Fieldnotes:
American Ballet Conservatory (in NYC), Contemporary (p. 2016)

3 POV characters
2 Coveted Apprenticeships with the Company
Swan Lake

1 Personality Swap
1 Very Mean Girl Amongst a Sea of Mean Girls
Countless High-Stakes "Pranks" Involving Danger/Injury
1 Fairly Obvious Puppet Master/Culprit

1 *Very* Inappropriate "Relationship"
1 Eating Disorder
1 Suicide Attempt

1 Rather Abrupt Ending that is Sort of Happy, I Guess?

The Short Version
I picked this up because I read the first one several years ago and wanted to know what happened next. I haven't reread it recently, but did watch the super-drama-filled Netflix show based (loosely) on it.

I love a book set in the dance world and I don't mind some drama, but I prefer a character or two that I can like / root for. Everybody in these books is pretty horrible to basically everyone else. Maybe it was just because I hadn't re-read Tiny Pretty Things, but I felt like there wasn't a ton of actual story - just ever-escalating drama. A quick read that entertained to start me off, but not one I need to keep. I think the show will give me enough flavor if I ever feel the need to pick this up again. ( )

Getting more in depth on all the girls is an awesome part of the book, the thriller aspect (who did it!) was a storyline that I adored - I feel bad for the girls, I get dancing is your life but for your life to spiral like it has for some is upsetting to read - secondary characters from book 1 were more prominent in this one too, what a time ( )

I enjoyed this sequel more than the first book.

While there’s still plenty of backstabbing and downright evilness in this one for those seeking melodrama, I felt like there was more focus on ballet than in Tiny Pretty Things. I don’t know if that’s actually the case, but it certainly seemed to me like the authors showed more of the training, the rehearsals, the auditions, etc., which really appealed to me. Ballet is the reason I picked up these books in the first place, to get a glimpse of the grueling work and dedication that goes into this beautifully difficult profession.
Gigi and Bette were pushed/chose different roads than they’d been on in the first book and ultimately both characters developed more depth as the story progressed, adding more flaws to Gigi and a little less self-absorption to Bette made both of them more complex and unpredictable.

As for E-Jun, her eating disorder, her drive to become a ballerina, her romance, her relationship with her mom and lack thereof with her father, and the feud with her former best friend, all of it escalated at once in emotional and compelling ways, and this may sound odd, but I liked that the ending for her story left me feeling uneasy, both cheering for her and worried, I liked that there’s hope yet at the same time the book makes no promises when it comes to her problems, that seems realistic.

I don’t know if there are plans for a third book, but the endings for all the characters certainly leave open the possibility and although I still feel like there’s work to be done as far as crafting interesting male characters, the females grew enough here that I’d be eager to see where their stories go as new adults in the ballet world. ( )

We learn immediately how Gigi fared after her attack and who is accused. While she survived, she’s not the same trusting girl she used to be. She might even be out for revenge.

There are new dramas, more backstabbing and new “bad guys” in this novel. It’s a similar concept to the first one though. So, once the original dramas from the first book are explained, the same types of things happen in this book.

So, still entertaining but less fresh than the first story. I also kind of missed having an entirely likable character like Gigi was in the first book. That said, there’s still Alec. There’s still someone staying out of the game.

( )

Not as good as the first one but still a satisfying conclusion. ( )