Tiny Pretty Things

I entered a world with which I am not familiar. And yet, I felt its reality. Every sport, field, career has its bullies. Those who will go to great lengths to get what is desired, to get to the top, or to become the star. Using teenagers who live in a ballet academy is perfect to demonstrate this mind set.The characters are multifaceted. The story has plot twists and making assumptions and predictions that must be changed so as to accommodate the events in the story. The cast (or caste?) and the relationships among them are ones that change and flow in ways that reflect the teenage mind, but the parents and teachers are to drama, as well. It is a clear statement that the students from previous generations have done similar things.The cliffhanger the reader is left with is one that can only be resolved by purchasing the next book.

I was a (not very good but enthusiastic) student of ballet for 14 years so I'm a sucker for dance-related stories; after watching a few episodes of the accompanying Netflix series, I was hooked and had to read the book. Let me start by saying that the book and the tv series are only loosely related -- similar underlying themes and soapy teen drama but highly divergent plot action. The novel is told from three alternating girls' points of view: Gigi, the new girl whose talent has caught the eye of the dance masters; Bette, a lifer with a family legacy who has long been considered the best dancer in the school; and June, who works hard but always finds herself in second place. These three are supported by a cast of fellow students, teachers, parents, and partners, all of whom play a role in the story's dramatic ups and downs. The main characters each have their own struggles, personal and professional, and are fiercely motivated to be the best, no matter what (or who) they have to beat to get to the top. I really enjoyed this book. The authors didn't shy away from engaging with serious issues critical to teens in the competitive world of ballet, including diversity, eating disorders, addiction, and sexual orientation. At the same time, the book had enough elements of standard teen drama (parents, mean girls, romantic entanglements, rule breaking) to keep the action moving and the characters from becoming too dark. I'm definitely going to read the sequel!

This is nothing like the Netflix series and I’m not sure why I expected it to. Characters are changed, storylines are different, it’s like they mixed and matched random pieces of each character with others. But I still really liked it! I only write about the differences because I watched the show first and it was at times hard to follow because of what I knew from the series.For example: Alec in the book is Oren in the show, and June in the book has an eating disorder, whereas in the show Oren is the one with the eating disorder. Also, the series starts with a push off the roof to hurt a fellow dancer, it’s the whole reason Nevaeh (aka GiGi) gets into the school. But in the book it’s just a fall from a lift.Anyway if you can separate the two I would definitely pick the book as the better one (obviously, books are always better). It’s just a touch of suspense with a whole lot of drama.

I love books set in the ballet world. I guess I never got over my ballet teacher saying those four little words when I was twelve: You have no talent….So I live vicariously through books about dancers who do have talent.Told in three points of view, Tiny Pretty Things is about dancers who may be tiny and pretty on the outside, but appearances can be deceptive. June is Korean and fatherless, her mother close-mouthed about who he even was. She won't speak to June about him or about her time at the same ballet school June now attends. June's insecurities and neuroses manifest themselves in her eating disorder, the one part of her life she can control after she's cast as an understudy in production after production.Gigi is the new girl, a glamorous black dancer from California who fits in at the school about as well as a square peg in a round hole. When she is cast in the best parts in the school's productions, and all the most eligible boys start swarming around her, Gigi has trouble written all over her, not to mention a heart condition she doesn't want anyone to find out about in case it makes her look weak.Finally, there's Bette. Long considered the school's best dancer, she's unused to competition in the studio or anywhere else. Half of the school's golden couple, she seems untouchable. Yet Bette has a secret festering inside her. And when Gigi shows up and takes the roles she considers rightfully hers, Bette can't help but retaliate.All three characters are deliciously flawed. They are fiercely motivated and ambitious, willing to do just about anything to get to the top as dancers. And I mean anything! These girls are mean. Vicious. Savage.I couldn't put it down, and as soon as I finished it, I went and bought the sequel, needing more of their malevolent behavior.

It took me a while. Over a month! You’re probably thinking to yourself “Charlotte, how can a book you took so long to finish be rated five stars? Surely that deserves a half or a quarter star knocked off!” and I can understand! Generally, books that take me ages to finish are books I don’t enjoy.This book, however? So many things factored into this book taking me ages! My depression was acting up, I was in a bit of a slump, it was on my Kindle and I have a hard time making myself pick that up, and lastly, it deals with some heavy subjects that makes reading a lot in one go hard. Especially when fighting your own mental illness.That’s the only reason.If you’re expecting supportive girl friendships, then this isn’t the book for you. This is a dark, twisted tale of the competitve ballet industry. It’s like an even darker, more realistic version of Black Swan.I recommend this book wholly. I adored every second, no matter how dark it got, and I cannot wait for the second book to get here so I can get back into this world asap!Beware for triggers on: drug abuse, eating disorders and bullying.

Me:"It's a book about ballerinas."Person 1: "Aw, how sweet!"Person 2:"Er, no, I'd think totally the opposite."Person 2 was right. This is not a nice book. Right from page one, there is backstabbing and bitchiness and eating disorders and betrayal and talking about people behind their backs and horrible pranks and some really serious pranks... really not a nice book.It's told from the PoV of three diverse characters at a top notch ballet school: one, the epitome of a ballet dancer, with a sister successful in the business and a lot of money behind her, presuming she'll follow her sister's success; two, a Korean girl who struggles with loneliness, and trying to starve herself, desperate to be a prima ballerina so her mother won't take her out of school; and number three, a black girl from California, whose sunny disposition means that you love her. She doesn't have expectations, she just wants to dance.Of course, the Californian black girl is the one you're supposed to like. I found that sort of annoying. It's so clearly set up for her to be the sympathetic character, that it was just too obvious. I'd just like a bit more freedom as a reader to make my own judgements. Of course, you feel sympathy for all of the characters big time, but there's no doubt that the other two are desperate and mean. The pranks they pull... they're not just pranks. They're life threatening in some cases.It was a complete page turner. Horrible or not, I loved it, and I couldn't put it down. It made be kind of depressed reading it, but I didn't want to stop. The minute I finished it, I started to look for the sequel. Unfortunately it's only been read by a very few people, and I can't find any access to an ARC. I am not a patient person.One other aspect that was good was that Charaipota (pseudonym of two women) shows such diversity of ballerinas. Everyone has a very clear picture: pale, pure skin, thin, hair scraped in a bun, disciplined and, most importantly, white. I hope that books like this will shape the way to come. I've seen black or Asian male dancers, but not female ones. Maybe things are changing.Really enjoyed. Anyone know where I can get an ARC?

Quando encontrei esse livro pela primeira vez, já soube que ele seria cheio de intrigas, segredos e drama adolescente, em um dos meios mais competitivos possíveis - o balé. Além disso, ele tem mesmo uma diversidade interessante, personagens complexos e cheios de questões a serem exploradas e uma escrita que não deixa muito a desejar. Ele é praticamente tudo que eu esperava que fosse, mas ainda ficou longe de se tornar um livro que eu adoro.A começar pelas personagens. Elas são mesmo complexas, cada uma tem seus problemas e algumas qualidades (raras), mas, ainda que eu não odeie nenhuma delas, não consegui desenvolver nenhum carinho por elas. Não me importo realmente com o que vai acontecer no segundo livro ou com o que aconteceu já nesse. Aliás, talvez seja maldoso da minha parte, mas durante pouco mais da metade do livro, achava que não tinha tido drama o suficiente, principalmente em relação à Gigi.O livro não é chato, ou mal escrito ou tem qualquer defeito muito terrível, mas achei que ia me divertir mais, que fosse curtir até mesmo as cenas mais dolorosas. O drama dele não é divertido como uma novela exagerada, e durante muito tempo fiquei com a impressão de que não estava acontecendo nada direito, que a história estava enrolada. Pode ser porque as autoras resolveram fazer quase um ano passar, o que arrastou muitas questões do enredo. Mas talvez seja só porque as protagonistas não me convenceram a me importar com elas.A Gigi é a perfeita o tempo inteiro, a Bette só pensa em uma única coisa inútil (e não é balé), não parece nunca ter qualquer progresso e a June só fala, nunca toma uma atitude sobre nada. Fiquei um pouco entendiada com o ritmo de tudo antes da metade. O final é bacana até, mas estou torcendo aqui para o segundo livro subir o nível desse, já que a duologia tinha potencial para ser incrível e ainda não o alcançou.

For a book that prizes itself for diversity this book has fairly little of it. Especially the 2 queer side characters are hysterical and malicious caricatures belonging to homophobic tropes. Judging by the summary of the sequel the homophobic tropes only worsen.Aditionally, the three main characters’ biggest concerns are simply boys and within that they are almost interchangable, lacking depth, creativity and diversity. Apart from some vague mentions of the Korean girl’s culture and some thrown in Korean phrases, there is not much of substance to be found. I had high hopes for this after having watched the Netflix show, which despite its flaws I very much enjoyed, but I can absolutely not recommend this book.Also the writing, even for YA, was rather...well, not great.

In Tiny Pretty Things we follow these three girls that go to an elite ballet school. Bette, who's older sister is kind of a legend and she's trying to follow in her footsteps. June, a half-Korean girl that suffers from an eating disorder and has always been the understudy. And Gigi, a black girl that just moved from California and is quickly rising to the top. These girls can get very competitive and things get intense!My favorite thing about this book was how flawed the characters were - yet I still adored them. These girls strive for perfection when dancing ballet and are willing to do quite the awful things to achieve that. I never knew how to feel about each character. One moment I would love them, then I'd hate them and suddenly feel sorry for them.There's also somewhat of a mystery aspect to this story because while Gigi is constantly being harassed, it isn't always clear who did what. It made me suspicious of every single character.Overall I think this was a fantastic book and the fact that it's diverse AND #ownvoices made it 103% better and I definitely, DEFINITELY recommend this! I am so excited to read the sequel!