Official Review: Beach Ballet Stories

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desantismt_17
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Official Review: Beach Ballet Stories

Post by desantismt_17 »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Beach Ballet Stories" by Karen Mae Somerfield.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Beach Ballet Stories by Karen Mae Somerfield follows Lucy through her first semester at the Beach Ballet school. Nervous about starting classes after feeling like she was too excited during her audition, Lucy vows to get off on the right foot. She makes an effort to be immediate besties with her roomies and do well at all her dances. But to Lucy, it seems like everything she does and says just gets her into trouble or annoys someone. With the help of her friends, can she get herself on track and fit in at her new school?

I was really excited to read this book. I have a soft spot for the performing arts, and I love books about boarding schools and kids bonding. Beach Ballet Stories definitely has these elements, especially the bonding. Lucy and her friends are a great little group to watch.

On the other hand, though, the group felt a bit torn. It takes one of Lucy’s roommates, Thalia, a while to get in with the group due to some home issues. Aside from her, Lucy’s friends don’t always seem like, well, friends. They pick on her about her abrasive personality a lot, and they are constantly telling her not to do or say things. Sometimes, it’s warranted. Other times, I felt bad for Lucy because it seemed her friends were ganging up on her.

The dynamic between the girls is really a piece of a larger problem, which is that the characters didn’t feel very well fleshed out. This is mostly due to the length of the book. With so much going on and so many characters, there wasn’t time to focus on character growth. As a result, I had a tough time connecting to any of the girls, even Lucy. Some were more distinguishable than others, but overall, I wanted more.

Similarly, I wanted more about the dances. Rehearsals and performances feel glossed over in a “and then we were done” way. I wanted to feel the emotions while the girls were dancing. I even wanted to see the individual steps, hear the music, get the full effect of watching a performance on the page. There were a few places where bits of that poked through, but it wasn’t enough to immerse me in the world of dance.

I noticed many errors throughout, mostly a lack of punctuation. This, along with not being able to fully get into the story, leads me to rate Beach Ballet Stories 2 out of 4 stars. There is amazing potential here for a middle-grade book about dance and girls bonding—breaking rules, holding each other up, and generally being girls at boarding school. For the bones of that story, my rating is brought up from 1, but I can’t quite give this 3. I recommend this story to lovers of young adult fiction and dance. Girls in the nine to thirteen age range would enjoy this book, especially if they like dance. I didn’t see much here to hold the male audience’s attention, but with an edit and a fleshing out of the characters, this could snag anyone by the heart and not let go.

******
Beach Ballet Stories
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Debjani Ghosh
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Post by Debjani Ghosh »

I am not a fan of books about dance. I would have dared to pick it up if the book had a solid plot and well-developed characters. However, lack of both deters me from picking up this book. Thanks for the review!
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Post by HollandBlue »

It seems like a book young girls may enjoy since many girls live to dance. Maybe they would be able to relate to Lucy more because she is not perfect and sometimes gets picked on. Thanks for your review!
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Post by kandscreeley »

It sounds like this one just needed a bit more of the story. I, like you, would want a bit more about the rehearsals and performances. It's too bad they are glossed over. I think I'll pass on this one, but the premise is right up my alley. Thanks.
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Post by wendos »

I honestly will not enjoy this one. I am not into dance books and so, will have to skip this one. Nice review.
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Post by Sonya Nicolaidis »

I used to love ballet books when I was a young girl! Ordinarily, I would have enjoyed a trip back in time and would have given this one a try, if it weren't for the issues with punctuation and the thin storyline. What a pity. I will not be reading it, but as you say, there'll be young girls out there who will love it. Thank you.
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Post by T_stone »

This really sounds like a good book for young girls and for those that will be interested in dancing ballet. I don't think I'll like this one tho. Thanks for the review.
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Post by kfwilson6 »

I looked at the sample of this and saw quite a few errors right away. That is so cumbersome and disappointing. I don't feel like I missed much of an opportunity with this book given your 2-star rating. I thought a book about young dancers would be a nice story of friendship and growth. This seems a bit too lacking for me to truly enjoy it.
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Post by fredrick otieno »

The last time i enjoyed something on performing arts apart from real life situation was in a movie. I have never read anything on dance, but i am willing to give this a try. I live performing arts, that's i am willing to read it. Thanks for the review.
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Post by Book Lover 35 »

I think any child who likes ballet might love this book.It's a shame you don't get to know the characters very well. Thank you for the review!
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