Review: Older YA novel about dance + some difficult issues.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2013
(Source: Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk)15-year-old Elena is starting school at Montacrue Performing Arts School, a prestigious dance and drama school in New York. This is something that Elena has dreamed about for a long time, and she's determined to make a success of herself.Although the school is new to her though, she does have one friend starting with her - Sebastian, who's been her best friend for two years and knows her better than anyone else.Elena really wants to concentrate on her grades and her dancing and acting, but she doesn't bank on meeting Jay, who she instantly is attracted to.The problem is that Jay is the resident mean-girl's brother, and Letitia is not happy about Elena dating her brother.Who will be most successful and get the leads in the school plays though? Can Elena and Jay really make a relationship work with Letitia's incessant interfering? And does Sebastian really only think of Elena as a friend?This was a pretty typical high-school story, with mean girls, cute boys, and of course - a love triangle. The difference is that Montacrue is a dance and drama school, so there was a large dose of acting and dancing, competitions, and theatre productions thrown in.Elena was really into her dancing and acting, and really went the extra mile to try and be the best, even when what she was doing took her out of her comfort zone. Elena was also not afraid to stand up for herself, and I liked that she protested when Jay was pressurising her to have sex with him.Jay was quite honestly my least favourite character in this book. He started off seeming like a real sweetheart, but quickly began acting like an absolute poo-head, and pressurising Elena to do stuff she didn't want to do. When something bad then happened to him, I felt a little sorry for Elena, but really didn't feel sorry for him.Sebastian and Elena's other friends all had their own little quirks, although Elena was pretty blind to the fact that Seb had feelings for her.There were also several difficult issues dealt with in this book - underage/unprotected sex, and drugs and alcohol misuse. Although these issues are balanced out by the joy Elena felt whilst dancing and acting.Overall; older teens YA novel, about dancing, as well as some more difficult subjects.6.5 out of 10.