Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f'); Mature Content: PG (alcohol abuse); Violence: PG-13 (child abuse, alcoholic rages, sick torture, revenge plots of murder)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
New Kora is home base to one of the most extraordinary performing dance companies: Malcom's Marionettes. People from around the world attend their awe inspiring performances. How can all the dancers perform so beautifully and with such perfect precision? The secret: each dancer is under a dark curse which literally takes over their bodies every night the curtain raises on the stage. Emberlyn is the lead dancer. Her fellow dance mates are more than part of the performance, they are her "sisters". Emberlyn wants to escape this torturous lifestyle of supposed glitz and glamor, but how can she leave her sisters behind to endure the abuse and alcoholic rages of Malcolm? The curse prevents her from literally being able to voice the torture and abuse to an anyone outside the Marionettes. Perhaps the answer is not to escape, but to actually end the reign of "The Puppet Master", Malcom, and finally put an end to this nightmare.
Although this book contains abuse, torture, alcoholism, etc, the heroine of the book, Emberlyn, teaches us all that selfless love is the highest form of love and in this novel, ultimately conquers evil. I loved the internal struggles Emberlyn finds herself in. I loved her relationship with the other dancers and especially her romance with her hero, Etienne. The message in the end of the novel helped soften the abuse and violence. Rising about our worst nightmares takes a lot of courage, a lot of self reflection, and a lot of support and love from others. The girls seem to be about high school aged.
S. Lewis
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