A solid offering but not a new favorite
I loved everything about the ballet - the competition, the falsity, the emphasis on visible perfection (and how racism plays into that), on the balance of privilege and hard work, on the endless hunger of a beast that can never be fed. Laure in the ballet was vicious and driven and jagged - but also perfect and superior and so hungry for more. It made her compelling. She could reach out of the book and sink her claws right into you.
But as soon as we left the ballet, it just felt… meh. The overarching plot was slow to move, the side characters had no depth (we’re supposed to believe that they became some kind of found family, but it’s hard to buy in with what we actually get of them on-page), and then the eventual villain… as soon as the reveal happens, you go “of course” but the big confrontation just left me unsatisfied. Laure is all gray area, but the villain leaves us with nothing interesting, because we know they’re wrong from the get-go.
Overall, a solid offering but not a new favorite.
But as soon as we left the ballet, it just felt… meh. The overarching plot was slow to move, the side characters had no depth (we’re supposed to believe that they became some kind of found family, but it’s hard to buy in with what we actually get of them on-page), and then the eventual villain… as soon as the reveal happens, you go “of course” but the big confrontation just left me unsatisfied. Laure is all gray area, but the villain leaves us with nothing interesting, because we know they’re wrong from the get-go.
Overall, a solid offering but not a new favorite.