Sona Charaipotra

Dhonielle Clayton

Tiny Pretty Things

dulces, perfectas y malvadas

Tiny pretty things

katia

It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t super interesting

Drama and violence ensue when the three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet academy compete for the status of prima ballerina.

Pretty thrilling story but unlikable characters. I just need book tow, please!

Gigi, Bette et June sont danseuses dans la prestigieuse école du Ballet de New York. Lorsque Gigi, nouvelle et seule élève noire, est choisie pour incarner le rôle phare du premier ballet de l'année, les rivalités se déchaînent. Bette, ballerine star de l'école, est prête à tout pour récupérer son titre et éviter la rage de sa mère, qui ne tolère pas qu'elle ne soit pas la meilleure. June rêve quant à elle de ne plus être cantonnée au rôle de l'éternelle doublure. Les trois filles ont bien du mal à résister à la pression du monde impitoyable de la danse. Et les choses vont empirer... jusqu'au drame.

Tome 1, La perfection a un prix

Sven Test

This review was first published on Latte Nights Reviews.

Intense…that’s what the characters in this book are. They are intense. They will anything and everything to reach the top even if it means causing some incidents to put others down.

Gigi is the new black girl at ABC and surprisingly, she lands a soloist role in a ballet, a solo that should have been Bette’s, who has been in the ballet company for a while. This doesn’t sit well with Bette and she goes to great lengths to get Gigi to break down and leave. June is the quiet half Korean, half American girl with a dark secret that no one knows about. And you know what they always say: “Watch out for the quiet ones.”

I love the story that these two fantastic authors wrote. I keep saying the story is intense, because it is. The girls strive for perfection, strive to be on top and if they have to make threats and act on them, they will no matter what. The only girl that I really loved in this story is Gigi. Her personality is beautiful. She is sweet, kind, caring, even in this world that is so filled with ugliness. Bette, while she is mean, I liked her because she really goes after what she wants, or at least tries her hardest to do so, which many of us do. June is a very conflicted character and probably the most flawed of them all. She feels alone in this ballet world, with no one to trust. There is only one person she knows she can trust and she is the person that June wants to bring down.

The supporting characters are ones that made the story even more interesting. My favorites have to be Will and Henri. Will is a guy who is gay and loves his straight best friend. He wants was best for others and he really cares for everyone. Henri is the French guy that wants revenge over what was done to his girlfriend but he is very careful with how he plans his revenge.

As you can see, this is a story that deals with a lot of betrayals, from people most closest to you. If these kids don’t watch their backs, they could get kicked out or even worse, at a hospital. This tale is dark and so not how I was expecting it to be. I loved how it’s pace was fast and kept me wanting to read until the very end to figure out what was happening. In the end, I was left conflicted, not knowing if this will be continued or not. If it is, I’m buying it in a heartbeat. Don’t get wrong. The story could very well end where it did but I would love to dive into this world and these characters again.

Campbell Berry

This was a really compelling book showing the drama and problems in the ballet world. My least favorite part was definitely June’s POV but I loved Gigi and Bette’s story. The ending did get pretty boring until the big finale which I loved. I’m very excited to read the sequel.

Gianna 

This book kept me entertained with all the different points of views and I loved the whole plot of this story. I am a dancer and this book was amazing with all of the different twists and turns happening.

Laura

I can't believe I'm saying this but I liked the show slightly better.

Nicki

Actual rating 2.5... I was a little bored tbh. I think I will like the show more.

Jocelyn Poh

my rating | 4.25 stars

already reading the sequel Shiny Broken Pieces because i got too excited when i finished this! (cliffhanger alert)

all i want to say about this book is that the drama NEVER stops. literally. just when you think an "episode" is over, another begins before you know it. i was enthralled right from page one and once i started i just wanted to just go on and on - no delays whatsoever, the book just pulls you in right away.

Tiny Pretty Things really reminded me of dramas like pretty little liars and gossip girl - the deceit, betrayals, woven lies, bullying, intimidation, schemes and desperation to be on top (in this case - to be the prima ballerina). because of these, i'm always finding my hands on the bottom right hand corner of each page - it was so hard to stop when i had to! (ugh @ school) however, sometimes the bullying felt so real for some reason, it kinda spooked me out a little? it's really, really scary how people will do anything to find themselves at the top. that amazed me in a frightening way.

not only was this book full of drama, it was pretty diverse - and they were all addressed reasonably well - which resulted in my high rating. one of our main girls is black, and the other is an asian. issues like eating disorders and drugs were also mentioned in this story which adds a solid forestory to each of the characters, allowing us readers to relate to and understand them in some form or another. 

while the characters are generally pretty well written, what frustrates me is how i can't get my head around some of them - cassie, henri, sei-jin, jayhe even. shall discuss this when i finish shiny broken things where hopefully my doubts get solved! 

overall, you don't really need to know anything about ballet in order to enjoy this book as much as i did! i'm pretty surprised how this book isn't hyped up as other contemporaries i've seen out there as this book really speaks out on important themes that YA readers should read about! a highly recommended read.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Jelke Lenaerts

This book has content warnings for racism, homophobia, eating disorders (seriously, this book talks a lot about food and weight and some characters have eating disorders so stay away), drug addiction, alcoholism, abuse, and pedophilia (teacher assaulting students).

I love overly dramatic books and this book is just drama central. I was completely pulled into the story and felt on the edge of my seat the entire time. Especially towards the ending. I also liked the fact that there's a bit of a mystery elemement to this book as well. I quite liked our cast of characters and I honestly wish we got more perspectives. There are certain side characters we get quite a bit from but I also not enough in my opinion. Gigi was probably my favourite character. I love her happiness and hopefulness. She really stands out among the other characters who are more serious and negative. I also love her talking about ballet. You can tell she's really passionate about the dance and doesn't really care about how big her role is as long as she's able to dance. I also quite liked June. I think she was a very complex character kind of stuck between two worlds. In the beginning she rejected her 'normal' life quite a bit but as we get further into the book we really see her getting to love that part of her life. Her storyline trying to find her father was a bit predictable but I quite liked how it was done. Bette however is terrible. I know she's supposed to be like that but I also feel like we are supposed to sympathize with her but it's so hard when she is villianizing mental health and shouting micro-aggresions at our black main character. On top of that she's also super abusive to everyone around her and it just never really gets challenged. She's also super entitled and selfish. It's just exhausting to read from her perspective. So yeah, I really enjoyed this book but really hated one of our main characters. I also just didn't get Henri. His motivations were all over the place throughout this book and I completely don't get what he was doing and why. I hope to get more clarity from him after that last chapter. I definetly think this will make a great tv show if they change some of the more problematic things and I'm excited to see the show after reading the sequel (because I need to read the sequel asap after that ending).

Anna Wilson

Marissa Scudlo

** spoiler alert **
           I found the book to be a great read, but pettiness from certain characters to be honestly annoying, and pranks done to Gigi where not alright in my eyes. But the story as a whole was a great one.

Amie Liane

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS BOOK: Eating disorders (specifically bulimia), emetaphobia

Not a massive fan of this book, and wouldn’t read the sequel if I hadn’t already bought it.

Flavia

** spoiler alert **
           En primer lugar: es muy diferente a la serie de Netflix. Lo único que tienen en común es el ballet y el nombre de Bette y June. Ahora, la serie me gustó más. Este libro tiene demasiado drama. Entiendo que en el mundo del ballet hay muchos problemas (racismo (Gigi), acoso sexual (Henri), homofobia (Will), TCA (June), adicción (Bette), etc) pero me parece que en este caso, al juntarlo con la competencia excesiva y obsesiva, ha sido un poco demasiado. Es entretenido y no es malo, pero hay demasiadas cosas y al final resulta abrumador. Todos los personajes me caen mal, ya sea en mayor o menor medida, excepto Gigi. De ella me molesta la obsesión que tiene con su color de piel y pensar que todo lo malo que le pasa es por ser negra. Aun así, me gustó que se diera visibilidad a los diferentes temas del mundo del ballet que he mencionado antes. Es un buen libro para pasar el rato, pero no volvería a leerlo.

Shannon Jade

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton is a twisting, twirling, tangling leap into the conflicts, betrayals, and secrets of the professional ballet world. Rich with beauty, art, mystery, and vengeance, Tiny Pretty Things has everything a contemporary YA story needs to keep readers on their battered pointe-shoed toes.

Set at an exclusive ballet school in Manhattan, Tiny Pretty Things makes dance a central component of its setting. But at the American Ballet Company, onstage beauty comes at the cost of backstage ugliness. Tiny Pretty Things strays from the narrative of pretty pink lace-up pointe shoes, revealing the bruised, bloody mess beneath the carefully curated surface.

Tiny Pretty Things rotates between the perspectives of three characters: Gigi, Bette, and June. But this is far from a story of female friendship. Rather, it’s a story of jealousy and sabotage—an example of what not to do! Gigi, Bette, and June each navigate a series of unhealthy relationships and deal with a range of mental and physical health problems. I’ll take this as an opportunity to throw out a content warning for heart conditions, drug abuse, alcoholism, eating disorders, and racism.

With the words “The Sugar Plum Fairy has farthest to fall” ringing as loud and clear as music notes on every page, this fast-paced contemporary story moves through a long list of untraceable betrayals. With so many potential perpetrators and motivations and an increasingly unhealthy school culture that encourages its young dancers to pursue careers as prima ballerinas at any and all costs, it’s impossible for readers to predict the next twist in the story. Next up, book two: Shiny Broken Pieces!

If you’re looking for a book with Pretty Little Liars vibes, you’ll love Tiny Pretty Things. This cutthroat story is a definite page turner, a credit to the talents of its authors!

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caro(lee)na

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD

i really wanted to read a novel about dance, since i am a dancer. 

this did not disappoint, also i loved the diversity.