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Face au Miroir
Anna vit un rêve éveillé, elle vient d’intégrer une compagnie de ballet de renom à New York. Pourtant, son premier cours avec sa mystérieuse idole, Victoria Ford, ne se passe pas comme prévu. Elle manque de ruiner sa carrière avant même que celle-ci ne commence. Mais lorsque Anna finit par montrer tout son potentiel, la maîtresse de ballet la choisit en tant que future danseuse étoile.
La nouvelle arrivante fait alors face à la jalousie, au sabotage et aux blessures. La pression monte, et Anna sait qu’elle doit tout donner pour la soirée d’ouverture. Elle n’a pas le droit à l’erreur si elle veut prouver à ses rivaux, ainsi qu’à elle-même, que Victoria a eu raison de croire en elle.
Au fil des mois, Anna est de plus en plus captivée par sa mentore. Et de cours en répétitions, elle découvre que les danses les plus excitantes ne se jouent pas forcément sur scène…
La nouvelle arrivante fait alors face à la jalousie, au sabotage et aux blessures. La pression monte, et Anna sait qu’elle doit tout donner pour la soirée d’ouverture. Elle n’a pas le droit à l’erreur si elle veut prouver à ses rivaux, ainsi qu’à elle-même, que Victoria a eu raison de croire en elle.
Au fil des mois, Anna est de plus en plus captivée par sa mentore. Et de cours en répétitions, elle découvre que les danses les plus excitantes ne se jouent pas forcément sur scène…
587 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 430 reviews
April 9, 2018
'Ylva-Publishing ARC provided in exchange for a honest review'
Remarkable debut!
The mystery of the body in motion.The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure joyful optimism of it all. THE MUSIC AND THE MIRROR presents one thrilling spectacular ride after another of ballerinas leaping,spinning,lifting,kicking--but in the midst of daily life or not: in a library,a restaurant,a park--there was also a love story developing,betrayal,enemies lurking etc.. With each image the readers felt buoyed up,eager to read on and get the next fill of what other magic is in store about the opening performance.And in that image Ms.Keeley found what she's been searching for: a way to express Anna's feelings of being fully alive in the moment,unself-conscious,present when she's dancing(take it all in). The rebel,the orphans,the misunderstood,the injured ex-ballerina--this storyline is a rich,poignant,emotional book that captures nothing short or less than the entirety of how life is for some in the ballet world. One that spans two or more continents and a few US states that involves the life of both its heroines(leads). Every character is so true to life,you might wonder if you know them in real life and their destinies intertwine in beguiling ways as the search for the ultimate truths in their lives--dancing & future. An unforgettable tale: this paean to romance & genuine love and bittersweet sorrow of a first heartbreak endures,good supporting cast,mature dialogue,great storytelling. While the main tale might belong to Anna (and we root for her,like crazy) we are also privy to Victoria's story,which only adds many more levels to an already well-layered storyline.This sometimes holier than thou,tizzy,angst filled but charming page-turner serves up a twist I never remotely suspected,followed by an utterly satisfying and lovely conclusion. Highly recommend to everyone!
Remarkable debut!
The mystery of the body in motion.The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure joyful optimism of it all. THE MUSIC AND THE MIRROR presents one thrilling spectacular ride after another of ballerinas leaping,spinning,lifting,kicking--but in the midst of daily life or not: in a library,a restaurant,a park--there was also a love story developing,betrayal,enemies lurking etc.. With each image the readers felt buoyed up,eager to read on and get the next fill of what other magic is in store about the opening performance.And in that image Ms.Keeley found what she's been searching for: a way to express Anna's feelings of being fully alive in the moment,unself-conscious,present when she's dancing(take it all in). The rebel,the orphans,the misunderstood,the injured ex-ballerina--this storyline is a rich,poignant,emotional book that captures nothing short or less than the entirety of how life is for some in the ballet world. One that spans two or more continents and a few US states that involves the life of both its heroines(leads). Every character is so true to life,you might wonder if you know them in real life and their destinies intertwine in beguiling ways as the search for the ultimate truths in their lives--dancing & future. An unforgettable tale: this paean to romance & genuine love and bittersweet sorrow of a first heartbreak endures,good supporting cast,mature dialogue,great storytelling. While the main tale might belong to Anna (and we root for her,like crazy) we are also privy to Victoria's story,which only adds many more levels to an already well-layered storyline.This sometimes holier than thou,tizzy,angst filled but charming page-turner serves up a twist I never remotely suspected,followed by an utterly satisfying and lovely conclusion. Highly recommend to everyone!
April 2, 2018
I loved it! This is the feel good book of the first quarter of 2018. Heck out of the 85 books I’ve read this year, it’s my favorite. I’m doing a little happy dance with my laptop right now you just can’t see it. I had high expectations for this book, and it hit every single one of them. I absolutely recommend reading this book.
There is something about books, shows, and movies that feature ballet that I find so enthralling. Maybe it’s about what the dancers are able to do; the way they defy gravity while torturing their bodies. There are very few other sports that have such high injury rates and short career spans. No matter what it is its impressive and I love behind the scenes stories about it. This book was everything I could have wanted and more. I felt like I was there through every class, rehearsal, injury, performance, it was all so wonderfully described.
It’s not just all the ballet scenes that are wonderful, it's the characters. The two mains are fantastic and a few really good secondary characters too. You have the wide-eyed innocence of Anna, mixing with the Ice Queen of Dance, Victoria. For any Devil Wears Prada fans out there, you are going to be very happy with this one. This is an age-gap, instructor/dancer romance. I don’t think the age-gap is ever pinned down, but I was guessing about 15 years. Just enough to make the point, but it never feels like Victoria is robbing the cradle. The two women really balance each other out. The dialogue in this book is wonderful, but especially between the two mains.
Of course I loved the romance. No insta love or anything I normally complain about. It went at a real honest pace. But getting to the good part, the chemistry is off the charts. These two steal page after page with their sizzling energy. I think the sex scenes will appeal to just about everyone. They are explicit, but not overly so. The passion in them makes them seem even steamier if that makes sense.
I called this a feel good story and it really is. While there is some conflict and things to keep the story flowing, shocker…. the characters actually communicate! I almost could not believe it, it made me so happy. I don’t have anything to complain about. I don’t have any pet peeves to mention. The book was great from beginning to end. I don’t know why we aren’t allowed more of these kinds of books in lesfic. It was such a treat.
I was looking at Keeley’s author page on Goodreads and there are no other books. This appears to be a debut. I’m a bit floored right now if this is the case. I can actually name the few authors I have 5 starred debut books in my head, in the past few years. It’s pretty rare and just makes this book all the more special to me. It can be hard for me to write a review when I love a book so much. It’s hard to do it justice. All I can say is I absolutely recommend this and I hope you all get the amount of enjoyment reading this that I did. I cannot wait to see what Keeley writes next!
An ARC was given to me by YLVA, for a honest review.
There is something about books, shows, and movies that feature ballet that I find so enthralling. Maybe it’s about what the dancers are able to do; the way they defy gravity while torturing their bodies. There are very few other sports that have such high injury rates and short career spans. No matter what it is its impressive and I love behind the scenes stories about it. This book was everything I could have wanted and more. I felt like I was there through every class, rehearsal, injury, performance, it was all so wonderfully described.
It’s not just all the ballet scenes that are wonderful, it's the characters. The two mains are fantastic and a few really good secondary characters too. You have the wide-eyed innocence of Anna, mixing with the Ice Queen of Dance, Victoria. For any Devil Wears Prada fans out there, you are going to be very happy with this one. This is an age-gap, instructor/dancer romance. I don’t think the age-gap is ever pinned down, but I was guessing about 15 years. Just enough to make the point, but it never feels like Victoria is robbing the cradle. The two women really balance each other out. The dialogue in this book is wonderful, but especially between the two mains.
Of course I loved the romance. No insta love or anything I normally complain about. It went at a real honest pace. But getting to the good part, the chemistry is off the charts. These two steal page after page with their sizzling energy. I think the sex scenes will appeal to just about everyone. They are explicit, but not overly so. The passion in them makes them seem even steamier if that makes sense.
I called this a feel good story and it really is. While there is some conflict and things to keep the story flowing, shocker…. the characters actually communicate! I almost could not believe it, it made me so happy. I don’t have anything to complain about. I don’t have any pet peeves to mention. The book was great from beginning to end. I don’t know why we aren’t allowed more of these kinds of books in lesfic. It was such a treat.
I was looking at Keeley’s author page on Goodreads and there are no other books. This appears to be a debut. I’m a bit floored right now if this is the case. I can actually name the few authors I have 5 starred debut books in my head, in the past few years. It’s pretty rare and just makes this book all the more special to me. It can be hard for me to write a review when I love a book so much. It’s hard to do it justice. All I can say is I absolutely recommend this and I hope you all get the amount of enjoyment reading this that I did. I cannot wait to see what Keeley writes next!
An ARC was given to me by YLVA, for a honest review.
September 20, 2018
There are books out there that you love, 5 stars all the way, you read the book, you love it and depending if you are like me you will most likely read them again. There are some books though and these are the truly great ones. You know these books, The Blind Side of Love, How Sweet It Is, and And Playing the Role of Herself. The books that are truly in another realm of greatness. Outstanding books that pull emotion from you, that the story wraps you in a cocoon and all you see and hear is the characters on your page. Those books are the ones when you find them you treasure them forever. I found one!
The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley isn’t good, it isn’t great, its next level amazing. This book is exceptional in every single way. No flaws, no lags, no character misses. Nope, it is phenomenal. Yes, I used my thesaurus for adjectives. You cannot just say awesome eleventy billion times, come on now.
Anna Gale is a new dancer at the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center. She has been a ballet dancer all her life, she lives and breathes it. Coming to New York from Dubuque, Iowa to studying and dance under the greatest ballet dancer of the modern era is her dream come true. Anna embodies this wholesome rock solid nature. She’s one of these really good people that others cannot dislike because she is just a noble person. She cares for others, even when it’s in her best interest not too. She works harder than everyone else without complaint and eager to do so. Ballet literally fuels her soul.
Victoria Ford is known as the greatest ballet dancer in modern times. When she danced audiences were captivated by her skill and artistry. An injury to her knee has sidelined her from dancing so now she choreographs and runs the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center. Victoria is not an easy woman to please, she is beyond tough, she expects excellence from everyone around her and when it's less than that you can expect biting, caustic remarks intended to sting. She is truly the emotionally detached ice queen.
This is a dialogue-heavy book, with lots of exchanges between characters. Lola Keeley takes her story and layers it. There is no skipping ahead or fast-forwarding through life moments, hell no. This author takes her time and draws out the story and the tension The sub-plots are done with craftsmanship and skill. She creates supporting characters that are distinct and authentic. The banter between Anna and Victoria, oh the banter, well its legendary and they talk like real honest to god people. The key to real-life characters is nuance. Lola Keeley could teach a class on it because her characters have it and it is glorious. As the reader I thank you.
It’s bittersweet when this book ends. This is a story that I adored, absolutely cherished. I miss it already, but know without a doubt will visit many times again. Lola Keeley made true love jump off a page like a ballerina in a Grande Jeté. Her first book by the way. Yeah, WOW and that wow is the understatement of the year.
The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley isn’t good, it isn’t great, its next level amazing. This book is exceptional in every single way. No flaws, no lags, no character misses. Nope, it is phenomenal. Yes, I used my thesaurus for adjectives. You cannot just say awesome eleventy billion times, come on now.
Anna Gale is a new dancer at the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center. She has been a ballet dancer all her life, she lives and breathes it. Coming to New York from Dubuque, Iowa to studying and dance under the greatest ballet dancer of the modern era is her dream come true. Anna embodies this wholesome rock solid nature. She’s one of these really good people that others cannot dislike because she is just a noble person. She cares for others, even when it’s in her best interest not too. She works harder than everyone else without complaint and eager to do so. Ballet literally fuels her soul.
Victoria Ford is known as the greatest ballet dancer in modern times. When she danced audiences were captivated by her skill and artistry. An injury to her knee has sidelined her from dancing so now she choreographs and runs the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center. Victoria is not an easy woman to please, she is beyond tough, she expects excellence from everyone around her and when it's less than that you can expect biting, caustic remarks intended to sting. She is truly the emotionally detached ice queen.
This is a dialogue-heavy book, with lots of exchanges between characters. Lola Keeley takes her story and layers it. There is no skipping ahead or fast-forwarding through life moments, hell no. This author takes her time and draws out the story and the tension The sub-plots are done with craftsmanship and skill. She creates supporting characters that are distinct and authentic. The banter between Anna and Victoria, oh the banter, well its legendary and they talk like real honest to god people. The key to real-life characters is nuance. Lola Keeley could teach a class on it because her characters have it and it is glorious. As the reader I thank you.
It’s bittersweet when this book ends. This is a story that I adored, absolutely cherished. I miss it already, but know without a doubt will visit many times again. Lola Keeley made true love jump off a page like a ballerina in a Grande Jeté. Her first book by the way. Yeah, WOW and that wow is the understatement of the year.
May 13, 2018
I'm in the minority here but I didn't love this. Many others seem to really enjoy this book, though, so your mileage may vary.
Victoria, the lead love interest was someone I never liked which destroyed the book as a good romance for me.
Ice queen stories aren't fun if the ice-queen in question is 100% hostile all the time. I didn't like Victoria and I kept asking myself if that was still the case as I moved through the book. Unfortunately that answer was yes and it took until 80% before I *finally* saw her thaw a teeny bit. I would've enjoyed the book more if Victoria at least showed a sustained soft side at the very least towards Anna and that it occurred much earlier in the book.
The fact that Victoria is unlikable was made all the weirder because half of the story is from Victoria's point of view. I should've gotten some insight into *why* she was so mean or get to know her in an endearing way through her internal thoughts or observations but that didn't happen. I felt frustrated.
I was expecting an intense, warm and fuzzy romance and instead it felt like an unhealthy relationship built more on lust and shared experience than true love. This is a slow burn romance but even when Victoria and Anna get together many of their intimate moments are off page or they have periods of being distant. Except for discussing dance and the drama of the ballet company, there's very little conversation between them.
I'll put it this way, I was so put off by the romance that when the "I love yous" came around it felt completely forced and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
But Anna and Victoria's relationship isn't the only one that's questionable. There's another couple with a budding relationship depicted in the book but drugs are involved where they both do them, which is seemingly completely out of character for at least one of them, but that's never addressed in any significant way. That and the strange codependency thing they had going on didn't exactly have me rooting for them.
Chemical abuse in one form or another (pill popping, bottles of wine, vodka, scotch, and who knows what else) is fairly rampant which in one way is supposed to depict how severe a ballet dancer's life is but it's also not treated seriously, like it's something that can be resolved at will which, in real life, I don't think would be the case.
My favorite portions of the book were actually the secondary characters all interacting with Anna. I give it credit for not having a long drawn out break up scene at the end of the book that we see all too often in the romance genre these days. I also give it props for the amount of detail put into the world of ballet and theatre. And I do think the epilogue was better for how it played out.
Because I wasn't sold on the romance the book ended up feeling long and, overall, was an okay read.
If you want a story with the behind the scenes look of a professional ballerina's life, this is great. If you want a healthy romance, not so much.
3.5 stars
Victoria, the lead love interest was someone I never liked which destroyed the book as a good romance for me.
Ice queen stories aren't fun if the ice-queen in question is 100% hostile all the time. I didn't like Victoria and I kept asking myself if that was still the case as I moved through the book. Unfortunately that answer was yes and it took until 80% before I *finally* saw her thaw a teeny bit. I would've enjoyed the book more if Victoria at least showed a sustained soft side at the very least towards Anna and that it occurred much earlier in the book.
The fact that Victoria is unlikable was made all the weirder because half of the story is from Victoria's point of view. I should've gotten some insight into *why* she was so mean or get to know her in an endearing way through her internal thoughts or observations but that didn't happen. I felt frustrated.
I was expecting an intense, warm and fuzzy romance and instead it felt like an unhealthy relationship built more on lust and shared experience than true love. This is a slow burn romance but even when Victoria and Anna get together many of their intimate moments are off page or they have periods of being distant. Except for discussing dance and the drama of the ballet company, there's very little conversation between them.
I'll put it this way, I was so put off by the romance that when the "I love yous" came around it felt completely forced and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
But Anna and Victoria's relationship isn't the only one that's questionable. There's another couple with a budding relationship depicted in the book but drugs are involved where they both do them, which is seemingly completely out of character for at least one of them, but that's never addressed in any significant way. That and the strange codependency thing they had going on didn't exactly have me rooting for them.
Chemical abuse in one form or another (pill popping, bottles of wine, vodka, scotch, and who knows what else) is fairly rampant which in one way is supposed to depict how severe a ballet dancer's life is but it's also not treated seriously, like it's something that can be resolved at will which, in real life, I don't think would be the case.
My favorite portions of the book were actually the secondary characters all interacting with Anna. I give it credit for not having a long drawn out break up scene at the end of the book that we see all too often in the romance genre these days. I also give it props for the amount of detail put into the world of ballet and theatre. And I do think the epilogue was better for how it played out.
Because I wasn't sold on the romance the book ended up feeling long and, overall, was an okay read.
If you want a story with the behind the scenes look of a professional ballerina's life, this is great. If you want a healthy romance, not so much.
3.5 stars
May 4, 2018
Believe the hype about The Music and the Mirror. I read it twice in a row, loved every word of it, and will return to it again and again. Lola Keeley did an impressive job. Brava!
5 stars
Apr 9, 2018
5 stars
Apr 9, 2018
May 5, 2023
➥ 3 Stars *:･ﾟ✧
Well, this didn't break that streak of disappointing reads I've had lately 😒👎. Just know that the three star rating is a generous one because I can't bear to have another two star read on my conscience. This was a buddy read with the one and only ellie, and honestly, her review is beyond excellent and is far more worth reading than mine - highly recommend. Ellie, I had a great time expressing my exasperation with you and hearing your express yours, let's do it again sometime 🥰.
➥ Victoria Ford (h) was meant to be an ice-queen but she wasn't a very good one. She just wasn't really a well-written or compelling character overall. I feel as though Keeley was unable to create a character that falls somewhere in the middle between not being a sweetheart and being cruel. Victoria was just cruel, though it wasn't that her cruelty was too much for me to handle per se, it was just that there was nothing else to her 🤷♀️. Her character, and this novel's premise entirely, had a great amount of potential, though it was ultimately one left unreached.
Victoria does quite the handful of shitty things: (1) shits on the accompanying pianists, (2) does not give a fuck if the other dancers die unless it's Anna, and (3) because I myself have had a coach like her and have not been the favourite so guess where that leaves you. I also couldn't really grow fond of her because I felt as though she never quite melted for Anna. With the ice-queen trope, I hope to see a woman who's generally blunt, severe and powerful...but also one that ultimately softens for the woman they love. I need to see that at-first-hidden vulnerability and humanity to them, otherwise there's really nothing compelling about the character. The ice-queen character makes you want to see what's beneath their harsh surface - there has to be something. There were moments where I got a taste of what I wanted to see from her character, moments where she was hot, and moments when she was nearing that open tenderness, but it was only toward the very very end and was still not really well elaborated upon. Like Ellie describes in her review, moments of tension or vulnerability are not drawn out enough or written in a way to make them significant and weighted, they're just kind of there, like a fact that it happened. And though this is supposedly an age-gap romance, I still definitely envisioned Victoria as being similar in age and height to Anna.
➥ Anna Gale (h) is so bland. So, as we've gathered, both main characters are unimpressive, which makes this a disappointing book in general. Concerning Anna, I think the way Ellie described her frustrating character in her review really well: the contradiction of her being ordinary yet special, average yet talented etc. all fell very flat. Very juvenile, very annoying. The girl shows up at this ballet company and is handed everything on a silver platter. You'd think she'd have to work to the top, but from the beginning everyone apparently 'realises' she actually has so much talent and she's so special and from there we just see her become a beloved star, I suppose. And Victoria's favourite. This was kind of annoying because you know how many other dancers are watching (and dying) from the side-lines while she gets treated like someone who's above them. She seemed to fit the 'pick-me-girl' caricature, to me. Not a great fmc by my standards.
Though I have mainly dragged this book through the mud, I do feel compelled to acknowledge that the ballet aspect of this book was amazingly well-done, and it felt like a true sports romance. I liked that there were multiple scenes where we see Anna dancing and Victoria coaching her, and I also really like how it builds a sense of drama and desperation, where the stakes are high, which makes the romance feel all the more like a love story (even if it was subpar). I also liked the light it shed on the intensity of being a dancer. Although I grew up doing gymnastics, dancing is similarly undermined/discredited as not being a valid sport. Another thing they have in common is having coaches that should have the police called on them for their abuse but that's a discussion for another day.
When I was little, I struggled to find book series that I liked. When I did find one, I'd binge it all and reread it over and over again. But I'd never known of sources where I could get recommendations so I always settled with what I had. Once I ran out of those, all I read were the biographies of my idols. Or stories surrounding them. Ones like Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything, Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina etc. I was obsessed. I really appreciate how this book captures the ferocity and intensity of the dance world, something that I saw directly reflected from books like those. It's clear that Keeley knows what she's talking about here.
I loved the photoshoots, the trainings, the other dancers, the shows etc. It was all just mesmerising and you could almost feel you were immersed in this world yourself. Though I do think the moves themselves could have been more detailed and the exact training too (like the conditioning etc). The atmosphere was perfect and such a great setup for the romance.
The romance, however, was ultimately unimpressive and unsatisfying. There are a grand total of zero (0) romantic moments or interactions between Anna and Victoria until around 40%. Some would consider this aspect 'slow burn', but I'd argue that nothing was burning at all.
Even the romance that we got later on was lackluster. We had one moment of hurt/comfort which was...alright. I wanted Victoria to go crazy and baby Anna, though. I wanted this moment to facilitate Victoria showing how much she really cared for Anna, but there was very little emotional pull at all.
The sex scenes themselves were not very well written either, in my opinion, and I found them to be quite plain and bland. Not that it needs to be freaky, but I mean to say that there wasn't anything about it that I found particularly romantic or...swoony. And you want to feel like you're seeing characters in love: I didn't really feel that way. Even the kisses were sometimes written in little detail and that's just sad (though I was compelled to say cheap). I want to see their love and emotions for each other leaking out of a moment where they're able to be affectionate and adoring toward each other.
Going off from my comment about Victoria not caring enough, I was really bothered by the coaching. Now, it is common to have coaches like Victoria. More common than I'd like. These coaches employ a "tactic" where they make the athlete think they're trash so they'll supposedly work harder in attempt to not feel trash. So we see Anna doing amazing;y and in Victoria's head, she acknowledges it, but out loud she says that she only barely executed it or that it doesn't make up for everything else that was apparently horrible (it wasn't). This is a problem for many reasons. This lack of communication is dangerous. It's better to just tell the athlete what they've done is better but still not good enough. Tell them that this is good but that needs working on. But destroying their self-esteem and throwing them into things like depression and eds (both things that many side-character dancers where depicted as having, some even because of Victoria) is not the way. And there were definitely a lot of strange comments about bodies throughout this book; skinny, fat etc.
The villain was also a cheaply added plotpoint. In a contemporary romance? Really? And, the family relatives plot twist added nothing to the story. I don't see how it was relevant at all and this all shoved in substanceless drama that took away from the (barely there) romance.
Back to talking about the romance, although it was...cute...at times, there were still miscommunications and the book ends with them breaking up. I'm deadass. And the epilogue is about them getting back together. It was a mess. I still don't feel the full 3-star rating is very justified but there's just something about this book's potential that makes me still hold a sliver of fondness for it.
See, moments like this where we see Victoria in her element (hot), but we also see the way she only has eyes for Anna...these were good. If only there had been more. Regardless, I really appreciate that the topic of sexuality and coming out was not a big deal. It had more to do with it being forbidden (coach/athlete) and it was just considered a crush. No homophobia. This book would make an amazing movie, though. Keeley has potential, and I like the premises of her other books too (tennis etc.), so I look forward to seeing them grow as an author.
"Ready?"
Anna scuffs her feet through the rosin one at a time. "Yeah. I'll start with the jumps."
"Good girl," Victoria answers, absentminded.
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
Well, this didn't break that streak of disappointing reads I've had lately 😒👎. Just know that the three star rating is a generous one because I can't bear to have another two star read on my conscience. This was a buddy read with the one and only ellie, and honestly, her review is beyond excellent and is far more worth reading than mine - highly recommend. Ellie, I had a great time expressing my exasperation with you and hearing your express yours, let's do it again sometime 🥰.
➥ Victoria Ford (h) was meant to be an ice-queen but she wasn't a very good one. She just wasn't really a well-written or compelling character overall. I feel as though Keeley was unable to create a character that falls somewhere in the middle between not being a sweetheart and being cruel. Victoria was just cruel, though it wasn't that her cruelty was too much for me to handle per se, it was just that there was nothing else to her 🤷♀️. Her character, and this novel's premise entirely, had a great amount of potential, though it was ultimately one left unreached.
Victoria does quite the handful of shitty things: (1) shits on the accompanying pianists, (2) does not give a fuck if the other dancers die unless it's Anna, and (3) because I myself have had a coach like her and have not been the favourite so guess where that leaves you. I also couldn't really grow fond of her because I felt as though she never quite melted for Anna. With the ice-queen trope, I hope to see a woman who's generally blunt, severe and powerful...but also one that ultimately softens for the woman they love. I need to see that at-first-hidden vulnerability and humanity to them, otherwise there's really nothing compelling about the character. The ice-queen character makes you want to see what's beneath their harsh surface - there has to be something. There were moments where I got a taste of what I wanted to see from her character, moments where she was hot, and moments when she was nearing that open tenderness, but it was only toward the very very end and was still not really well elaborated upon. Like Ellie describes in her review, moments of tension or vulnerability are not drawn out enough or written in a way to make them significant and weighted, they're just kind of there, like a fact that it happened. And though this is supposedly an age-gap romance, I still definitely envisioned Victoria as being similar in age and height to Anna.
"Do you know what turns me on more than success?" Victoria runs her finger through Anna's hair, stopping short to tug at it with intent.
Their gazes meet, and Anna is openmouthed in her desire to keep touching, to continue to be touched. "What?" she rasps. "Tell me."
"Nothing," Victoria confirms, and then her dress is so easy to unzip, slipping down her arms and rucking around her waist.
➥ Anna Gale (h) is so bland. So, as we've gathered, both main characters are unimpressive, which makes this a disappointing book in general. Concerning Anna, I think the way Ellie described her frustrating character in her review really well: the contradiction of her being ordinary yet special, average yet talented etc. all fell very flat. Very juvenile, very annoying. The girl shows up at this ballet company and is handed everything on a silver platter. You'd think she'd have to work to the top, but from the beginning everyone apparently 'realises' she actually has so much talent and she's so special and from there we just see her become a beloved star, I suppose. And Victoria's favourite. This was kind of annoying because you know how many other dancers are watching (and dying) from the side-lines while she gets treated like someone who's above them. She seemed to fit the 'pick-me-girl' caricature, to me. Not a great fmc by my standards.
"No one will want to talk to me." Anna scrunches up her face. "I'm sure they'll still only care about Delphine, or try to get Victoria to give an interview. Or you, of course."
Though I have mainly dragged this book through the mud, I do feel compelled to acknowledge that the ballet aspect of this book was amazingly well-done, and it felt like a true sports romance. I liked that there were multiple scenes where we see Anna dancing and Victoria coaching her, and I also really like how it builds a sense of drama and desperation, where the stakes are high, which makes the romance feel all the more like a love story (even if it was subpar). I also liked the light it shed on the intensity of being a dancer. Although I grew up doing gymnastics, dancing is similarly undermined/discredited as not being a valid sport. Another thing they have in common is having coaches that should have the police called on them for their abuse but that's a discussion for another day.
When I was little, I struggled to find book series that I liked. When I did find one, I'd binge it all and reread it over and over again. But I'd never known of sources where I could get recommendations so I always settled with what I had. Once I ran out of those, all I read were the biographies of my idols. Or stories surrounding them. Ones like Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything, Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina etc. I was obsessed. I really appreciate how this book captures the ferocity and intensity of the dance world, something that I saw directly reflected from books like those. It's clear that Keeley knows what she's talking about here.
I loved the photoshoots, the trainings, the other dancers, the shows etc. It was all just mesmerising and you could almost feel you were immersed in this world yourself. Though I do think the moves themselves could have been more detailed and the exact training too (like the conditioning etc). The atmosphere was perfect and such a great setup for the romance.
The romance, however, was ultimately unimpressive and unsatisfying. There are a grand total of zero (0) romantic moments or interactions between Anna and Victoria until around 40%. Some would consider this aspect 'slow burn', but I'd argue that nothing was burning at all.
Even the romance that we got later on was lackluster. We had one moment of hurt/comfort which was...alright. I wanted Victoria to go crazy and baby Anna, though. I wanted this moment to facilitate Victoria showing how much she really cared for Anna, but there was very little emotional pull at all.
The sex scenes themselves were not very well written either, in my opinion, and I found them to be quite plain and bland. Not that it needs to be freaky, but I mean to say that there wasn't anything about it that I found particularly romantic or...swoony. And you want to feel like you're seeing characters in love: I didn't really feel that way. Even the kisses were sometimes written in little detail and that's just sad (though I was compelled to say cheap). I want to see their love and emotions for each other leaking out of a moment where they're able to be affectionate and adoring toward each other.
Going off from my comment about Victoria not caring enough, I was really bothered by the coaching. Now, it is common to have coaches like Victoria. More common than I'd like. These coaches employ a "tactic" where they make the athlete think they're trash so they'll supposedly work harder in attempt to not feel trash. So we see Anna doing amazing;y and in Victoria's head, she acknowledges it, but out loud she says that she only barely executed it or that it doesn't make up for everything else that was apparently horrible (it wasn't). This is a problem for many reasons. This lack of communication is dangerous. It's better to just tell the athlete what they've done is better but still not good enough. Tell them that this is good but that needs working on. But destroying their self-esteem and throwing them into things like depression and eds (both things that many side-character dancers where depicted as having, some even because of Victoria) is not the way. And there were definitely a lot of strange comments about bodies throughout this book; skinny, fat etc.
The villain was also a cheaply added plotpoint. In a contemporary romance? Really? And, the family relatives plot twist added nothing to the story. I don't see how it was relevant at all and this all shoved in substanceless drama that took away from the (barely there) romance.
Back to talking about the romance, although it was...cute...at times, there were still miscommunications and the book ends with them breaking up. I'm deadass. And the epilogue is about them getting back together. It was a mess. I still don't feel the full 3-star rating is very justified but there's just something about this book's potential that makes me still hold a sliver of fondness for it.
“Ladies,” she greets them, drifting close enough to Anna on the way past to skim her bare shoulder with a finger. “Welcome to crunch time.”
See, moments like this where we see Victoria in her element (hot), but we also see the way she only has eyes for Anna...these were good. If only there had been more. Regardless, I really appreciate that the topic of sexuality and coming out was not a big deal. It had more to do with it being forbidden (coach/athlete) and it was just considered a crush. No homophobia. This book would make an amazing movie, though. Keeley has potential, and I like the premises of her other books too (tennis etc.), so I look forward to seeing them grow as an author.
━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━
March 4, 2019
I knew I had to save this book for either a rainy day or in this case my 300th review. I finally understand what all the fuss was about though because it was ridiculously difficult to stop reading this and go to sleep.
Right before I started reading this I found out that it's based on a certain fandom and tv show that I used to watch. Granted I was never a fan of that pairing on the show and was a little hesitant to read this because of that. Imagine my surprise when I found myself grinning like a mad woman every time Victoria called Anna, Anya. Or when I realized the significance of the colors that either Anna or Victoria would wear. Unfortunately being familiar with the show, Irina's story line didn't comes as a surprise but that was a very minor issue.
My only other tiny point of critique were some errors in grammar that have been overlooked and the giganimous amount of ballet and music terms that were mentioned. Luckily none of those took away from the page turner this book is.
There really isn't anything else I can say that hasn't already been said about this spectacular story. If you haven't already, believe the hype and just read it. Especially if you're a fan of slow burns, age gaps and ice queens.
Overall rating is a 4,75*!
Right before I started reading this I found out that it's based on a certain fandom and tv show that I used to watch. Granted I was never a fan of that pairing on the show and was a little hesitant to read this because of that. Imagine my surprise when I found myself grinning like a mad woman every time Victoria called Anna, Anya. Or when I realized the significance of the colors that either Anna or Victoria would wear. Unfortunately being familiar with the show, Irina's story line didn't comes as a surprise but that was a very minor issue.
My only other tiny point of critique were some errors in grammar that have been overlooked and the giganimous amount of ballet and music terms that were mentioned. Luckily none of those took away from the page turner this book is.
There really isn't anything else I can say that hasn't already been said about this spectacular story. If you haven't already, believe the hype and just read it. Especially if you're a fan of slow burns, age gaps and ice queens.
Overall rating is a 4,75*!
May 16, 2018
I. Am. Blown. Away.
I knew. I just knew from the impressive cover art that this would satisfy me. Well, The Music and the Mirror surpassed my expectations. This here is an excellent book.
From the first damn paragraph, I was swept away. After reading Melissa Brayden's First Position, I already knew I found the world of ballet interesting and attractive. Then, Lola Keeley grabbed me by the head, smashed my face onto my phone screen, and exposed me to one of the greatest romances I've read this year. Okay, she didn't do that literally, but I'm book high and loving it.
Its fanfic origins comforted me by giving me what I, the reader, wanted. That being an intense, beautiful slow burn journey to love between the main characters, Anna and Victoria.
Segway: Victoria Ford is a bitchy, brilliant fox of an ice queen. She's everything and I wish to marry her, thanks.
Lola Keeley with the research or life experience, she was spot on! I learned a freaking lot about ballet and it never got dreary. There's cursory knowledge and then there's the info in this story. My only small, insignificant nitpick on that part is the taxi cab use. Yeah, they're still a thing, but Uber or Lyft are way preferable in our city for millenials. I can't remember the last time someone my age hailed a cab.
The secondary characters worked marvelously. Their contributions to the movement of plot were spot-on. They added a well-done mix of dramatic and supportive. If I had any nitpicks on them, it'd be
I'm running out of steam, so I'll wrap this up. Don't let the page count scare you off. Just bask in the epicness, readers. Five stars ☆☆☆☆☆
I knew. I just knew from the impressive cover art that this would satisfy me. Well, The Music and the Mirror surpassed my expectations. This here is an excellent book.
From the first damn paragraph, I was swept away. After reading Melissa Brayden's First Position, I already knew I found the world of ballet interesting and attractive. Then, Lola Keeley grabbed me by the head, smashed my face onto my phone screen, and exposed me to one of the greatest romances I've read this year. Okay, she didn't do that literally, but I'm book high and loving it.
Its fanfic origins comforted me by giving me what I, the reader, wanted. That being an intense, beautiful slow burn journey to love between the main characters, Anna and Victoria.
Segway: Victoria Ford is a bitchy, brilliant fox of an ice queen. She's everything and I wish to marry her, thanks.
Lola Keeley with the research or life experience, she was spot on! I learned a freaking lot about ballet and it never got dreary. There's cursory knowledge and then there's the info in this story. My only small, insignificant nitpick on that part is the taxi cab use. Yeah, they're still a thing, but Uber or Lyft are way preferable in our city for millenials. I can't remember the last time someone my age hailed a cab.
The secondary characters worked marvelously. Their contributions to the movement of plot were spot-on. They added a well-done mix of dramatic and supportive. If I had any nitpicks on them, it'd be
I'm running out of steam, so I'll wrap this up. Don't let the page count scare you off. Just bask in the epicness, readers. Five stars ☆☆☆☆☆
May 6, 2018
The Music and the Mirror is another full on thawing the Ice Queen romance and my oh my it is a beautiful slow burn romance. The prologue is breathtaking and the writing is eloquent. It is clear the author has an inside track/close relationship with these artists en pointe. It was easy to fall into the grueling schedule of workouts and feel the jealousies, suffering and joys experienced by everyone from the chorus to the prima ballerinas. What a life.
Balance the drama on stage with the enthusiasm of newbie dancer Anna Gale and her interaction with Victoria Ford. Their scenes together sizzle and I loved the natural progression of their relationship from teacher/student through master/protege and finally lovers. Bonus points to the author for allowing these two dynamic women to communicate. Wonderful stuff.
The author’s name choice for her ingenue was not lost on this reader. Anna Gale shares a surname with another famous wide-eyed girl. Seeing the world of professional dancers through Anna’s eyes felt very similar to Dorothy Gale’s first peak at the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. Both are awed and overwhelmed. Both are sweet but carry within them a spine of steel and the resourcefulness to succeed where others would shrink away in fear. I loved Anna’s determination and resourcefulness in her pursuit of stardom and the woman of her dreams.
Ms Keeley has set a high bar(re) for future books. Lucky us.
ARC received with thanks from publisher for review.
https://latenightlesbianreads.wordpre...
Balance the drama on stage with the enthusiasm of newbie dancer Anna Gale and her interaction with Victoria Ford. Their scenes together sizzle and I loved the natural progression of their relationship from teacher/student through master/protege and finally lovers. Bonus points to the author for allowing these two dynamic women to communicate. Wonderful stuff.
The author’s name choice for her ingenue was not lost on this reader. Anna Gale shares a surname with another famous wide-eyed girl. Seeing the world of professional dancers through Anna’s eyes felt very similar to Dorothy Gale’s first peak at the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. Both are awed and overwhelmed. Both are sweet but carry within them a spine of steel and the resourcefulness to succeed where others would shrink away in fear. I loved Anna’s determination and resourcefulness in her pursuit of stardom and the woman of her dreams.
Ms Keeley has set a high bar(re) for future books. Lucky us.
ARC received with thanks from publisher for review.
https://latenightlesbianreads.wordpre...
June 19, 2018
Wow. 5+ Stars. I often compare a handful of my favorite 5+ Star books to a new book- does it deserve 5 Stars? Well, this book will be on that list that others will have to live up to.
I try not to read glowing reviews before reading the book myself. I want to experience it myself. I did read Tiff's early review and I knew it was going to be good. I tried limit my reading of reviews to glancing at the first sentence. I wasn't always successful.
"The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley isn’t good, it isn’t great, its next level amazing." @Tiff
"I loved it! This is the feel good book of the first quarter of 2018" @Lex Kent
"The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure joyful optimism of it all." @Diane Wallace
"Believe the hype about The Music and the Mirror." @Pin
"I. Am. Blown. Away." @Sprinkles
Unlike many readers of this book who practically devoured it in one sitting. I'm weird. If I'm reading a great book, I tend to take a break from it and read short comfort read. Why? So I don't read it so fast that I miss savoring each bite. I think I highlighted most of the book! There are many, but here are just a few that won't spoil it too much.
"It's magic. Everywhere she looks something beautiful is happening. These aren't just dancers; these people are Anna's heroes and they can fly."
Anna about Victoria - "How unfair that someone who could dance so well also communicates so clearly with words"
Victoria about Anna - "It should be infuriating how unbreakable Anna's spirit is, but there she goes again with bouncing right back."
"She dances, she eats, she sleeps."
This is an inside glance of a professional ballet company, all the pain, triumphs, the politics, and the love. Ballerinas in different stages of their careers. The upstart rookie, the star, the pain riddled prima on her last legs, and the former world renown star now a director. Its more than than just the behind the stage, it is also about off stage - the relationships and friendships that form. I can't recommend this higher enough.
SIDE NOTE:
I can't dance. period. But I can say I know a professional ballerina. She was a longtime girlfriend of my nephew, Travis. She wasn't a principal dancer but one of the chorus. When she wasn't dancing, she taught. When I first met her, I thought she didn't look like the stereotype. She was in between jobs, a bit tall, fit, but not a waif and boy could she eat! She did have the posture and grace of a dancer. But when she started dancing with the Denver Ballet, she definitely became more waifish. I only saw her dance once in the Nutcracker in Denver (I live in CA). Well, I knew she was on stage, unfortunately she was one of the sugarplum fairies and we couldn't figure out which one was her - they all looked alike. :-) Travis didn't want to see it yet again, so we couldn't ask him. Dancing in the chorus - they don't pay you much of anything. In fact, I think she was part of a scholarship type program, so she kinda paid them. It was inevitable that their relationship wouldn't last. She was (still is) a nomadic dancer. Every season she is in a different city, a different company. A dancer's career is short, much like athletes. So she is doing what she has to do, while she can do it. Her current boyfriend is also a dancer and Travis just got married and hoping to have kids.
I try not to read glowing reviews before reading the book myself. I want to experience it myself. I did read Tiff's early review and I knew it was going to be good. I tried limit my reading of reviews to glancing at the first sentence. I wasn't always successful.
"The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley isn’t good, it isn’t great, its next level amazing." @Tiff
"I loved it! This is the feel good book of the first quarter of 2018" @Lex Kent
"The mystery of the body in motion. The surprise of seeing what seems impossible. And the pure joyful optimism of it all." @Diane Wallace
"Believe the hype about The Music and the Mirror." @Pin
"I. Am. Blown. Away." @Sprinkles
Unlike many readers of this book who practically devoured it in one sitting. I'm weird. If I'm reading a great book, I tend to take a break from it and read short comfort read. Why? So I don't read it so fast that I miss savoring each bite. I think I highlighted most of the book! There are many, but here are just a few that won't spoil it too much.
"It's magic. Everywhere she looks something beautiful is happening. These aren't just dancers; these people are Anna's heroes and they can fly."
Anna about Victoria - "How unfair that someone who could dance so well also communicates so clearly with words"
Victoria about Anna - "It should be infuriating how unbreakable Anna's spirit is, but there she goes again with bouncing right back."
"She dances, she eats, she sleeps."
This is an inside glance of a professional ballet company, all the pain, triumphs, the politics, and the love. Ballerinas in different stages of their careers. The upstart rookie, the star, the pain riddled prima on her last legs, and the former world renown star now a director. Its more than than just the behind the stage, it is also about off stage - the relationships and friendships that form. I can't recommend this higher enough.
SIDE NOTE:
I can't dance. period. But I can say I know a professional ballerina. She was a longtime girlfriend of my nephew, Travis. She wasn't a principal dancer but one of the chorus. When she wasn't dancing, she taught. When I first met her, I thought she didn't look like the stereotype. She was in between jobs, a bit tall, fit, but not a waif and boy could she eat! She did have the posture and grace of a dancer. But when she started dancing with the Denver Ballet, she definitely became more waifish. I only saw her dance once in the Nutcracker in Denver (I live in CA). Well, I knew she was on stage, unfortunately she was one of the sugarplum fairies and we couldn't figure out which one was her - they all looked alike. :-) Travis didn't want to see it yet again, so we couldn't ask him. Dancing in the chorus - they don't pay you much of anything. In fact, I think she was part of a scholarship type program, so she kinda paid them. It was inevitable that their relationship wouldn't last. She was (still is) a nomadic dancer. Every season she is in a different city, a different company. A dancer's career is short, much like athletes. So she is doing what she has to do, while she can do it. Her current boyfriend is also a dancer and Travis just got married and hoping to have kids.
May 4, 2018
It's hard not to notice how 'fanficky' the story feels. The classic ice queen and the innocent newbie dynamic. Fairytale premise. Lots of melodrama. But fanfic or not, the various characters in the book had this incredible ability to grow on me and in no time at all, I was firmly hooked and rooting for them. It also helped that I have a thing for literary ice queens, no matter the origin.
The book delves deeper into the inner workings of a professional ballet company than another popular f/f book featuring ballerinas, First Position, though the idea of a first timer vaulting over everyone else into the principal role is more fantasy than reality. It didn't take too long before I got sold on that so... the rest of the book is pure enjoyment.
There are a 1001 things that can go wrong with mounting a star studded ballet production with reputations, heads and giant egos on the line, so it was easy for me to get caught up in all of the drama. So much so that I wished the book had been a few chapters longer. The part of me that doesn't want the book to end (and say goodbye to Anna and Victoria) wishes the author had stopped the book at that perfectly bittersweet moment So much more drama and pathos to be wrung from it all, but alas, we only got an executive summary. Books have a tendency to wear out their welcome after all is said and done but in this case, I make an exception. There's much more that needed to be said and done.
4.85 stars
Not an ARC from Ylva
The book delves deeper into the inner workings of a professional ballet company than another popular f/f book featuring ballerinas, First Position, though the idea of a first timer vaulting over everyone else into the principal role is more fantasy than reality. It didn't take too long before I got sold on that so... the rest of the book is pure enjoyment.
There are a 1001 things that can go wrong with mounting a star studded ballet production with reputations, heads and giant egos on the line, so it was easy for me to get caught up in all of the drama. So much so that I wished the book had been a few chapters longer. The part of me that doesn't want the book to end (and say goodbye to Anna and Victoria) wishes the author had stopped the book at that perfectly bittersweet moment So much more drama and pathos to be wrung from it all, but alas, we only got an executive summary. Books have a tendency to wear out their welcome after all is said and done but in this case, I make an exception. There's much more that needed to be said and done.
4.85 stars
Not an ARC from Ylva
April 4, 2018
Straight to the point: this book was as good as it’s been touted as and I recommend it highly.
While this book was great, amazing even, there were a few moments of my reading session interrupted because I’d have to go back and figure out who was speaking, as it wasn’t made clear who actually started a conversation….so there was some back and forth going on with no indication of speaker. This wasn’t frequent, but it did happen. The good news is, this is really my ONLY complaint for the entire book and I just wanted to get it out of the way before I moved on to the good stuff.
‘The Music and the Mirror’ is written in present tense, which I always find a very beautiful way to tell a story when it’s done right, as it is here. This story is also written from both character’s POV, which gives the reader the opportunity to experience each one falling in love. Since this is a slow burn, we're also given a good amount of time to see how these characters change and grow towards one another when they start off miles apart. In the beginning, it seems impossible, but their journey is spectacular and I was just happy to be along for the ride. This is all really well paced out and I didn’t find myself thinking, ‘just get together already!’ That thought tends to happen frequently with me and slow burns, so compliments to the author.
There is a lot of technical talk, but it doesn’t feel bogged down like we’re being given too much information or reading a manual. I say this because I don't care about ballet, I never have, but that doesn't matter at all because despite my lack of interest in what is a huge piece of this story, it made me care about ballet. Seriously, I feel the need to go buy the first tickets I can to a local theatre. Anyway, all ballet talk is weaved intricately into the development between our two characters and it all feels necessary and important to the storyline. I can’t help but compare this to another lesfic ballet book and I hate to say that (to me) ‘The Music and the Mirror’ was better. I thought the writing was more solid, I thought the storyline was better, and the characters were so amazing that I couldn’t help loving both of them.
As an added bonus, this didn’t feel dumbed down as I often tend to think some romance books can be. This is an intelligently written book with a lot of emotion. I actually almost cried at the damn end…and I never cry while reading books.
Victoria is the quintessential ice-queen and she is lovely. As a sucker for a good ice-queen, I was oh-so-happy with this character and Keeley did an amazing job bringing her to life. This is ice-queen done right. Too often, these types of characters are given one hard ass trait and labelled ice-queen; true ice-queens need to be complicated. I think Keeley needs to write a ‘how to’ on characterizing these beautiful creatures. I’m kinda in love with Victoria a little bit and for the first time in my life I’m really sad I’m not a fictional ballerina vying for her attention. She’d probably ignore me, but at least I’d be in her orbit. :p
Really, though, I can’t add anything special to the reviews that hasn’t already been said. I added this book to my YLVA wishlist a few months ago when it was announced. When the reviews started pouring in, I was even more excited. Admittedly, I was also a little frightened. I didn’t want to get my expectations up so high that I was left disappointed. Good news…despite already having high hopes, my expectations were absolutely surpassed because this book is just that good. I have no hesitations saying stop whatever the hell you're doing (especially if it's just reading my stupid review) and read this book!
While this book was great, amazing even, there were a few moments of my reading session interrupted because I’d have to go back and figure out who was speaking, as it wasn’t made clear who actually started a conversation….so there was some back and forth going on with no indication of speaker. This wasn’t frequent, but it did happen. The good news is, this is really my ONLY complaint for the entire book and I just wanted to get it out of the way before I moved on to the good stuff.
‘The Music and the Mirror’ is written in present tense, which I always find a very beautiful way to tell a story when it’s done right, as it is here. This story is also written from both character’s POV, which gives the reader the opportunity to experience each one falling in love. Since this is a slow burn, we're also given a good amount of time to see how these characters change and grow towards one another when they start off miles apart. In the beginning, it seems impossible, but their journey is spectacular and I was just happy to be along for the ride. This is all really well paced out and I didn’t find myself thinking, ‘just get together already!’ That thought tends to happen frequently with me and slow burns, so compliments to the author.
There is a lot of technical talk, but it doesn’t feel bogged down like we’re being given too much information or reading a manual. I say this because I don't care about ballet, I never have, but that doesn't matter at all because despite my lack of interest in what is a huge piece of this story, it made me care about ballet. Seriously, I feel the need to go buy the first tickets I can to a local theatre. Anyway, all ballet talk is weaved intricately into the development between our two characters and it all feels necessary and important to the storyline. I can’t help but compare this to another lesfic ballet book and I hate to say that (to me) ‘The Music and the Mirror’ was better. I thought the writing was more solid, I thought the storyline was better, and the characters were so amazing that I couldn’t help loving both of them.
As an added bonus, this didn’t feel dumbed down as I often tend to think some romance books can be. This is an intelligently written book with a lot of emotion. I actually almost cried at the damn end…and I never cry while reading books.
Victoria is the quintessential ice-queen and she is lovely. As a sucker for a good ice-queen, I was oh-so-happy with this character and Keeley did an amazing job bringing her to life. This is ice-queen done right. Too often, these types of characters are given one hard ass trait and labelled ice-queen; true ice-queens need to be complicated. I think Keeley needs to write a ‘how to’ on characterizing these beautiful creatures. I’m kinda in love with Victoria a little bit and for the first time in my life I’m really sad I’m not a fictional ballerina vying for her attention. She’d probably ignore me, but at least I’d be in her orbit. :p
Really, though, I can’t add anything special to the reviews that hasn’t already been said. I added this book to my YLVA wishlist a few months ago when it was announced. When the reviews started pouring in, I was even more excited. Admittedly, I was also a little frightened. I didn’t want to get my expectations up so high that I was left disappointed. Good news…despite already having high hopes, my expectations were absolutely surpassed because this book is just that good. I have no hesitations saying stop whatever the hell you're doing (especially if it's just reading my stupid review) and read this book!
December 30, 2018
First off , a huge congratulations and thank you to Ms.Keeley for a job well done on her debut. It is quite impressive as she puts in a lot of effort, not taking any shortcuts, get me to check out ballet performances on You Tube to get a clearer picture and googling the ballet terminology. Authors who are able to make their readers do research willingly while reading their stuffs deserve a certain level of respect.
I love Victoria but I'm in love with Anna. From her first scene, I know that we're going to get along just fine and I'll be joining her fanbase by the 2nd page. Her innocence, generosity and unselfishness are some of her greatest attribute besides being a semi geek - her faith towards Pluto is cute. You'll need to experience the rare beauty that Anna has on your own and I truly wish that you'll be wowed by her characterization too.
I'm reluctant to read this at first, to read all the hardships of workplace politics that Anna has to endure being the chosen one might not work with the wannabe rock band playing inside my head but kudos to Ms.Keeley for not letting such issue takes the center stage. Nepotism never shows its ugly face as Anna earns her spot as a prima fare and square.
Anna and Victoria - It starts off as a working relationship between an eminent mentor and her eager to learn protege then slowly turns into a beautiful love story that interweave with the magical world of ballet from start to finish. Ballet plays an important element in this book and not forgotten once the hs change their relationship status and if you're not a fan and decided to give this story a missed then you're missing out on a good book and a promising author. Give the ballet a chance, fangirl over the ice queen and fall in love with Anna.
I love Victoria but I'm in love with Anna. From her first scene, I know that we're going to get along just fine and I'll be joining her fanbase by the 2nd page. Her innocence, generosity and unselfishness are some of her greatest attribute besides being a semi geek - her faith towards Pluto is cute. You'll need to experience the rare beauty that Anna has on your own and I truly wish that you'll be wowed by her characterization too.
I'm reluctant to read this at first, to read all the hardships of workplace politics that Anna has to endure being the chosen one might not work with the wannabe rock band playing inside my head but kudos to Ms.Keeley for not letting such issue takes the center stage. Nepotism never shows its ugly face as Anna earns her spot as a prima fare and square.
Anna and Victoria - It starts off as a working relationship between an eminent mentor and her eager to learn protege then slowly turns into a beautiful love story that interweave with the magical world of ballet from start to finish. Ballet plays an important element in this book and not forgotten once the hs change their relationship status and if you're not a fan and decided to give this story a missed then you're missing out on a good book and a promising author. Give the ballet a chance, fangirl over the ice queen and fall in love with Anna.
May 30, 2018
This book is in my list of recommended books of the month:
https://lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com/...
"Jump before you are pushed. In love, war and pas de deux"
I feel that my words won't be enough to do justice to this book properly. What a fantastic read and even more so considering that this is a debut novel.
This is the story of Anna, a newbie in a successful dance company, and Victoria, former prima ballerina and its current artistic director. It gives us an insight of the ballet world with its high competition, the physical demands, the threatening of injury looming all the time, the jealousy and egocentric behaviours. Written from the point of view of both main characters, the change of pov flows naturally. Everything is so realistically described that you'd expect a dancer to leap out of the book at any time. Thanks to Ms. Keeley's talent, she depicts ballet without sounding technical, boring or pedantic.
Victoria is the epitome of the British stiff upper lip, ice queen of ballet, in such control of herself that the reader feels her tension like a string about to snap any time. Her sarcastic comments, her strong discipline, even her wardrobe - always dressed in black - gives her an air of inaccessibility. Anna, on the other hand, is much younger, very eager to please, unaware of her incredible talent and friendly to the point of annoying, bringing a breath of fresh air to the dance company. She is almost the complete opposite of Victoria. And boy how opposites attract.
There's a delicious slow thawing of the ice queen, step by step, jump by jump. Victoria's sarcastic renaming of Anna as Annya and gradually accepting Anna in all her honest-to-god self, is a beautiful example of how their relationship evolves. Slowly they copy certain treats of each other, hinting the reader how they are falling in love even before they realise themselves. Their relationship is a huge dancing foreplay, Anna and Victoria's chemistry is off the charts. Their scene in the wardrobe room is in my opinion, one of the hottest ever mastered in lesfic. Just for this brief but incredibly sexy scene this book is worth a read.
Overall, a fantastic debut novel. Highly recommended even if you are not interested in ballet. This book goes straight to my 2018 favourite books. 5+ stars.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
https://lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com/...
"Jump before you are pushed. In love, war and pas de deux"
I feel that my words won't be enough to do justice to this book properly. What a fantastic read and even more so considering that this is a debut novel.
This is the story of Anna, a newbie in a successful dance company, and Victoria, former prima ballerina and its current artistic director. It gives us an insight of the ballet world with its high competition, the physical demands, the threatening of injury looming all the time, the jealousy and egocentric behaviours. Written from the point of view of both main characters, the change of pov flows naturally. Everything is so realistically described that you'd expect a dancer to leap out of the book at any time. Thanks to Ms. Keeley's talent, she depicts ballet without sounding technical, boring or pedantic.
Victoria is the epitome of the British stiff upper lip, ice queen of ballet, in such control of herself that the reader feels her tension like a string about to snap any time. Her sarcastic comments, her strong discipline, even her wardrobe - always dressed in black - gives her an air of inaccessibility. Anna, on the other hand, is much younger, very eager to please, unaware of her incredible talent and friendly to the point of annoying, bringing a breath of fresh air to the dance company. She is almost the complete opposite of Victoria. And boy how opposites attract.
There's a delicious slow thawing of the ice queen, step by step, jump by jump. Victoria's sarcastic renaming of Anna as Annya and gradually accepting Anna in all her honest-to-god self, is a beautiful example of how their relationship evolves. Slowly they copy certain treats of each other, hinting the reader how they are falling in love even before they realise themselves. Their relationship is a huge dancing foreplay, Anna and Victoria's chemistry is off the charts. Their scene in the wardrobe room is in my opinion, one of the hottest ever mastered in lesfic. Just for this brief but incredibly sexy scene this book is worth a read.
Overall, a fantastic debut novel. Highly recommended even if you are not interested in ballet. This book goes straight to my 2018 favourite books. 5+ stars.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com
February 20, 2019
This is my second read. I guess I didn't review this the first time through.
Not much to say except... PERFECTION.
Not much to say except... PERFECTION.
October 31, 2020
I can't believe it took me this long to read a book that so many people have raved about.
It lived up to all the hype, and now I'm on to read more by Lola Keeley.
This is potentially the best ice queen book I've ever read.
Highly recommended.
It lived up to all the hype, and now I'm on to read more by Lola Keeley.
This is potentially the best ice queen book I've ever read.
Highly recommended.
March 11, 2023
18/09/2020: So breathtakingly beautiful! Just wow! Bravo! I don’t understand much about ballet but I appreciate it a lot and this book really took my breath away. Sometimes I felt as if I could envision them dancing and it made me want to see a live show. Really beautiful.
I also loved both main characters a lot. Both very mature. Not to mention their intense chemistry, Victoria and Anna’s chemistry and relationship is one of the best I’ve seen in a book. The way they communicated all the time and didn’t shy away from important conversations. That was truly amazing! That’s how one avoids unnecessary angst 👏🏻🙌🏻
I did cry a lot towards the end when Victoria went to Paris and Anna stayed in the states. I’m not gonna lie, that hurt like hell! And I was lowkey scared for a moment since the book was almost ending and they were still apart. But thank god! They got their happy ending and so did we. Phew. I felt like I could breathe again in the end.
I 100% recommend this masterpiece! So brilliantly written and so spectacular. Lola Keeley did THAT 😍
18/09/2021 (reread): Decided to listen to the audiobook version and just wow! Bless the narrator!! Victoria’s voice was just as authoritative as I had imagined. Anna’s seemed a little too innocent and childish, but it was something easily overlooked and I could enjoy the whole story just like the first time. This book is amazing! I’ll prolly be rereading it again next year 😂
05/08/2022 (reread): I think it��s pretty clear that I’m going to be reading this book once a year 😂 It’s just so damn good and I can’t get enough of it and it just keeps on getting better and better every time I reread it 🥰 So so good!
11/03/2023 (reread): I’ve finally decided that this is definitely my favorite book ever!! I keep coming back to it and I enjoy it even more every single time! It’s just perfect! Every little detail, perfection! If I could hug a book and never let go, it would be this one. BRAVO!! And the audiobook is just chef’s kiss!!
I also loved both main characters a lot. Both very mature. Not to mention their intense chemistry, Victoria and Anna’s chemistry and relationship is one of the best I’ve seen in a book. The way they communicated all the time and didn’t shy away from important conversations. That was truly amazing! That’s how one avoids unnecessary angst 👏🏻🙌🏻
I did cry a lot towards the end when Victoria went to Paris and Anna stayed in the states. I’m not gonna lie, that hurt like hell! And I was lowkey scared for a moment since the book was almost ending and they were still apart. But thank god! They got their happy ending and so did we. Phew. I felt like I could breathe again in the end.
I 100% recommend this masterpiece! So brilliantly written and so spectacular. Lola Keeley did THAT 😍
18/09/2021 (reread): Decided to listen to the audiobook version and just wow! Bless the narrator!! Victoria’s voice was just as authoritative as I had imagined. Anna’s seemed a little too innocent and childish, but it was something easily overlooked and I could enjoy the whole story just like the first time. This book is amazing! I’ll prolly be rereading it again next year 😂
05/08/2022 (reread): I think it��s pretty clear that I’m going to be reading this book once a year 😂 It’s just so damn good and I can’t get enough of it and it just keeps on getting better and better every time I reread it 🥰 So so good!
11/03/2023 (reread): I’ve finally decided that this is definitely my favorite book ever!! I keep coming back to it and I enjoy it even more every single time! It’s just perfect! Every little detail, perfection! If I could hug a book and never let go, it would be this one. BRAVO!! And the audiobook is just chef’s kiss!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2018
This is a fantastic story, I barely could put down the book, and I was angry when I had to go for work. :-)
This story has it all, a wonderful slow burning love story between the Ice queen Victoria and the newest member at the elite ballet company Victoria is working for, Anna. The former Queen of Dance, Victoria, is Anna’s idol since childhood. But Anna's first meeting with Victoria wasn't going how she has imagined it. Also there is some drama with injuries and rivalry between the dancers and some jealousy too.
Every part of this book was created fantastic. First the main characters were amazing, the contrast couldn’t be much greater. The bitchy ice queen and the endearing Anna, who just wants to see the best in everyone. There were great dialogues, especially between Anna and Victoria and how they act in private or as director and dancer. Then there were the exciting scenes from the ballet rehearsals and the performances. I played handball and soccer, so ballet wasn’t my sport, but Keely had me spellbound with her narrative about ballet. And finally there are some great secondary characters, which the author has woven perfectly into the story.
Lola Keeley you did a fantastic job, I will reread this story more than once. And I will visit the next ballet performance in my home town.
My rating 5 stars.
Thanks to Ylva for receiving an ARC for a honest review.
This story has it all, a wonderful slow burning love story between the Ice queen Victoria and the newest member at the elite ballet company Victoria is working for, Anna. The former Queen of Dance, Victoria, is Anna’s idol since childhood. But Anna's first meeting with Victoria wasn't going how she has imagined it. Also there is some drama with injuries and rivalry between the dancers and some jealousy too.
Every part of this book was created fantastic. First the main characters were amazing, the contrast couldn’t be much greater. The bitchy ice queen and the endearing Anna, who just wants to see the best in everyone. There were great dialogues, especially between Anna and Victoria and how they act in private or as director and dancer. Then there were the exciting scenes from the ballet rehearsals and the performances. I played handball and soccer, so ballet wasn’t my sport, but Keely had me spellbound with her narrative about ballet. And finally there are some great secondary characters, which the author has woven perfectly into the story.
Lola Keeley you did a fantastic job, I will reread this story more than once. And I will visit the next ballet performance in my home town.
My rating 5 stars.
Thanks to Ylva for receiving an ARC for a honest review.
April 20, 2018
I don’t get it. I really don’t get the attraction to an art form that leaves its female participants with this level of injury, deformity, eating disorders and a reliance on pain medication. In my head, it’s not far off the old Chinese practice of foot binding and the African practice of female circumcision. Okay, so maybe that’s taking it a bit far. I don’t understand why someone would not feed their body enough to create the muscle required to support their skeletal structure and then expect it to perform unrelenting, strenuous routines to perfection. Then when I watch ballet I expect to see incredibly beautiful fluid movements, and I do, but it’s from the male dancers. The men fly unrestrained without bound, wooden feet while the women do this weird tippy-toe shit.
Times are changing and there is a greater body and ethnic diversity among ballet dancers and Balanchine’s long-necked, long-legged, short-bodied waif look is not nearly as prevalent as it was. I, however, still don’t really appreciate the discipline. Given that this is my view of ballet, you wouldn’t expect a terrible high rating from me for a book where the focus is a love story in the ballet world.
I enjoyed it. I didn’t expect to but I did. Anna, with her openness and honesty is hard not to like. Victoria’s aloofness and evident physical pain makes for an engaging lead character. The descriptions of the grueling rehearsals and the repetitions of steps had me so intrigued that I googled the Kitri dance from Don Quixote that Anna was to perform for the schmooze session. I watched a number of variations from the world’s best ballerinas and I was left disappointed. I stopped watching because Keeley’s descriptions were so much more powerful and created a much better movie inside my head than the actual dance did.
There were parts where I found the story a little bit slow and moments where there wasn’t enough tension between Anna and Victoria but they didn’t deter me from reading further. I think my dislike of ballet did prevent me from becoming totally invested in the story and its characters. I’m also disappointed that I didn’t get the mind-blowing experience that so many readers got from this novel.
Three and a half stars rounded up.
Book received from Ylva Publishing for an honest review.
Times are changing and there is a greater body and ethnic diversity among ballet dancers and Balanchine’s long-necked, long-legged, short-bodied waif look is not nearly as prevalent as it was. I, however, still don’t really appreciate the discipline. Given that this is my view of ballet, you wouldn’t expect a terrible high rating from me for a book where the focus is a love story in the ballet world.
I enjoyed it. I didn’t expect to but I did. Anna, with her openness and honesty is hard not to like. Victoria’s aloofness and evident physical pain makes for an engaging lead character. The descriptions of the grueling rehearsals and the repetitions of steps had me so intrigued that I googled the Kitri dance from Don Quixote that Anna was to perform for the schmooze session. I watched a number of variations from the world’s best ballerinas and I was left disappointed. I stopped watching because Keeley’s descriptions were so much more powerful and created a much better movie inside my head than the actual dance did.
There were parts where I found the story a little bit slow and moments where there wasn’t enough tension between Anna and Victoria but they didn’t deter me from reading further. I think my dislike of ballet did prevent me from becoming totally invested in the story and its characters. I’m also disappointed that I didn’t get the mind-blowing experience that so many readers got from this novel.
Three and a half stars rounded up.
Book received from Ylva Publishing for an honest review.
April 11, 2018
I could read this twice in a row and still can't get enough of it. Gosh, I swear this is my best read on 2018 yet. Not even the new released Amazonian's sequel can beat it.
May 28, 2024
2.5 stars.
The ice queen didn’t work for me here. This felt like hero worship and just seemed very toxic to me.
The ice queen didn’t work for me here. This felt like hero worship and just seemed very toxic to me.
August 27, 2021
This book is PERFECTION. It's absolutely going on my list of all time favorites. Victoria Ford might be the iciest ice queen I've ever read, and that's saying something. She and Anna were the perfect foils for each other, and their chemistry together was off the charts. I could not put this one down. There wasn't a single dull moment in the whole book, and the prose are just stunning. If you haven't read this one yet, bump it to the top of your list!
April 9, 2018
Wow! I devoured this book. Couldn’t put it down, stayed awake much too late and my Monday brain hates me for it. A bargain book too since you get a LOT of book to read and will probably reread. Some may think it was too long, but I always think the really long books that I really enjoy are bargains. They entertain for hours and make you feel satisfied. This book does that. It satisfies. The chemistry between Anna and Victoria is hot. Don’t let the beginning of the book fool you. At first you are unsure how someone so warm can fall for someone so cold… but together it is fantastic. I thought Keeley wrote not only great mains, but her secondary characters were likeable and well placed. I could read separate books for several other characters mentioned in this book. The book was so well written… are we sure Keeley hasn’t been published before? Are there other secret books out there I am unaware of? This book is five stars all day long.
July 16, 2019
I had really high expectations after reading so many positive reviews, and I have to say I wasn't let down! The writing is great. It's smooth, it flows well and it really pulls you in the story. I love Victoria. By now, you all know I have a weakness when it comes to ice queens, and Victoria is definitely an ice queen. I love how there isn't any breakup drama between Anna and Victoria, that was very refreshing, especially when an ice queen is involved. I'm not really into ballet, but I do enjoy to read about it, and my heart broke when Victoria and Irina talked about a dancer's first death. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It's not a bad ending and it's a happy one, but it left me unsatisfied. That said, I can hardly believe this is a debut novel. It's almost perfect. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
April 18, 2018
I'm not a fan of ballet and maybe this has colored my point of view, but in contrast to the general opinion of my friends here I find this book good. Not great or exceptional, but good. Nevertheless I enjoyed learning a little bit about the world of the dance and the ballet.
November 16, 2018
What is it that stops me giving it 5*? I enjoyed it though it was slow at times - it's one of those books where retrospectively I love the story, but found the reading of it at times hard going. I'll certainly look out for more by her.
April 20, 2018
As Mr. Burns would say, "Exxxcceelllllent". I'm just going to refer everyone to all of the awesome reviews that have already been provided on this book and just add a big, fat "DITTO!"
July 22, 2018
Amazing and wonderful book. Five stars!
January 10, 2019
So glad I picked this book to read next because I needed an antidote to the dark mood my last book put me in.
Young, fresh faced ballerina gets professionally and romantically involved with her idol, a former Prima ballerina.
So, so many people gushed over this one, the book of 2018, that I bumped it to read now. No rehash but I will say that two things stuck out for me, one was how I’ve found myself days later re-examining certain moments in the book and what they might mean, picking certain scenes to relive in my mind because this one is not a one and done book. The other was the multifaceted character development—layers, shadows, off kilter flaws, distinct word choices in dialogue, telling descriptions and key gestures. I was almost giddy at the way the author had other characters react to Anna and Victoria, a different perspective that added incredible depth.
And not to cheapen the moment but there’s something to be said about very nimble, athletic women.
Thank you everyone for always recommending great books.
Young, fresh faced ballerina gets professionally and romantically involved with her idol, a former Prima ballerina.
So, so many people gushed over this one, the book of 2018, that I bumped it to read now. No rehash but I will say that two things stuck out for me, one was how I’ve found myself days later re-examining certain moments in the book and what they might mean, picking certain scenes to relive in my mind because this one is not a one and done book. The other was the multifaceted character development—layers, shadows, off kilter flaws, distinct word choices in dialogue, telling descriptions and key gestures. I was almost giddy at the way the author had other characters react to Anna and Victoria, a different perspective that added incredible depth.
And not to cheapen the moment but there’s something to be said about very nimble, athletic women.
Thank you everyone for always recommending great books.
May 27, 2018
I was completly in love with the book ! It is amazing how Lola Keeley built this chemistry between Anna and Victoria from the beginning to the end. How the bodies express themself, how important and how symbolic it takes place in this book. The heat is there but so the passion is. She describs a strong and amazing world that is ballet, where her protagonists take place. Authenticity is the word to admire the work in this book. Not only for the personnality of Victoria (and Victoria's ego), but also the terms that she used, taking a little bit of french here. I specially loved how Lola Keeley is true to her characters, filing all the angle of the relation with Victoria and Anna. Passion and ambition I recommand strongly to read this book .
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