Can I make it any more obvious?
Wes was a punk
And Tris did ballet
What more can I say?”

This was a moving coming-of-age story. It illustrates how different it is growing up with social media, but accepting yourself can be just as hard as it was in the Dark Ages when I grew up.

Wes, aka “Big Mac,” would rather be on his skateboard than in school. His grades are tanking, he skips class a lot, and his teachers don’t expect anything from him—and they tell him that. He’s also a bit of a bully, and he and his best friends often cause trouble.

But Wes’ attitude and actions are a mask to cover up his fears and anxieties. He knows that he is gay but he also worries what being open about his sexuality could mean to his relationships with his mother, her fiancé, and his friends. It’s hard to be told he needs to find a girl or listen to homophobic jokes, but he’s trapped.

At a performance of “The Nutcracker” he gets dragged to by his mother, he sees Tristan, the dancer playing the title character. Wes is immediately drawn to him, but can’t admit that to anyone. As they start to hang out together, Wes is living a double life of sorts. His need to hide his true self will hurt the chance of a relationship with Tristan, but how will being honest affect his friendships and relationship with his mother.

This was a sweet book and it definitely resonated with me. I hope it gets into the hands of those who need to hear its messages.

Book Review: "The Last Dance" by J. Mackenzie

What a lovely book this was! Having read lots of romances, I kept waiting for things to take a melodramatic turn. I’m grateful to J. Mackenzie for letting the characters and their story shine on its own.

Achilles has been a professional ballet dancer for a number of years, performing all over the world. He’s excited to return to NYC for the first time in 10 years to star in Romeo and Juliet, and inherently, he knows this will be his last show.

The last time Achilles was in NYC, he was a glorious dancer but a nightmare otherwise, driven by his ego and feeling like everything was owed to him. He drank and did drugs, and treated everyone horribly. It’s taken him 10 years and a lot of therapy to be able to reflect on his journey and those he hurt.

He’s utterly shocked when he realizes that Patroclus is the stage manager of the show. Patroclus was the person Achilles hurt the most, and seeing him again throws Achilles for a loop. But while he’s been thinking of how horrible he was to people and how much he hurt them, it doesn’t appear Patroclus has been suffering. He’s doing what he always wanted to, and seems to have his life together.

How difficult will it be to work with Patroclus and be consumed by guilt and regret? Can they be friends, or perhaps have a second chance at happiness? At the same time, Achilles must figure out what’s next for him if this really is his last show. What will his life be without dancing, the one thing he’s done since he was a child?

I really enjoyed this romantic, sexy, sweet book, full of glimpses into the world of ballet. Achilles and Patroclus had terrific chemistry and I loved the way their relationship developed, as well as Achilles’ friendship with his dance partner. (Interestingly enough, while the MCs have names from mythology, everyone else’s names are normal.) I’d love a second book within this world!

Book Review: "They're Going to Love You" by Meg Howrey

The latest novel from Meg Howrey is a story of ambition and family dysfunction, set against the backdrop of the ballet world.

With a mother who was a former Balanchine ballerina and a father who managed a dance company, could Carlisle want to be anything other than a dancer? She pursued it with great gusto, especially because it gave her more chances to enter her father’s glamorous world, where he lived in Greenwich Village with his partner, James, a former dancer-turned-teacher.

She loved spending time with her father Robert and James in particular, although in the mid- to late 1980s, the AIDS crisis decimated their circle of friends. But James also taught her about the world, about art, life, and of course, dance. Until a betrayal occurred which tore them apart and estranges her from her father.

Nineteen years later, Carlisle has made a life for herself as a choreographer and dance teacher. One day she gets a phone call—it’s James, and he tells her that her father is dying. She’s not spoken to her father in almost 20 years, but James thinks he’d like to see her before he dies. Doing so reopens old wounds and forces Carlisle to confront the reasons for their estrangement.

Howrey is a former dancer and she brings such authenticity to her descriptions of the dance world, the hunger to perform. I felt like there was a little too much detail here, which bogged the plot down, and it took SO LONG for the reason for Carlisle and Robert’s estrangement to be revealed. (And honestly, I was like, "That's it?")

I’ve seen some great reviews of this, so it might’ve just been me. I have enjoyed some of her previous novels.