A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano // Revell Reads Review
got the opportunity to review her latest, I jumped on it!!!
Could a book have more plot twists? I'm not sure. One surprise after another kept my head spinning. I think I'll need to read it a few more times to really have everything down and the surprises don't stop until the very end. There are so many identities and different angles to a story that Ella thinks she knows. I don't want to spoil the story though :)
This story makes me want to dance. I found it interesting how people loved to attend the theater but looked down upon those who provided the enjoyment. Something I love in books is when something the character enjoys and is good at becomes their worship and the common becomes sacred. I liked seeing how Ella's relationship with ballet grew and changed over the course of the book.
I was disappointed that this book does not have the little quotes at the beginning of each chapter that Politano's previous books did. I loved reading them and how they so powerfully portrayed and conveyed the truth themes of the book. But while those blurbs were missing, the themes were not. Mostly they came out of the mouth of... another character. This is perhaps my favorite part of the book, for its applications to so many things we have tarnished: "Ballet is many things... but it was always meant... for the pleasure of its primary admirer - the king... Others have always been allowed to look on, but is was always, from the start, meant primarily for the king. A great many things that were originally noble and beautiful have been tarnished by this world, but that doesn't change what they were originally created to be."
God hadn't been taken out of the theater. Oh no, we were not big enough for that.
There are themes of searching and redemption in this book, searching out the truth among lies, but I would say the biggest theme is where you are focusing your gaze. What are you seeking and reaching out to grab hold of? All wrapped up in the beauty of dance.
Many thanks to Revell for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and a favorable review was not required.
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