Review: Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small

Book Blurb:

Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.

But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.

Find out more about the book on Goodreads

My Review:

2.5 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Teen--

Bright Burning Stars tells the story of Marine and Kate, two best friends at an elite dance school in France, happily starting their last year at the academy. But they never expected all the challenges the year would throw at them, and the fact that their friendship and lives in general might not survive the year.

After seeing the movie Center Stage as a kid, I have been obsessed with anything having to do with dancing and dancing schools. Well, Bright Burning Stars is much more similar to the darkness and obsession of the movie Black Swan mixed with the dark under belly of the dancing show Skin and Bones. Don't expect a happy ending or a wonderful self discovery here, instead this was a sad story about two teen girls who are facing very adult issues without any help.

This was definitely a dark read, dealing with topics such as desperation, anxiety, stress, and how two teens cope with all this pressure. I would not suggest this book for younger teens (I would never suggest it for any teen, to be honest) due to the darker, mature content running rampant in the story. The book deals with drug use, sex, teen pregnancy, abortions, prostitution, suicide, body shaming, eating disorders and untreated mental issues- and not in a positive, helpful, learning a lesson kind of way, more for shock value it felt like. Actually, I would not even call this a YA book except for the fact the characters are 16. This should probably be listed as a NA or just plain adult book.

After finishing the book I will admit that I felt super let down. If you are looking for a story about two hot mess dancer girls with disaster and bad choices rampant, then this is the read for you. If you are looking for a story about two girls spiraling out of control with no assistance what so ever and a totally anticlimactic ending that made me feel like the whole book was a waste, then this is for you. I am sure someone will really love this book, I just did not connect to either girl and was not invested in the train wreck of their lives.