16/3 - A lot of other reviewers are seeing Black Swan similarities or are reading the book because they loved the movie.  Maybe I'm old, but I'm not thinking of Black Swan, I'm thinking of Center Stage from 2000.  I loved that movie when it came out and it's still one of my all-time favourite dance movies.  There are quite a few plot/character similarities between the two (certainly more than with Black Swan).  Hannah's got two guys after her (although neither are dancers, as they are in Center Stage); Hannah's got a rival who is a bitch and long-time member of the company (same, same); there's the older mentor-type dancer who everyone looks up to but really, secretly wishes would break a leg; there's the aloof company director who the dancers do everything they can to gain favour with; there's even the obligatory company parties where dancers are expected to mingle and promote the company but spend most of the time drinking champagne.  All we need now is for Mat to turn out to be some kind of 'rebel without a cause' choreographer and the story will be complete.    I like that it doesn't have the angst and drama of Black Swan (or most YA books), I get kind of sick of all the fighting.  Also, the way Black Swan turned out would be pretty unlikely in the real world - dancers only murder each other in episodes of Law and Order - if there was a murder ring going on in the New York ballet scene I'm sure it would be an international scandal that no one could keep quiet.  To be continued...

17/3 - Continuing the examples of similarities between Center Stage and Bunheads: Hannah even danced her season ending, big dance in a red dress just as Jody did in Center Stage.  Despite the many similarities I see (or perhaps because of them) I really enjoyed Bunheads and stayed up till three in the morning to finish it (slightly regretting that impulsive decision now, as I slept in and nearly missed my dog's vet appointment, creating a havoc-filled morning).

I wasn't a big fan of Jacob.  He seemed especially inconsiderate of the amount of work it would take for Hannah to pursue her dream of being promoted from the Corps de Ballet to soloist.  All he ever seemed to be thinking about was how she didn't have enough time for him striving for a dream that isolates you from anyone who isn't striving for the same dream.  I thought he might let up on her after she had him watch her from the wings, but that relief only lasted a few chapters before he started in with the accusations of not wanting to spend time with him, again.

From the ending I'm guessing Bunheads is going to buck the trend of YA books having never-ending sequels (kind of like the Halloween movies) and be sequelless (probably a good thing as I can't see where another book would go, plotwise).  This was a really easy, light read which helped to make the pages fly by.  When I finally closed the book I knew it would be late, but I was pretty engrossed in the story and I had no idea it was near 3 am.  I've spent the day yawning my head off, but that won't stop me from reading my new book till at least 12 tonight, or any other night.  I just saw a gif on Facebook that said "I have a sleep disorder.  It's called READING." and that describes my reading habits for as long as I can remember perfectly.  I read till I fall asleep and drop the book and then I admit defeat and turn the light off.

Sono qui seduta davanti al mio portatile con un toast, e la prima cosa a cui ho pensato è stata che Hannah, la protagonista di Balla, sogna, ama non sa preparare nemmeno uno dei toast più semplici. Perché? 
Semplice: perché Hannah frequenta la Manhattan Ballet di New York da quando ha 14 anni, dedicando mente e corpo alla danza, senza nemmeno un attimo di respiro, senza tempo libero.. anche le azioni più semplici come caricare la lavatrice o imparare a cucinare un toast diventano impossibile. 
Hannah ci trascina in un mondo fatto di scarpette da ballo, rivalità e muscoli che bruciano per lo sforzo, un mondo a parte, perché le ballerine vivono praticamente nel teatro, vivono per gli spettacoli, vivono per diventare prime ballerine. La vita privata non è compresa nel loro lavoro, e ad Hannah stava bene così, finché una sera incontra Jacob, un musicista che le farà scoprire la vita.. quella vera. 
Un romanzo incentrato sulla danza, ma anche sull'amore, sul futuro e sulla libertà di scelta.

Ancora adesso non so esattamente cosa sia stato a spingermi a comprare Balla, sogna, ama.. non sono una patita di danza, anzi, per la verità ne so ben poco. Ad incuriosirmi è stato il fatto che fosse una storia vera, quasi una biografia, e io amo le storie vere. 
L'autrice racconta infatti la sua vita da ballerina, quel mondo magico e brutale e, infine, la scelta.. 
Fin da subito ho amato Hannah, l'ho trovata spontanea e tosta, al tempo stesso piena di dubbi, ma sempre con la forza di andare avanti. E' una ragazza vera, una ragazza che resta nel cuore. 
Insieme a lei conosciamo le ragazze con cui divide il camerino: Zoe, amica, ma soprattutto rivale e disonesta. Bea, dolce e comprensiva e Daisy, la più giovane. Gli anni passati insieme porta questo gruppetto a volersi bene, ma tra ballerine la rivalità esiste sempre. 
La scrittura di Sophie Flack è leggera e scorre in fretta, io l'ho divorato in un giorno e mezzo.. l'ho trovato appassionante, emozionante e bello! 
Mi è piaciuto molto il modo in cui all'inizio della storia tutto girasse intorno al teatro e alle diete, ai balletti e alle scarpette.. pian piano invece, insieme ad Hannah, scopriamo le piccole gioie della vita: una gita in autobus, un caffè al bar, un concerto.. il dubbio si insinua in Hannah, ma anche nel lettore: vale davvero la pena di sacrificare tutto per diventare prima ballerina? 
Il lavoro che tanto amava rischierà di portarle via l'amore, la fiducia e, nei casi peggiori, la vita.. 

I should be writing my novel right now, but I took a break today to finish reading Bunheads. This is definitely a marshmallow book: light, fluffy and sweet.

"I'm a dancer in the corps de ballet, just one of the dozens of girls who dance in graceful unison each night. My mother thinks I'm a star, but she's biased." - Bunheads

In my mind any work of fiction about ballet, be it book, movie or a tv show, always features one of the following tired and old plots (sometimes both):

a) girl with a real passion for ballet doesn't have the right body for it.

b) ballet girl must choose between the world of ballet or the real world (usually there's a guy involved).

"We rehearse in old leotards, threadbare tights, and torn leg warmers. We rarely buy new dance clothes because we know that most ballet careers are short-lived." - Bunheads

Although Bunheads falls squarely in category b it was still a good book and not as cliched as some ballet themed books (or movies) can get. The fact that Flack is a former dancer herself gives the narration a certain credibility and she does write a good book. It follows Hannah, a corps de ballet dancer at the prestigious Manhattan Ballet (supposedly modeled on NYCB where Flack was a dancer for several years) and her friends and acquaintances in the ballet. It centers around a time in her life where she begins to doubt how much she is willing to continue giving up for ballet while at the same time underlining how much she loves to perform and her ambition to be promoted. The characters were interesting and I especially enjoyed that the girls who danced with Hannah weren't labelled as "the bitchy one", "the goody goody" and so on. Hannah's relationship with best friend/sometimes rival was complex and I found it refreshing that two girls co-existing in such a competitive atmosphere could actually be happy for each other or comfort one another even though they might be competing for similar roles.

I wasn't a massive fan of the love interest, in my mind he came off as an inconsiderate jerk but thankfully he wasn't the only thing on Hannah's mind. He was really the only character in the book I found one-dimensional. 

On the whole I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick and easy read but still more than just the usual chick lit I'll forget about tomorrow.

Hannah is 19 years old. She left her parents and her home when she was 14 and moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan Ballet Academy. Now she is a dancer in the Manhattan Ballet, dreaming about her first solo role and a possible promotion. But when she meets Jacob, a NYU student and a musician, she starts to question her future. Is she ready to sacrifice her life to be a ballerina, or are there maybe other things she would like to do?

I am not very familiar with ballet. I have actually seen a ballet in New York City and then also here in Edinburgh, but that is pretty much it. And I guess I can count Black Swan to my ballet experiences because I have seen that film like 20 times. This book was written by an ex-professional ballet dancer, and she uses some of the terminology related to that world (movements etc) I did not really understand. But that did not really take that much away from the reading experience. So you do not have to be a ballet expert or anything to read this one.

The world of ballet and ballet dancers has always been very distant to me and I am sad to say that this book really did not bring me closer to that world. I loved the New York setting and some of the description of the city, but otherwise there were so many issues in the book that I simply cannot post this review without writing about them. First of all, Hannah is extremely superficial and self-centered for most of the novel. I realize that she is a professional ballet dancer and has to make a commitment, but for most of the time she is total bitch towards Jacob. She does not have time to see him, but then she has time to see Matt, who is this rich guy who just kind of shows up at one point, just because "he understands" her world. I feel like she does not even give a chance for Jacob to understand. Jacob is alright, I guess, but there really is no depth in his character and the whole relationship just feels way too fast. And Jacob is maybe too perfect in the sense that Hannah treats him like shit and he still remains interested.

Hannah's friends also are pretty annoying and there honestly is no depth to them - they are also superficial and self-centered (expect maybe Bea and I hope there would have been more about her in the novel). The world these girls live in is something I have not experienced, so I cannot say are they realistic portrayals or not, but I hope that they are not. I feel like a lot of things were over-simplified for this novel in order to make it compact and happy - even though there are struggle and disappointments, the ending is one of those happy, fairytale-like endings. 

If you are a fan of ballet/dancer yourself, this will probably hit closer to home than it did for me. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't memorable either. I probably will have forgotten most of the character names etc. once this review is posted. A fast, somewhat entertaining read for someone interested in ballet/New York.