Sona Charaipotra
Author of Tiny Pretty Things
Series
Works by Sona Charaipotra
Prognosis: Love & Death 1 copy
Rumor Game 1 copy
Associated Works
Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America (2018) — Contributor — 169 copies, 1 review
Come On In: 15 Stories about Immigration and Finding Home (2020) — Contributor — 138 copies, 6 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Education
- New York University (Masters|screenwriting)
New School (MFA|creative writing) - Occupations
- writer
journalist - Organizations
- CAKE Literary
We Need Diverse Books - Short biography
- The author of the YA doc dramedy Symptoms of a Heartbreak, Sona Charaipotra is not a doctor — much to her pediatrician parents’ chagrin. They were really hoping she’d grow up to take over their practice one day. Instead, she became a writer, working as a celebrity reporter at People and (the dearly departed) TeenPeople magazines, and contributing to publications from the New York Times to TeenVogue. These days, she uses her Masters in screenwriting from NYU and her MFA in creative writing from the New School to poke plot holes in her favorite teen TV shows, like Riverdale — for work, of course. She’s the co-founder of CAKE Literary, a boutique book packaging company with a decidedly diverse bent, and the co-author (with Dhonielle Clayton) of the YA dance dramas Tiny Pretty Things and Shiny Broken Pieces, as well as the upcoming psychological thriller The Rumor Game. She’s a proud We Need Diverse Books team member. [from her website, retrieved 9/12/18]
- Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
This was everything I wanted it to be! I loved the sabotage and the mystery surrounding it. It added this thick tension to the story that had you craving more. But the characters really make this. I had so many feelings and thoughts about each lead. I loved their character stories filled with gossip, weaknesses and strengths. I have my theories about what will happen next but I'm so excited to start book 2 tonight!
Although I found this novel a tad slow, overall, I quite enjoyed following the drama and competitiveness that occurs in a ballet boarding school. The cast was diverse, which I appreciated, and the novel dealt with some serious issues.
Narrated by three girls, Bette was determined to be the school's prima ballerina, Gigi was the newbie with a serious heart condition while June resorted to starvation and purging to stay slim. They battled against each other to win the lead role in each ballet show more performance and were quite vicious in their determination to be the star. From the start there was a huge amount of back-stabbing going on which made the three girls unlikeable. There was definitely no love loss between them! Drama, ruthlessness, sabotage, romance and secrets abounded.
While I wasn't enthralled with the characters, I did enjoy the setting with all its dance references and the ugliness behind the beauty of a ballet performance. Dark, gritty and full of drama, "Tiny Pretty Things" was an entertaining read. show less
Narrated by three girls, Bette was determined to be the school's prima ballerina, Gigi was the newbie with a serious heart condition while June resorted to starvation and purging to stay slim. They battled against each other to win the lead role in each ballet show more performance and were quite vicious in their determination to be the star. From the start there was a huge amount of back-stabbing going on which made the three girls unlikeable. There was definitely no love loss between them! Drama, ruthlessness, sabotage, romance and secrets abounded.
While I wasn't enthralled with the characters, I did enjoy the setting with all its dance references and the ugliness behind the beauty of a ballet performance. Dark, gritty and full of drama, "Tiny Pretty Things" was an entertaining read. show less
I enjoyed this sequel more than the first book.
While there’s still plenty of backstabbing and downright evilness in this one for those seeking melodrama, I felt like there was more focus on ballet than in Tiny Pretty Things. I don’t know if that’s actually the case, but it certainly seemed to me like the authors showed more of the training, the rehearsals, the auditions, etc., which really appealed to me. Ballet is the reason I picked up these books in the first place, to get a glimpse show more of the grueling work and dedication that goes into this beautifully difficult profession.
Gigi and Bette were pushed/chose different roads than they’d been on in the first book and ultimately both characters developed more depth as the story progressed, adding more flaws to Gigi and a little less self-absorption to Bette made both of them more complex and unpredictable.
As for E-Jun, her eating disorder, her drive to become a ballerina, her romance, her relationship with her mom and lack thereof with her father, and the feud with her former best friend, all of it escalated at once in emotional and compelling ways, and this may sound odd, but I liked that the ending for her story left me feeling uneasy, both cheering for her and worried, I liked that there’s hope yet at the same time the book makes no promises when it comes to her problems, that seems realistic.
I don’t know if there are plans for a third book, but the endings for all the characters certainly leave open the possibility and although I still feel like there’s work to be done as far as crafting interesting male characters, the females grew enough here that I’d be eager to see where their stories go as new adults in the ballet world. show less
While there’s still plenty of backstabbing and downright evilness in this one for those seeking melodrama, I felt like there was more focus on ballet than in Tiny Pretty Things. I don’t know if that’s actually the case, but it certainly seemed to me like the authors showed more of the training, the rehearsals, the auditions, etc., which really appealed to me. Ballet is the reason I picked up these books in the first place, to get a glimpse show more of the grueling work and dedication that goes into this beautifully difficult profession.
Gigi and Bette were pushed/chose different roads than they’d been on in the first book and ultimately both characters developed more depth as the story progressed, adding more flaws to Gigi and a little less self-absorption to Bette made both of them more complex and unpredictable.
As for E-Jun, her eating disorder, her drive to become a ballerina, her romance, her relationship with her mom and lack thereof with her father, and the feud with her former best friend, all of it escalated at once in emotional and compelling ways, and this may sound odd, but I liked that the ending for her story left me feeling uneasy, both cheering for her and worried, I liked that there’s hope yet at the same time the book makes no promises when it comes to her problems, that seems realistic.
I don’t know if there are plans for a third book, but the endings for all the characters certainly leave open the possibility and although I still feel like there’s work to be done as far as crafting interesting male characters, the females grew enough here that I’d be eager to see where their stories go as new adults in the ballet world. show less
A page-turner though it went a bit overboard on characters behaving badly.
Gigi, who is black and therefore unexpectedly on a rapid rise through the ranks at a ballet academy that traditionally reserves lead roles for the whitest of dancers, she’s the main target of bullying and the easiest character to like since she really does try to be kind and tries to make friends, and her affinity for nature was a refreshing change from stereotypical teen interests like fashion, partying, etc. show more Really the only thing you could fault this girl for is taking up with a guy before he’s officially ended his relationship with someone else. I wasn’t really a fan of that romance, with so many characters doing devious things it made it difficult to trust Alec enough to buy into his sincerity where Gigi was concerned. Actually none of the romances (if you could even call some of them that), really worked for me.
June is half-Korean and though she’s watching her black roommate cement herself in the spotlight, June is still left feeling like she has to work a thousand times harder and eat a whole lot less to truly be seen and get the opportunities her white contemporaries receive. June has a tendency to be cold and cutting and does some awful things, but in showing us her eating disorder, the strained relationship with her mother, the longing to know who her father is, the rejection and taunting from a former friend, the authors did a really great job of illustrating why this girl is the way she is so you could have empathy for her even as she sometimes behaves in ways you wish she wouldn’t.
Then there’s Bette, who is white and blonde, the once ideal for a ballerina who’s suddenly rejected by her teachers, rejected by her boyfriend, she’s extremely self-absorbed all but ignoring the things her so-called friends are going through because she’s too busy feeling sorry for herself and tormenting a fellow ballerina. But as with June, while you might not be able to declare Bette entirely likable, the uncomfortable encounters with Henri and the glimpses of the way she’s treated by her mother, particularly regarding her knee, gives you an understanding of this girl and so there are moments where I definitely felt for her.
I don’t doubt that the bullying featured here is to some degree accurate given how few placements there are in dance schools and companies, like in any other highly competitive situation there probably is a certain amount of sabotage, cruelty, and even criminality, but surely there are some genuine friendships in the dance world, aren’t there? To me, it just felt like the balance was a bit off, leaning so relentlessly into bad behavior gave the book a somewhat unreal quality that maybe could have been helped by a few more instances of showing girls supporting one another. show less
Gigi, who is black and therefore unexpectedly on a rapid rise through the ranks at a ballet academy that traditionally reserves lead roles for the whitest of dancers, she’s the main target of bullying and the easiest character to like since she really does try to be kind and tries to make friends, and her affinity for nature was a refreshing change from stereotypical teen interests like fashion, partying, etc. show more Really the only thing you could fault this girl for is taking up with a guy before he’s officially ended his relationship with someone else. I wasn’t really a fan of that romance, with so many characters doing devious things it made it difficult to trust Alec enough to buy into his sincerity where Gigi was concerned. Actually none of the romances (if you could even call some of them that), really worked for me.
June is half-Korean and though she’s watching her black roommate cement herself in the spotlight, June is still left feeling like she has to work a thousand times harder and eat a whole lot less to truly be seen and get the opportunities her white contemporaries receive. June has a tendency to be cold and cutting and does some awful things, but in showing us her eating disorder, the strained relationship with her mother, the longing to know who her father is, the rejection and taunting from a former friend, the authors did a really great job of illustrating why this girl is the way she is so you could have empathy for her even as she sometimes behaves in ways you wish she wouldn’t.
Then there’s Bette, who is white and blonde, the once ideal for a ballerina who’s suddenly rejected by her teachers, rejected by her boyfriend, she’s extremely self-absorbed all but ignoring the things her so-called friends are going through because she’s too busy feeling sorry for herself and tormenting a fellow ballerina. But as with June, while you might not be able to declare Bette entirely likable, the uncomfortable encounters with Henri and the glimpses of the way she’s treated by her mother, particularly regarding her knee, gives you an understanding of this girl and so there are moments where I definitely felt for her.
I don’t doubt that the bullying featured here is to some degree accurate given how few placements there are in dance schools and companies, like in any other highly competitive situation there probably is a certain amount of sabotage, cruelty, and even criminality, but surely there are some genuine friendships in the dance world, aren’t there? To me, it just felt like the balance was a bit off, leaning so relentlessly into bad behavior gave the book a somewhat unreal quality that maybe could have been helped by a few more instances of showing girls supporting one another. show less
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 11
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 1,116
- Popularity
- #23,017
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 35
- ISBNs
- 53
- Languages
- 5