I'd like to give a special thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to take part in this awesome book tour - being a dancer myself, Wish was the perfect read for me!
Title: Wish (Indigo Dreams, #1)
Author: Grier Cooper
Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Paperback, 264 Pages
Summary: For Indigo Stevens, ballet classes at Miss Roberta’s ballet studio offer the stability and structure that are missing from her crazy home life. At almost 16, she hopes this is the year she will be accepted into the New York School of Ballet. First she must prove she’s ready, and that means ignoring Jesse Sanders – the cute boy with dimples who is definitely at the top of Miss Roberta’s List of Forbidden Things for Dancers. But Jesse is the least of Indigo’s concerns. When she discovers her mom is an alcoholic, it simultaneously explains everything and heaps more worry on Indigo’s shoulders. As her mom’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, Indigo fights to maintain balance, protect her younger brothers from abuse, and keep her mother from going over the edge. When the violence at home escalates, Indigo realizes she can no longer dance around the issue. At the risk of losing everything, she must take matters into her own hands before it’s too late.
I received an e-book copy of Wish for this blog tour, and I'm genuinely glad that I did! I'm a dancer of fourteen years and the summary caught my attention right away. I feel that if I hadn't understood the dynamics of dancing, the book wouldn't have caught my interest and meant as much to me. Reading it from the perspective of someone that understands it definitely made it much more enjoyable.
As the summary explains, Indigo is a sixteen year old ballerina with dreams to make it into the New York School of Ballet. But before she can do that, she needs to figure out a way to deal with her mother's destructive, abusive, and definitely escalating alcohol problem...which is a little difficult to do when her mother refuses to be helped.
So on top of struggling with perfecting her ballet, she has to fix her broken family, too.
I really enjoyed this book! Grier Cooper developed such a perfectly real, down-to-earth character within Indigo Stevens. I felt myself laughing, crying and cringing at all of the right parts, and I couldn't make myself put the book down when I had something else to be doing. (The ladies at the nail salon were actually reading over my shoulder!) Cooper's writing captured me right away and didn't let me go until the final page.
The only part I wasn't such a big fan of was the way some scenes jumped so drastically, without even a spacing break. You'd read the last line in a paragraph where Indigo is in one place, and then the next line in the next paragraph, without any spacing breaks, you'd be in a totally new scene with totally new characters and a totally new place. Quite a few times I had to go back and reread, afraid I missed something. I feel that's why this book got four stars instead of five - it was a bit difficult to follow at times, and certain plot points weren't exactly resolved by the end of the story.
However, all in all, Wish was a nice, enjoyable read for anyone looking for a book with a surge of determination and following your dreams! Goal-reaching books are always some of my favorites and I'm definitely glad to have picked this one up.
Another special thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for sending me a copy of this book to review and for allowing The Book Bratz to be a part of this tour! :-) You can check out the rest of Wish's tour schedule by clicking here!
As the summary explains, Indigo is a sixteen year old ballerina with dreams to make it into the New York School of Ballet. But before she can do that, she needs to figure out a way to deal with her mother's destructive, abusive, and definitely escalating alcohol problem...which is a little difficult to do when her mother refuses to be helped.
So on top of struggling with perfecting her ballet, she has to fix her broken family, too.
I really enjoyed this book! Grier Cooper developed such a perfectly real, down-to-earth character within Indigo Stevens. I felt myself laughing, crying and cringing at all of the right parts, and I couldn't make myself put the book down when I had something else to be doing. (The ladies at the nail salon were actually reading over my shoulder!) Cooper's writing captured me right away and didn't let me go until the final page.
The only part I wasn't such a big fan of was the way some scenes jumped so drastically, without even a spacing break. You'd read the last line in a paragraph where Indigo is in one place, and then the next line in the next paragraph, without any spacing breaks, you'd be in a totally new scene with totally new characters and a totally new place. Quite a few times I had to go back and reread, afraid I missed something. I feel that's why this book got four stars instead of five - it was a bit difficult to follow at times, and certain plot points weren't exactly resolved by the end of the story.
However, all in all, Wish was a nice, enjoyable read for anyone looking for a book with a surge of determination and following your dreams! Goal-reaching books are always some of my favorites and I'm definitely glad to have picked this one up.
About The Author:
Grier Cooper is a California based writer, photographer, and dancer who has performed worldwide with the San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. She draws on over thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer to create both fiction and nonfiction to inspire readers.
Another special thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for sending me a copy of this book to review and for allowing The Book Bratz to be a part of this tour! :-) You can check out the rest of Wish's tour schedule by clicking here!
Oooh! I love goal-reaching movies, maybe I'll like this one too. Although, I haven't read any book that that includes ballet in it, I don't know what to expect from it.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review, Jessica! This sounds like a very powerful read and I already like the sounds of Indigo! She sounds very well developed and easy to like. Goal-reaching books are often some of my fav, too, so I should check this one out for myself! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting and reviewing WISH, Jessica!
ReplyDelete