Blog Tour Review: Ballet Orphans

 

Rock Star Book Tours presents

Ballet Orphans

by Terez Mertes Rose

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

It’s 1990, and New York soloist April Manning is trying to rebalance her world in the aftermath of her parents’ deaths. An offer to join the struggling West Coast Ballet Theatre as a principal dancer seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start—a new life in San Francisco, an exciting step up in her career, and the hope of a redefined sense of family. But the other dancers are wary, clannish and tight-lipped, particularly about an incident that hastened the departure of their beloved artistic director, leading to the arrival of his replacement, the young, inexperienced Anders Gunst. And no one wants to talk about Jana, a former company member who defiantly walked out rather than work under Anders. It is Jana herself who offers April hints, and even friendship, where she reveals a loneliness and hunger to belong that newly orphaned April well understands. But there is something troubling about Jana, and what April doesn’t know could prove deadly.

A prequel to the Ballet Theatre Chronicles, BALLET ORPHANS explores the work and sacrifices required to arrive at the highest tiers of the professional ballet world, coupled with the primal, universal desire to belong, to love and be loved, and the lengths we’ll go to protect those we call family.

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MY REVIEW

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Ballet Orphans
Terez Mertes Rose

Published Jan 2021 by Classical Girl Press

First off, I’d just like to say how BEAUTIFUL this cover is! As a little girl, I don’t ever remember wanting to be a ballerina, but I’ve always thought of that world and the dancers as glittery and beautiful! This cover evokes all those feelings and is a home run for me!
This is book 3 in the Ballet Theatre Chronicles series but as it is a pre-quel to the other books, it can be read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed seeing ‘behind the curtain’ as they say. Ballet Orphans had just enough ballet terms and descriptions of the dances to make me feel like I was in their world without leaving me confused or dis-interested. The author also included a handy glossary of ballet terms in the back of the book (smart!).

The story follows April as the principal dancer as she journeys from one ballet company in NY to one in SF. I thought there were great characters within this story however April’s character stayed very distant from most of them so I really missed out on the different connections with other dancers that I had hoped would be there. But those other characters all have unique traits and if they are in Books 1 and 2, then I’m sure those books are also worth the read.

A lot of time in this book was spent on the romance between Russell and April, so ultimately, I would call this a romance novel, probably geared towards the YA crowd (clean romance scenes). I had hoped for more of the ballet world or maybe deeper dives into that world is a more apt description of what I was looking for. But overall, it was an enjoyable story and if you like romances or the dance world, this is worth picking up (along with books 1 and 2 for further character development).

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terez Mertes Rose is a writer and former ballet dancer whose work has appeared in the Crab Orchard Review, Literary Mama, Women Who Eat (Seal Press), A Woman’s Europe (Travelers’ Tales), the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News. She reviews dance performances for Bachtrack.com and blogs about ballet and classical music at The Classical Girl. The author of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles and A Dancer’s Guide to Africa, she makes her home with family in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She loves good food, good wine, great books, and a good (but not too hard) adult ballet class. She’s proud to announce that Outside the Limelight, Book 2 of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles, was named a Best Book of 2017 by Kirkus Reviews.

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GIVEAWAY

2 winners will win a 2 tote bags of Ballet Theatre Chronicles, the previous one, a finished copy of BALLET ORPHANS, a $25 gift card either to Amazon or Bookshop Santa Cruz, US Only.

2 winners will receive a $5 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook of BALLET ORPHANS, International.  Enter Here.

TOUR SCHEDULE Week 3:

1/18/2021	Books and Zebras @jypsylynn	Review
1/19/2021	The Obsessed Reader	Excerpt
1/20/2021	Books a Plenty Book Reviews	Review
1/21/2021	Books A-Brewin’	Excerpt
1/22/2021	@more_books_yes_please_	Review

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