Shiny Broken Pieces

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 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 show more 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

So here we are again, following the vindictive and somewhat sociopathic students at the American Ballet Company. This time, in “Shiny Broken Pieces”, it’s basically senior year and the stakes are higher than ever!!! Which means that, one would think, shit is about to get real, dramatics wise! And maybe we’ll get some answers regarding what happened at the end of the previous book, “Tiny Pretty Things”. Like, who killed Gigi’s butterflies? Who put glass in her shoe? Who shoved her in front of a taxi in hopes that she would be injured for life? We get some answers to all those questions and more. But I’m sorry to say that this sequel didn’t quite live up to the amazingness of the original.

But let’s start at the show more beginning and start with the good. Also, there are going to be spoilers for this book, because some of my issues are about certain plot points and plot twists.

I really liked that in “Shiny Broken Pieces”, Charaipotra and Clayton were perfectly comfortable exploring and expanding all of their characters to make them even more well rounded and interesting. I think that it’s a pretty brave move to take favorites and lovable characters from the first book and make them more flawed and potentially unlikable in this one, if only to make the point that damaged people can do crappy things, and that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily evil. I’m talking, specifically, about Gigi. Gigi went through some terrible crap in this first book, no doubt about it. From racism thrown her way to injuries caused by others, Gigi is angry, and rightfully so. But in her anger, she starts to lose herself and starts to make the shift from damaged, to broken, and I believe there is a distinct difference. Now we are worried that she is going to turn into a monster, much like Bette was in the first book. And Bette, too, went through some serious changes through the pain that she suffered in the first one. She’s still entitled and snooty, but in this book you see her trying to find her redemption, and the strengths of her character are drawn out and put on display. These girls, the protagonist and the antagonist, get to grow and show that they are just people, and people make mistakes. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t find atonement.

And the dramatics were back in this one, though the ante has been upped and it’s far more life or death for some of the characters. Now that Cassie, one of Bette’s victims from the first story, is back, things start to get especially gruesome at school. From peanut allergies being weaponized to trap doors opening unexpectedly, we do get a dose of the soapy thrills from the first book. But we also get some realistic conflict that maybe and every day teen could have to face. June, for example, is facing the potential of making a choice about her future. She wants to dance, but isn’t sure that she has what it takes to do so. Her eating disorder is running away with her, and many ballet companies won’t take on a girl who could be a liability in that way. Plus, she has her boyfriend now, who wants her to got NYU with him. June has to decide between a potentially unattainable/destructive dream, and a stable and loving but possibly unfulfilling future.

But now we come to the big problem I had with “Shiny Broken Pieces”, and this is where the big spoiler guns come out. So in this book, we find out who did some of the most heinous things to Gigi in the previous book: Will is the one who pushed her in front of the car. Sei-jin is the one who put glass in her ballet shoes. And Henri, who is Cassie’s boyfriend, seduced Will and influenced him to push Gigi in the first place as part of a grand scheme to solidify Cassie’s spot as top dog when she returned to school. So, a gay character, a lesbian character, and a bi-sexual (heavily implied) character were the ones who committed the violent acts against Gigi. And they are the only representations of LGBT characters in this book.

So let me say right now that as a theoretical debate, I don’t really have a problem with characters from marginalized groups being the villains in stories in general. I think that villains can be from all backgrounds and that a well rounded villainous character is a good thing in a lot of stories. I think that equity and representation can extend to antagonists as well as protagonists. HOWEVER, I think that it’s irresponsible to do this if that is the only representation of that group within the narrative. And I think that it’s irresponsible if all of the characters from a marginalized group are antagonists. So for EVERY LGBT character in this book to have done something REALLY terrible (and gosh, Henri really just kind of fit into the ‘evil and untrustworthy bisexual’ trope in all ways, looking back at it), it didn’t sit well. And yes, people like Bette, June, and Gigi also did really terrible things as the story went on as well. But at least Bette, June, and Gigi all had perspective chapters so that we could see into their motivations and into their trains of thoughts. We may have some implied moments for Will and Sei-jin, but because we don’t get their own personal sides to their stories, they definitely come off as two dimensional caricatures with very little, or no redemption. Which isn’t great. These books are awesome when it comes to portrayals of racial diversity, no doubt. But I was very frustrated with the LGBT portrayals.

And finally, the audiobook might not have been the best choice for reading this book. I did it because my stack was so high, but the narrators for the three characters were pretty lackluster. There wasn’t much consistency between them and the accents they gave some characters, and none of them were particularly emphatic or lively. It felt more like they were reading a book, and I think that audiobook narrators really need to embody the book. I wonder if I would have been a bit more forgiving of some of the problems I had with this book (excluding the LGBT representation) if I had read this book in print.

So overall, I think that “Shiny Broken Pieces” was a solid follow up to “Tiny Pretty Things” with a fairly satisfactory ending. But the caveats to that kind of overshadowed how good it could have been. show less

"Better, faster, stronger, payback"

What a fabulous ending. Truly, in the theme of the series - we got to see the ugliest side of everyone. The twist and turns - the plots and revenge. This last year in the dancer's lives were all about change. And this last year defined each of them - as it was the final person they were when they auditioned for the final step - The Ballet Company. Only 2 girls and 2 boys go each year - and the year before there wasn't enough talent and no one went. It's a tough audition and the final move into the ballet world. Or, if you don't make it, possibly your final move out.

It was interesting, adding Cassie into the mix and finding out all the things they had done to each other before Gigi got there. And the show more final moves, the final antics are both horrifying and frightening. But it's interesting to read how they all go through it - some of them for the better, many for the worst. I like how everyone ended up and the hope that it left behind.This was a great conclusion. show less

Fieldnotes:
American Ballet Conservatory (in NYC), Contemporary (p. 2016)

3 POV characters
2 Coveted Apprenticeships with the Company
Swan Lake

1 Personality Swap
1 Very Mean Girl Amongst a Sea of Mean Girls
Countless High-Stakes "Pranks" Involving Danger/Injury
1 Fairly Obvious Puppet Master/Culprit

1 *Very* Inappropriate "Relationship"
1 Eating Disorder
1 Suicide Attempt

1 Rather Abrupt Ending that is Sort of Happy, I Guess?

The Short Version
I picked this up because I read the first one several years ago and wanted to know what happened next. I haven't reread it recently, but did watch the super-drama-filled Netflix show based (loosely) on it.

I love a book set in the dance world and I don't mind some drama, but I prefer a character or two that I show more can like / root for. Everybody in these books is pretty horrible to basically everyone else. Maybe it was just because I hadn't re-read Tiny Pretty Things, but I felt like there wasn't a ton of actual story - just ever-escalating drama. A quick read that entertained to start me off, but not one I need to keep. I think the show will give me enough flavor if I ever feel the need to pick this up again. show less

We learn immediately how Gigi fared after her attack and who is accused. While she survived, she’s not the same trusting girl she used to be. She might even be out for revenge.

There are new dramas, more backstabbing and new “bad guys” in this novel. It’s a similar concept to the first one though. So, once the original dramas from the first book are explained, the same types of things happen in this book.

So, still entertaining but less fresh than the first story. I also kind of missed having an entirely likable character like Gigi was in the first book. That said, there’s still Alec. There’s still someone staying out of the game.

Getting more in depth on all the girls is an awesome part of the book, the thriller aspect (who did it!) was a storyline that I adored - I feel bad for the girls, I get dancing is your life but for your life to spiral like it has for some is upsetting to read - secondary characters from book 1 were more prominent in this one too, what a time

Ballet. Diverse cast. Writing that moved like dancers. Drama filled, issue filled, but satisfying in the end. One of my faves of 2016!