These titles are getting really long. I think we need to start just allowing authors to reuse titles from a while ago, or let titles enter the public domain or something. Just a thought I’ve been having a lot lately as I see titles get longer and longer. Anyway.
This book follows Laure, a young ballerina entering the world of professional ballet from her ballet academy in Paris, and the only black woman among her classmates. Despite being the best of her classmates, she still has to struggle tooth and nail because especially in ballet it’s not only talent that gets you far. When the luckiest ballerina in the industry shares her secrets with Laure and invites her to make a deal with the river of blood, Laure discovers a power that she never thought possible and one that she will sacrifice everything for.
This book was a fantastic read. I loved the depictions of dance, the ballet world, and the people who made a deal with a demon in order to accomplish their goals. Some of the characters do feel a bit one note and cartoonish at times, but I wasn’t ultimately bothered by it. Also, while Laure is not necessarily a likable person, she is a wonderful character with a strong voice that I could feel in every part of the narration. I was not supposed to be her, I was meant to listen to her.
Admittedly, it does drag a little in the second half and there’s some romance elements that threaten to overtake the narrative at times, but they didn’t get in the way too much. Those parts were easy for me to skim and I missed nothing in doing so.
Overall, I loved this read. It was a lot of fun, and as a former ballerina1 I found a lot of things very relatable. If you don’t mind a character that may not be morally pure and who has the drive to get exactly what she wants by any means necessary, definitely check it out!
- In first and second grade, anyway, but it also pertains to all the other kinds of dance I did [↩]