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Speak meets Black Swan in this stunningly dramatic debut novelAll that drama, plus pointe shoes? Yes, please: this is one book that’s bound to make a splashTheo is better now.She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor. Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Speak (August 4, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 014751441X
ISBN-13: 978-0147514417
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #141,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #14 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Performing Arts > Dance #45 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Sexual Abuse #93 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Depression & Mental Illness
The first thing I want to start with is a trigger warning. This book contains vivid depictions of sexual assault, pedophilia, and rape. If any of these are triggering for you, this book will be difficult for you to read. It is a truly beautiful, brilliant book but it was very emotionally draining and difficult to read.I first heard about Pointe a few months ago and my interest was piqued because of the backdrop of ballet, but my first impression was that there were so many things for the author to juggle. It seemed impossible for me that Theo’s life could be presented in a natural way. I was wrong. Though hers was a quiet voice, after a bit of reading, Theo’s voice settled over me and I became fully engaged with her story.The setting of Pointe reminded me so much of my own upbringing, in suburban Chicago in a mostly white neighborhood. There was one vivid recollection of Theo in middle school during a lesson on the Civil Rights Movement where the teacher singled Theo out because she was black. I’ve never felt so connected with a setting in a book before, especially as Theo would take the train into the city (as I did all throughout high school). It was just very well done for me.The reading experience of Pointe was similar to my first time reading Wintergirls, because although I love both books and would absolutely recommend them, they were difficult reads. With Pointe I made the decision to finish it within two days because it wasn’t an experience I wanted to draw out. There were beautiful scenes in this book, but also scenes that made me shake with sorrow and anger. What Pointe executes perfectly is making the reader truly understand how and why victims can blame themselves and be so groomed by a predator.
Grade: A-POINTE was not the book I expected, after perusing the blurb. It was so much less and so much more.Seventeen-year-old Theo dreams of a future career as a prima ballerina, a rarity for black girls. The last to talk to her best friend Donovan before he disappeared four years ago, she's all but given up hope of seeing him alive. But now he's back and not talking. To anyone. And she knows his alleged kidnapper, more well than anyone could imagine. She knew him as Trent, her eighteen year old secret boyfriend. Now Theo knows his real name I'd Chris and he's really thirty-years-old. And Donovan was found with him two-thousand miles away. But Donovan wasn't kept tied up in a basement. He could have gotten away. Maybe he ran away to be with Trent/Chris. Maybe Chris was cheating on her with Donovan. Now Theo is being asked to testify against her ex-boyfriend, for kidnapping her best friend and she's not sure what to do. If only she could talk to Donovan. But he's holed up in his house. Not talking to anyone.Theo has a lot of problems and more layers than most people, let alone novel characters. Brandy Colbert gives her main character so much depth, I felt like Theo was real. An ambitious dancer, competitive, but not brutally do, imperfectly recovering from anorexia, the only black girl in her dance troupe and school, convinced she's still in love with her ex "boyfriend", sometimes dishonest daughter of two loving parents, cheating secretly with a drug dealer who already has a girlfriend--Theo is dealing with more than most. Sometimes I wanted to grab her and tell her she deserved better, most times I wanted to hug her tight and tell her Trent/Chris wasn't her boyfriend, he was her rapist.
The Perfect Pointe Book: All you need to get on pointe, stay on pointe and be the very best dancer you can be! Pointe Shoes for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know About Pointe Shoes Up to This Pointe Pointe The Pointe Book: Shoes, Training, Technique Pointe Shoes, Tips and Tricks: For Choosing, Tuning, Care (Ballet) The Perfect Pointe Parent's Manual Rebel on Pointe: A Memoir of Ballet and Broadway
