I have to say that while I found parts of the story interesting, other parts left me completely underwhelmed.
I really wanted to like this one. Initially it grabbed me, and I found myself quickly turning pages. I liked the Chinese culture and I really thought that Charlie was a character that I could root for. Unfortunately, all of the Chinese medical treatment descriptions and her sister Lisa's "mysterious" health condition (which I had figured out way before the author finally decided to reveal it) really bogged the story down. It grew to be quite repetitive. Charlie's father was definitely a character that could use a good slap too, with his constant refusal to get his daughter the true help that she needed.
The actual dancing part of the story was what originally drew me to the book. I really felt like the author dropped the ball here. It seemed to me like someone who really doesn't know a lot about dancing decided to write a book about dancing. She left large gaps in between each of Charlie's developmental stages, and left the reader to somehow believe that Charlie, who starts out the book as a dishwasher, can just magically become a competition level dancer who is good enough to give dancing lessons. Sorry, but I couldn't buy that. The author did a lot more telling than showing.
The other part of the story that was a let-down for me was in the relationship between Charlie and Ryan. We are led to believe that there is a great chemistry between them that also shows up in their dancing. Nope. It just didn't come across for me.
The ending of the book was also a bit odd. Suddenly Charlie's father does a 180 turn-around, and then everything gets tied up into a pretty little predictable bow. Then the author chooses a very odd place to just stop writing. I kept trying to turn the page to see if there was any more, but alas... no.
So, unfortunately, for me this book was just a slightly below-average read.
(I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
I really wanted to like this one. Initially it grabbed me, and I found myself quickly turning pages. I liked the Chinese culture and I really thought that Charlie was a character that I could root for. Unfortunately, all of the Chinese medical treatment descriptions and her sister Lisa's "mysterious" health condition (which I had figured out way before the author finally decided to reveal it) really bogged the story down. It grew to be quite repetitive. Charlie's father was definitely a character that could use a good slap too, with his constant refusal to get his daughter the true help that she needed.
The actual dancing part of the story was what originally drew me to the book. I really felt like the author dropped the ball here. It seemed to me like someone who really doesn't know a lot about dancing decided to write a book about dancing. She left large gaps in between each of Charlie's developmental stages, and left the reader to somehow believe that Charlie, who starts out the book as a dishwasher, can just magically become a competition level dancer who is good enough to give dancing lessons. Sorry, but I couldn't buy that. The author did a lot more telling than showing.
The other part of the story that was a let-down for me was in the relationship between Charlie and Ryan. We are led to believe that there is a great chemistry between them that also shows up in their dancing. Nope. It just didn't come across for me.
The ending of the book was also a bit odd. Suddenly Charlie's father does a 180 turn-around, and then everything gets tied up into a pretty little predictable bow. Then the author chooses a very odd place to just stop writing. I kept trying to turn the page to see if there was any more, but alas... no.
So, unfortunately, for me this book was just a slightly below-average read.
(I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
