Ebook Bright Burning Stars AK Small Books

Product details Hardcover 304 pages Publisher Algonquin Young Readers (May 21, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1616208783

Bright Burning Stars AK Small Books Reviews

• I’ll read just about any “ballet book” but I was super disappointed with BRIGHT BURNING STARS. There’s a lack of development in everything from the characters to the setting to ballet itself. The summary makes the book sound far more magical and compelling than it is.
  
  Marine and Kate have spent most of their lives pursuing a position in the Opera’s corps de ballet; at the end of this school year, only one girl in the class will be chosen. But why do they dance? Marine has musicality and a promise to her dead brother…? Kate’s mother abandoned her and for some reason she took up dance…? I don’t understand. I also don’t understand why, if Kate is so driven to be the chosen girl, she becomes boy crazy and has sex without thinking of the possible consequences. That whole storyline, with the school’s beekeeper??? stepping into help and a lack of reflection or impact… eh. Why go there if you aren’t going to examine it?
  
  And the Demigod thing… I find it hard to believe a girl who has spent years working towards a goal would suddenly “fall in love.” I could see wanting to be his partner for rankings advancement, but Kate felt like a kid to me instead of a teenager.
  
  BRIGHT BURNING STARS could have taken place anywhere. I never really felt like the book was set in France. Sprinkling some French phrases does not make me think of Paris. And how in the heck did American Kate make it into such a prestigious French school?
  
  As for the dancing sections mentioning the name of a move does not allow me to picture it, or to know how the characters are moving. Sure, I like ballet books, but I don’t know what every single term means. For the longest time, I was confused about the woolen overalls the characters wore, because the author never described them! Amplify that confusion with dance terms like “soubresaut.”
  
  The more I think about BRIGHT BURNING STARS, the more questions I have, which is frustrating for me as a reader.
• I wanted to like this book but I found myself losing myself within the pages of it and not in a good way. The book started out good. In fact, I stuck with it for about the first several chapters but than the winds shifted and my interest changed.
  
  There was nothing interesting about the characters In addition, the story seemed to stall and move really slowly. The style of this book to me came off as juvenile. This may because the book is written for the young adult. After getting half way into the book, I put it down. I could not even tell you what happened previously as I fell asleep and there was nothing memorable about what I read.
• The novel is written in 1st person from the point of view of two characters who are best friends and roommates at an elite dance school. They alternate narrating each chapter. I didn't find it very engaging but I think it's an interesting stylistic choice. The characters didn't seem different enough from each other to the extent that I didn't pick up on it being two narrators for awhile.
  
  An interesting first novel idea but I didn't get into it.
• This just didn't work for me. I found nothing new in this story that I hadn't already read before and I found the characters lacking in depth. I did finish it even though I struggled with it. I did like the writing, but it just wasn't enough to save the story for me.