Language: R (115 swears, 31 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (Topics discussed: sex, abortion, manipulative relationships); Violence: PG-13 (Brief fight scene, domestic abuse discussed)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - NOT RECOMMENDED
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
17yo Genie's life is dance. She eats, sleeps, and breaths dance and it's paying off! She's on the cover of a ballet magazine featuring Black dancers so her future in choreography and ballet is looking promising! That is, until she falls off a building and becomes a paraplegic. The story behind Genie's accident follows her around, stalking her like her ex-boyfriend who played a pivotal part in her fall, and haunts her. It contaminates her confidence and view of herself in such a way that she now has trouble maintaining relationships. Then one day she meets Kyle at physical therapy. He also had an accident and as the two become friends, Genie realizes that maybe she doesn't have to completely leave dance behind, maybe her relationships can be salvaged, and maybe being in a wheelchair isn't so bad after all.
My impression after the book was this: it was written for a very specific high school audience, and yet brings up very heavy and mature topics such as phycological and physical abuse, sex, and abortion. These topics are not explored in a philosophical manner, that is to say evaluating the morality of them, but rather as things that are simply done. The writing itself was very stylized and immersive. It had wonderful imagery and an expansive vocabulary. Characters and motivations were thoroughly explored. While there are definitely good lessons to learn in this book, it was rather slow and took me a while to finish, and in the end, I don't recommend it.
None of the main characters are white.
Sierra Finlinson
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