Abandoned by Booklikes

I really loved Maggie Shipstead's "Seating Arrangements"and thought that novel was a fresh and often crazy look into a family during the wedding weekend of the oldest daughter.

"Astonish Me" is about professional ballet which I have to say besides thinking it looks very pretty and often breathtaking I know nothing about at all.

This novel focuses on Joan. Joan helps a professional ballet dancer named Arslan defect from the USSR in 1975. Though Joan loves to dance and loves Arslan she realizes that she is never going to be a prima ballerina and just remind a dancer in the corps. Her relationship begins with Arslan suffers due to this and she finally decides on a different path for herself.

I have to say that Maggie Shipstead can still turn a phrase. I loved how she put words together in "Seating Arrangements". It was seriously a pleasure for my eyes and brain. Readers will definitely get an in depth look at the world of ballet. I loved movies like Center Stage and Step because they give you just a minor glimpse at how hard it is to be a ballet dancer and actually continue on in this career. Reading about the rigors of ballet dancing and the many things that dancers go through with regards to their diet, their forms, how damaged their bodies and feet get. I really loved that insider's glimpse that Shipstead provided.

That said I only gave the novel 3.5 stars just because the the shifting chronology at times was a bit much to take in. I am never that big a fan of a story being told with shifting timelines unless it is done well. In this particular novel, it was not done well for me. Additionally, I wish that Shipstead had went a different way with Joan's child, Harry. I don't want to spoil for potential readers but as soon as you find out certain details you can start to call what is going to happen in the rest of the story. I am always disappointed when I can guess which way an author is going while reading a novel. I love to be surprised. It doesn't have to be a storyline that is totally out of left field but at least not something that you can read in a dozen other novels.

Please note that I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program.