Hi Everyone!
I was recently approved for my first ARC book. If you don't know an ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy. These are books that the publisher provides to bloggers and reviews for free before the book is published. They are still available in this format for a few weeks after publication though and this one was actually published on December 30th 2021. I requested it early January and I binge read it one weekend mid January.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Ineja Press for allowing me to access this book in exchange of an honest review.
Official Synopsis:
Welcome to Roseheart Ballet Academy, where the best dancers have the biggest secrets…
Taryn Foster has her eyes set on becoming the first aro-ace ballerina in the academy’s company of professional dancers, and all she needs to do is graduate. But she’s haunted by the ghost of her dead sister—and now she’s living for the two of them.
Teddy Walker has a serious illness. But he’s determined to hide how ill he is and continue dancing—even if it kills him.
Jaidev Ngo was arrested the last time he danced. Now, he’s having a new start at Roseheart Academy, but someone here knows about his past—and that person wants revenge.
When I was younger, I loved the idea of dance schools. I read a few dance school books which I fell in love with and reread so many times afterwards! Dance was something I loved. I still do. It's a way to feel free and express yourself. I loved The Next Step, a dance drama TV show on CBBC. When I heard about this book, I think a part of me was attracted to it because of how much I loved dancing and the concept of a dance school. It was always a dream of mine to dance at a proper school and now in some ways that dream has come true through Taryn and her friends. This book takes that idea and twists it into so much more.
I couldn't stop reading it, and read it extremely quickly! It made me cry on multiple occasions, but made me laugh too. This book was a joy, it impacted me and I got what I wanted out of it: a fun, interesting and captivating read. I became maybe a little too attached to the characters and the story definitely kept me on my toes.
I don't know how else to describe the way I feel about this book...It was just a book I think I really needed. I'm currently also reading something else and it was going so slowly and I wasn't really into it. I wasn't really into reading at all. Then in comes this book to bring the joy of reading back!
This whole world was just very well-built. It was real, I was right there with the characters the whole way through. I have built up this vision of Roseheart, and I will definitely be continuing the series.
There were a few problems though. I felt that the author was almost trying to do too much. This could be considered a problem, but looking at it in other ways you can see that it is good, it's a tough one! What I mean by this is that there was almost too much commentary and representation. There were so many topics that were approached! Eating disorders (in the dance world), adoption, bullying, homophobia, jealousy, body-shaming, death, death of a parent, racism...It just got too much! There were also WAY too many hospital scenes, which although necessary because people are ill and one of them has a serious condition, just made it feel like half the book was set in the hospital! It was almost like 'these characters need to have a serious talk so let's make someone ill so they can meet at the hospital'. There were many plot points which didn't make it hard to follow surprisingly, but did feel like the author needed things to fill the gaps.
There were a few grammar errors and typos but I'm not sure if this is just because it's an ARC? If someone can tell me about that then please let me know! There was also one continuity error, where it mentions it's nearly 3 am, then a bunch of stuff happens and it says that by the time they get back to the dorm it's nearly 3 am, which just doesn't make sense. Again, not sure if this is because of the ARC copy!
Despite all this, it was just a joy to read, as mentioned above. I highly recommend it for a light but also impactful read. I can't believe how much I wanted to constantly pick this book up!
I hope you're all well and reading some awesome books! Happy Reading :)
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