The Still Point, a review by Shelley

posted in: Shelley | 0

🩰🩰🩰🩰
THE STILL POINT
Tammy Greenwood

Kensington Books
February 20th, 2024
398 Pages
Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop.org

She recalled the quiet moments after they’d been talking in the darkness for hours, that magical still point in the middle of the night.

I did dance as a kid but not ballet. I tapped danced (even managed to win a gold medal) and took jazz lessons. We used to perform for care homes and I was a majorette in parades as well. I don’t remember the mothers or the other dance kids behaving the way they did in this book. But we danced for fun, not for scholarships or to become professionals. I remember when I discovered boys (or they discovered me) I quit. My mom was disappointed but quickly got over it when I joined an ice hockey team and became a power forward.

I love Tammy Greenwood’s books and have read everything she has ever written. She is a master storyteller and tells this one from experience as her daughter is a ballet dancer. You don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy this one because it is basically about competition and the lengths we go through for our kids and to win. The dancers in this story physically and mentally break down often. It borders on abuse.

I loved how character-driven this was and what a bunch of characters they are. The reader gets to know them well through chapters from each character’s point of view. What I really took away from this is what dancers and mothers sacrifice for their craft and because of that, I found this such an emotional and powerful read. I learned a lot about ballet and found it intriguing and interesting as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing is caring!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *