Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton // Ballet is Not as Cheery as You Think

Friday 20 November 2015
Tiny Pretty Things (Tiny Pretty Things #1), by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
Publication: May 26, 2015, by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 448
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating: 

Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy, drama-packed novel featuring diverse characters who will do anything to be the prima at their elite ballet school.
Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

My Thoughts:

Listen—when I am obsessed with some kind of theme or concept that a book holds, I'm obsessed. I don't want to sound like a meanie or anything in that sense but, I strongly anticipated this book. I anticipated it more than you can imagine and I spent months aching at the bookstore, looking for where it'll stand on the shelves alphabetically. I was that crazy. And you know what? Tiny Pretty Things was worth the wait—it was a fabulous story that is not about your lone ballerina walking around the streets of New York City. This is a fierce, imaginative story that gives you much more than the 448 pages that you see above or that you hold; it gives you a new experience on what competition is like, in case you have never felt something that strong before.


Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton are masters of the competition of writing. Their book and this whole series is turning out enchanting, and I simply need more. Yes, the storytelling is posh, light and easy to read, but then again, it's very fierce and Gossip Girl like with a mix of PLL which is noted in the summary above. It's a strong-willed story that I simply love to devour and the thing is, I'm obsessed with ballerinas. To this date, I still remember what the story is like and what the plot really held, because it has been a couple of weeks since I last touched the pages. 

"The only cure, the only thing I can think of to help me calm down and get back into my body enough to dance the Snow Queen and make them all fall in love with me again, is to have Alec hold me and whisper to me and treat me the way he used to. And it will happen. As far as I'm concerned, we're getting back together." (166)

You see this selfishness? You see this drama? That is what both authors conquered in this story and it is more deep and mindful than PLL or Gossip Girl ever were. It is not one of those books that I constantly review and I complain about them because they were just for the entertainment and drama. This goes through friendship, romance, but also about what it takes to follow your dreams and the obstacles that could get in the way. That sentence I just mentioned sounded very cheesy and cliché, I know. But this book isn't like all of the other ones you see in the blogosphere or that reviewers are raving about. Tiny Pretty Things is just simply pretty.

Double Rachel McAdams. Woo!
What I really, really enjoyed about this story is the fact that Charaipotra and Clayton switched between the endless amount of perspectives and they all worked out. There's Gigi, Bette and June, three ballerinas who have tons of pressure put on them but they all sound the same in a way. There's issues with mentality, like how there are ballerinas who are anorexic. But this isn't a stereotype about these kinds of books, it's reality for many because of the pressure that others put on these young girls. It's so, so interesting.

"You will support me, even applaud me, in pursuing my goals. Because I know now that dancing is in my blood. I've always known. And no one—not even you—is going to stop me." (287)

I didn't really have any issues with this story at all. There are some things that are pretty predictable and repetitive, but then again, this is contemporary fiction, based on life. Life isn't supposed to be a roller coaster full of adrenaline all the time. There's character development, so much descriptions that will make your head blow (in a good way) and you could simply fall in love with this gracious story, but only depending on what is your favourite kind of read. If you're not interested in ballet and dance, this might not be for you, but if you're willing to give a chance to a whole new subject, then this might just be it. You know how every year there's that one book that opens a whole new door for you and you realize that there is a variety of subjects written about in YA? This is it for me, and for many.






Tiny Pretty Things isn't boring. It certainly isn't my most favourite book in the world, either. But if you pay attention to pretty, fluffy moments that the authors focus on throughout the novel, you just may fall in love. Remember that it will also play with your feelings and make a thousand ships float because hey, there are multiple perspectives on girls who are the same, but then aren't again. This book isn't tiny, but it sure is a pretty thing.

What is the book of 2015 for you that you waited FOREVER for, and then you ended up very satisfied in the end with?  

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