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Bunheads

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 2,438 ratings · 532 reviews

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet.

But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah's universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants t...more

Hardcover, 294 pages

Published October 10th 2011 by Poppy

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YA Dance Books

2nd out of 59 books — 95 voters

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

2011 YA Contemporaries

53rd out of 170 books — 427 voters

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Mar 30, 2012 Emily May rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-na, 2012, contemporary

I didn't really think I'd like this book, I have to admit. I was curious about it after reading Tatiana's review, but this novel has been described as all the things that usually bore me to death: gentle, subtle, subdued, quiet... I've read these kinds of stories before that are meant to be all about the realism with little excitement, sadness or anything particularly noteworthy - I have always found them dull. Until now.

The realism in Bunheads really works to its advantage and makes the story...more

22 likes · like · see review

Oct 12, 2011 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in inner workings of ballet

Recommended to Tatiana by: Kirkus

Shelves: 2011, ya

Bunheads is a very subdued, gentle novel about ballet dancing. Think Black Swan

minus craziness, blood and sex.

The quietness of this novel works both against it and to its advantage.

Ballet dancing is an unforgiving, competitive, extremely demanding form of art. (Imagine being fired for having breasts big enough to require a bra!) It would be very easy to find some high drama in it to write a shocking novel around - backstabbery, injuries, life-threatening dieting, exhausting, endless rehearsals -...more

41 likes · like · see review

Nov 08, 2011 Darkfallen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, read-n-reviewed

While this book was so good, for me, that I finished it in one day; I fear that it may not be as good for others. Here's what I mean...

I trained in ballet for 15 years. I basically learned to walk, was potty trained, and then off the dance school I went at the age of 2. So when I was reading this book, it was more than that. I was seeing this book. I loved the way Sophie Flack walks you through the ballets Hannah is doing step by step. However she uses all of the proper French terms for each ste...more While this book was so good, for me, that I finished it in one day; I fear that it may not be as good for others. Here's what I mean...

I trained in ballet for 15 years. I basically learned to walk, was potty trained, and then off the dance school I went at the age of 2. So when I was reading this book, it was more than that. I was seeing this book. I loved the way Sophie Flack walks you through the ballets Hannah is doing step by step. However she uses all of the proper French terms for each step, and nothing more. So I fear that for those out there that have never taken ballet this book may be a bit hard to connect with, or understand even. So while I am whisked away to the land of grand botones, jette's, arabesque's, pas de deux, & lifts in B plus, vividly picturing the ballets unfold in my mind as a read and absorb every word so much so that I find myself marking the steps while cooking dinner, and thinking it's the cutest thing ever that my three year old son is trying to mimic me. (all the while my husband suddenly feels the need to dicuss football with our son. lol) I think that that any person without extensive ballet knowledge might find this story a bit flat and boring.

Again I really, REALLY enjoyed this book, I just think maybe it could have been done slightly different to make it more approachable to a wider audience. I mean after all...a dancer that has time to read a book is a retired one;) I would have liked to see a little more done with the relationship between Hannah & Jacob. Maybe a little less on the actions of ballet, and a little more on the feeling of it and I would say this book would not only have a wider audience, but 5 stars across the board. I guess I was expecting something more like Gail Formans Where She Went where the music careers where the back drop, and the emotions took center stage. Still thanks to years of ballet, and bloody toes to prove this book was a great read for me.

Overall I say if your a dancer this is a must read. I wish I would have been able to read it back when I was consumed by the almost drug like quality that is life inside a ballet company. (Granted I was only at the St. Louis Ballet Company, which is nothing compared to the MBA.) But the message is a good one. There really is a life outside of dance, and sometimes you have to chose between life on stage...and everything else.(less)

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Oct 16, 2011 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, dance-books

I'm stoked for this book. My appreciation for Sophie Flack goes back more than 10 years, when I desperately envied her and the life I imagined she had. Beautiful, thin, and definitely going somewhere, she was featured all over the Discount Dance Supply catalogs and their Dance Magazine advertisements when I was a teenager. Pouring over catalogs, magazines, and the few dance books I could get access to in semi-rural Virginia, I strived for ballet success. I craved both knowledge of and entry to t...more I'm stoked for this book. My appreciation for Sophie Flack goes back more than 10 years, when I desperately envied her and the life I imagined she had. Beautiful, thin, and definitely going somewhere, she was featured all over the Discount Dance Supply catalogs and their Dance Magazine advertisements when I was a teenager. Pouring over catalogs, magazines, and the few dance books I could get access to in semi-rural Virginia, I strived for ballet success. I craved both knowledge of and entry to the distant, metropolitan ballet community (so starved was I for contact with that community that I vividly remember names, company/school affiliations, and images of models in catalogs over a decade later). How I wanted to look so stunning, so long, and to be singled out as she was. At the time, I imagined that she must certainly be a rising star-- the cream of the School of American Ballet/New York City Ballet young crop-- weren't all the models that DDS bothered to credit ballet elites?

Now that I work in the dancewear business, I recognize that knowing the right person's daughter is often all it takes to get photographed. When Flack next came to my attention, she'd come to realize a lot of disappointing realities as well. Her (extraordinary! scandalous! infamous!) interview with Gia Kourlas was one of my favorite dance reading experiences of 2009. By then, I'd been living in New York for 7 years and come to love New York City Ballet while resenting its director. Her raw, frustrated anger in the interview continues to move me. It resonates with some of my experiences, and with many, many dancers' experiences across the field who work hard, do great work, and are ultimately undervalued by their artistic superiors. Because both tradition and artistic necessity generally favor a director/choreographer's preference over dancers' feelings, the dance community and press tend to stifle outbursts of dancer dissatisfaction.

...which leads to this book. The cliche is that anguish under pressure generates great art, no? Biting critique can be refreshing to read even if the writer is only moderately gifted (and thank god for good editors). And Winter Season: A Dancer's Journal, born of similar frustration, is one of the best dance books ever published. From the jacket description, Bunheads would seem to be a thinly-veiled purge of Flack's experience at NYCB.

And cheers to you, Sophie Flack. For speaking up and finding ways to grow when you felt boxed in. Word through the grapevine is that you're much happier now, and I sincerely hope that you are.(less)

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Aug 30, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-mt-bookpile

(full disclosure: I was the author's librarian waaay back when!)

This is a great look at how a girl's dream (ok, passion and obsession) with becoming a ballerina can change as she becomes a woman. With the Metropolitian Ballet and its Academy standing in for New York City Ballet and its School of American Ballet, we also get a great behind-the-scenes look at the lives of those girls, the ones that really pursued the dream to become the ballerina many of us wanted to be when we were younger but d...more

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May 11, 2012 ALPHAreader rated it 4 of 5 stars

When she was eight-years-old, Hannah’s dance instructor told her young students to “Dance each step as if it were your last.” Hannah didn’t know what she meant then, but now that she is nineteen-years-old and apart of the corps de ballet of the Manhattan Ballet Company, she is starting to understand the truth behind those words.

The corps de ballet dancers are not ‘real’ ballerinas – they are the dancers behind the true stars, the real prima ballerinas who dance solos and are the rock-stars of th...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been wanting to read a YA novel set in the world of ballet for a very long time now, so I was ecstatic when I heard about Bunheads. I downloaded it to my Kindle pretty much the second it released and stayed up way too late reading it. It was so worth it, though, because I absolutely adored this book.

I connected very strongly with the main character, Hannah. Nothing is just handed to her. She's a talented dancer, but even so she has to work incredibly hard and even then she doesn't always g...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Madame Butterfly rated it 4 of 5 stars

The problems I had with this book are strictly moral. The rest of it was absolutely sensational!

The biggest problem was the cussing. Their was a great deal of cussing and it reall really bothered me. I already have a cussing issue I am trying to over come I don't need my books to be rife with it!! And why do teen books have all this cussing I would like to know? Do you authors think of the influence on the teens that read this stuff? The drinking also bothered me. Call me a prig, but whateves.

Bu...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4.5 stars
I saw this on the blogs a lot last year and thought it looked interesting but never did anything about it. Then on Thursday someone dropped it in to our library, it wasn't our copy which was why I hadn't seen it before. So instead of sending it back to it's home branch I decided I would borrow it first.
I had a rare evening in last night, so I finished the book I was already halfway through and then opened this one.
This isn't my usual read but I enjoy taking a break and reading somethin...more 4.5 stars
I saw this on the blogs a lot last year and thought it looked interesting but never did anything about it. Then on Thursday someone dropped it in to our library, it wasn't our copy which was why I hadn't seen it before. So instead of sending it back to it's home branch I decided I would borrow it first.
I had a rare evening in last night, so I finished the book I was already halfway through and then opened this one.
This isn't my usual read but I enjoy taking a break and reading something different like this. I was sure I would enjoy it and I wasn't disappointed. I read about 220 pages last night, I stayed up to about 12.30 but then my eyes were getting too heavy to read. I didn't want to put the book down but I had to. So I finished it in my lunch break today.
Hannah is 19 years old and training with the Manhattan Ballet Company. She's wanted to be the Prima Ballerina since she was five and has devoted her life to dance. After years and years of hard work she is still just a background dancer, but she's starting to get noticed more and promotion could be within her reach. But then she meets Jacob on a rare night off, he's cute, polite and funny, and has a 'real' life. Hannah has to decide what is more important to her, starting a relationship or dedicating herself to dance. The ballet has always been her first choice, but is it worth it.
This is a great novel to just lose yourself in, I became totally immersed in Hannah's life and wanted to know more. There is a lot of ballet terminology in the story, but I did know what most of them meant, having read other books and seen films with ballet in so I wasn't hindered at all.
Hannah is really likeable and her personality really shines off the page. It was quite cool to read too as it sort of gave you an insight into the crazy life of professional dancers, to backstage, rehearsals, costume, performances and yes even diets. They certainly don't have it easy, I'm not sure I would have enough dedication to go all the way.
Hannah introduces us to everyone in her life, the group of dancers she hangs out with, including super rich, slightly bitchy Zoe - Hannah's biggest competition but oldest friend. Her dance teachers, wardrobe, physical therapy and stage hands. I like how they all play a very different part in her life but help make everything so much more realistic. I loved how the girls interacted, both as 'friends' and as 'dancers' and how they would change depending on where they were.
They could all be very self-centered at times, but that's the way that life is, to get ahead you have to be 100% involved and willing to give up everything around you. I liked how Hannah's internal struggle was written, I could totally empathize with her and I wanted her to be happy.

I will say I was disappointed with the ending, I mean, it was good for Hannah and she does have plans but they were not what I expected after reading the book. I really wanted her to find another way round things. I'm trying not to give too much away. I can see why Sophie Flack did it and it does make sense, I guess I'm just used to fairytale endings and fantasy ideas - that anything can work. Thinking about it, this ending was the only real option but in my mind, she finds a way.

Overall a very enjoyable read that had me hooked. Really glad I picked it up and I really liked Sophie's writing style - I will be looking out for more by her.(less)

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Mar 25, 2013 Nina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Bunheads has been on my to be read list for a while now, so I finally decided it was time to get it.

Hannah, the main character, is determined, very hard to herself and indecisive. I liked Hannah, but I liked her friend Bea more. She knew what she wanted and felt more mature. The friendship Hannah has with the ballet dancers sounds very realistic. Very backstabbing, false and competitive. Jacob, the boyfriend, I didn’t care for. Yes, he was cute and all, but there wasn’t a lot of depth to his ch...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Booksword.co.uk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Reviewed by Colleen Winter

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances, and complicated backstage relationships. But when she meets a spontaneous and irresistibly cute musician named Jacob, her universe begins to change.

When I read the blurb of this book I wasn’t sure if it would be my cup of tea, however I tried it anyway, and while it wasn’t exactly the type of book I like, it felt real. Hannah...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Nicola rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished, fiction, teen, kindle

Awful. Gave up after ~40%.

Books like Bunheads remind me that I can be a little harsh in my reviews. It's easy to laser in on the flaws of a novel -- a cliched storyline here; an underdeveloped character there -- and forget how much of a colossal achievement it is to write 80,000 words of a story that progresses and maintains a reader's interest and contains characters that could pass for real people. Most books aren't, by real standards, "badly written". They're simply flawed.

Bunheads, however,...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Nina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reality-bites, self-embetterment, booklove, favorites

The ballet world, and the lifestyle that accompanies it, is brutal and sacrificial. Young adult novels to this point have done a slight disservice to the industry by painting an environment of glitter, tulle, and fairy-tale scenarios in which there is very rarely a definite sacrifice in a life that actually requires just as much dedication, strictness, and self-awareness, as being a surgeon for example.

While a dancer may not save lives, stitch up wounds, or face the difficulties of losing a...more

The ballet world, and the lifestyle that accompanies it, is brutal and sacrificial. Young adult novels to this point have done a slight disservice to the industry by painting an environment of glitter, tulle, and fairy-tale scenarios in which there is very rarely a definite sacrifice in a life that actually requires just as much dedication, strictness, and self-awareness, as being a surgeon for example.

While a dancer may not save lives, stitch up wounds, or face the difficulties of losing a patient, they certainly encounter blood, sweat, tears. Their nightly dreams are filled with dance moves, the barre, and how to improve that svelte, linear physique that is required on stage. Their fears involve paralysis, damaged Achilles heels, and that terrifying moment when you realize that you will never be cast as a principal dancer. Without listing every single sacrifice made by dancers in this review, I must say that out of all of the novels I have recently read, this one strikes me as the most realistic.

Sophie Flack paints the world of dancing in all of it's shimmery glory, and also it's bloody gore. There are grand jetes that sore through the sky at unbelievable levels but just as easily one comes crashing down into the desperation that is a casting list, a loved ones worries, health issues, and the constant pursuit of a possibly unhealthy beauty. Her personal knowledge of the society that creates these fantastic worlds provide a wealth of story to be shared with anyone who doubts their course in life.

This is NOT a young adult novel. This is a life novel. Sure, it appeals to women moreso than most men. It's told from a female perspective about a female dominated field. That does not denote that the story within is frivolous or shallow. It's cutthroat and realistically intense. No bizarre scenarios occur and no falsehoods. Just a unique perspective story, on one womans interesting and complicated decision about where she really wanted her life to go.

I read this novel in roughly 6 hours, and that's because I forced myself to try and slow down a bit, to savour it. In Young Adult fiction, I rarely encounter a novel anymore that willingly tears itself away from the shallows of Twilight or the overbearing presence of P.C. Cast.

No typos were found in my edition of Bunheads, no dumbed down terms, no need for that ridiculously anti-climactic sexual desperation scenario. The hunger for success, the confusion of what is really meant to be, was more than enough to provide satisfaction in this book.

If I were teaching any literature class in High School, right now, this would be one of the required reading books for my class. It goes beyond ballet. It stretches into personal perseverance and knowing when enough is enough. Teens, nay, humans need that nowadays.(less)

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Dec 04, 2012 Ed added it

Flack, S. (2011). Bunheads. New York: Little, Brown and Company/Poppy. 294 pp. ISBN: 978-0-316-12653-3. (Hardcover); $17.99.

Hannah Ward may love Jacob—and the wealthy balletomane, Matt, is showing her considerable attention—but Hannah is a bunhead and nothing can compete with the chance to leap from bunhead to ballerina.

Flack's obvious expertise and experience with the New York City Ballet adds a level of authenticity to this book that shines through on every page. Her knowledge of the world of...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Hannah decided she wanted to be a ballerina when she was 10 years old, and she has worked hard and sacrificed every day to make that dream a reality. Now, at age 19, Hannah is poised to fulfill that dream. She is within reach of the possibility of moving from being a ballet dancer in the corps of the Manhattan Ballet company to being a soloist; but is this still her dream? What must she sacrifice to take this final step?

This is not an action book, it is a character development book. The plot mo...more Hannah decided she wanted to be a ballerina when she was 10 years old, and she has worked hard and sacrificed every day to make that dream a reality. Now, at age 19, Hannah is poised to fulfill that dream. She is within reach of the possibility of moving from being a ballet dancer in the corps of the Manhattan Ballet company to being a soloist; but is this still her dream? What must she sacrifice to take this final step?

This is not an action book, it is a character development book. The plot moves slowly, the relationships move slowly, and Hannah's awareness of what she wants goes from page one to the very last page, yet there is a feeling of suspense throughout the book. It doesn't get dull, you don't get bored, and only once did I yell at Hannah "Make a decision already!" I really couldn't decide if I wanted Hannah to succeed at getting a promotion to soloist or for her to choose a life outside of the Manhattan Ballet Company. The author does a great job balancing between the two, showing the draws of both worlds and making each alluring. The writing is sincere and honest, obviously written from an insider's perspective. Hannah both loves ballet and realizes its horrors and the writing does a great job of explaining both emotions and how they can exist simultaneously.

I chose this book for a class, Integrating Children's and YA Lit into Common Core State Standards. As to text complexity, I found a Lexile rating of 770 from a summer reading list of soon to be 9th graders and also on a list of for 8th grade honors students. Quantitively, a Lexile of 770 puts this book smack in the middle of the 4th grade to 5th grade text complexity band; however, the book's interest level and subject appropriateness do NOT coincide with that! There is underage drinking, references to sex, a few swear words, and some talk about extreme dieting and weight issues. There are quite a few vocabulary words that are subject specific. Qualitatively I would say this is a somewhat complex text. I can see this book in high schools easily and maybe at middle school's that have a lot of interest in professional dance.(less)

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Nov 16, 2012 Lexi Kulawski rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nineteen year old Hannah Ward has always dreamed to get the star soloist spot in her ballet life. Hannah is lives and breathes ballet which makes her a bun head. But, when she meets this cute boy she is faced with a difficult situation. This story tells the life of a bunhead that is itching to have an actual life. She faces the tough question of if she would rather have a ballet life or a real life. I think this was a good read because I could actually feel what the main character was feeling....more

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Aug 16, 2012 Abby rated it 5 of 5 stars

I once thought of ballet as a magical show put on by an exclusive group of probably mean, malnourished, French girls. After I read Bunheads, however, I learned the real story. There are no ballerinas, just dancers. And these dancers are hard-core (firm-stomached as well), and love what they do. But being in a great company as the one the author belonged to, comes with a price. Leaving home at an early age to go to ballet school, little off-time, rigorous practice, criticism and scrutiny from the...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Bibliojunkies added it

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet company, nineteen year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances, and complicated backstage relationships. But when she meets a spontaneous and irresistibly cute musician named Jacob, her universe begins to change.

Until now Hannah has followed the company’s unofficial mantra, “Don’t think, just dance.” But has her relationship with Jacob intensifies, so do the pressures within the company. With her eyes newly opened...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review by Madison

Hannah is a ballet dancer in the very prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company. To get a solo requires a great deal of commitment, requiring her to practise all day, every day, pushing Hannah to the limit.

Upon meeting Jacob, Hannah realises that she's reached a point in her life where she will have to choose between getting the promotion she has been working towards her whole life or give it all up in order to explore the world with Jacob.

I really enjoyed this book, it was very int...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Corinne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Hannah is a dancer, on the cusp of what might be a real career as a ballerina. With an incredibly focused mind and a nearly perfectly tuned body, she spends all day rehearsing and all evening performing. Despite her desires to get ever-better roles, she knows how charmed her life must seem.

But underneath the bun and the tutu, there is hours of grueling practice, ruthless competition with girls who are supposed to be your friends and a self-inflicted bubble that excludes almost anything outside t...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3.5/5

Bunheads was a refreshing contemporary novel, with an intriguing concept. While I did enjoy it, however, it just wasn’t my kind of book. I really liked how different it was from a lot of other books in its genre, and seeing into the backstage world of ballet was fascinating, and gave me a lot of insight into what ballet really involves; gruelling training, fierce dedication and sacrifice. After a while though, I felt things got a little repetitive, and I personally don’t really have much of...more 3.5/5

Bunheads was a refreshing contemporary novel, with an intriguing concept. While I did enjoy it, however, it just wasn’t my kind of book. I really liked how different it was from a lot of other books in its genre, and seeing into the backstage world of ballet was fascinating, and gave me a lot of insight into what ballet really involves; gruelling training, fierce dedication and sacrifice. After a while though, I felt things got a little repetitive, and I personally don’t really have much of an interest in ballet, so I feel like certain details that others would have appreciated were wasted on me.

Hannah was a very interesting character. She’d been devoted to ballet since she was a child, and her entire life revolved around it. Her descriptions about her training and rehearsals actually surprised me a bit, I didn’t realise just how intense and competitive it could be. I definitely don’t think I could deal which the pressure Hannah and the other dancers were under. When Hannah met Jacob, a regular college guy, she started to realise that there was more to life than ballet. Though she loved dancing, she wanted to experience other things, and I could definitely understand how she was feeling. I liked Hannah, but I do think she made a lot of stupid choices and she could be a bit dense at times. I felt a little disconnected to her towards the end, because of the suddenness of her decision, but I think she was a great main character overall. It was great to see how she slowly changed over the course of the book, and I’m happy with the way things ended for her.

Jacob was a character I felt we could have gotten to know a little more. The book was really very concentrated on Hannah and her problems, and while I liked the depth there, I would have liked to find out more about Jacob, besides the fact he was a musician and a college student. He needed to be fleshed out a little more with more background – he just seemed like a guy who popped up at random sometimes, because we didn’t know much about him. I did like how the other characters were portrayed though, especially Zoe. Zoe was another dancer, and though she was Hannah’s friend, she was also a bitter rival, and the two had a complicated relationship. There was a lot of jealousy and competition between them, and I sort of got the feeling they didn’t really like each other, but there were times where I questioned that thought, and I found their friendship very interesting to read about.

The pacing was pretty slow but I liked it because I enjoyed reading about Hannah’s gradual transition. To be honest, however, my least favourite parts were when Hannah was talking about the technical parts of ballet, mostly because I didn’t really understand what a lot of the moves meant and sort of sighed every time I reached a very ballet-focused part of the book. However, this was just me. Like I mentioned before, I’ve never had a big interest in ballet, but anyone who does have an interest will probably love this book and I’d definitely recommend it.

Overall, Bunheads was an enjoyable read, which would appeal to anyone interested in ballet, or any fans of contemporary novels.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ballet, careers, teenagers, friendship, relationships, relationship-problems, dancing, realistic, donated-to-the-library, young-adult-fiction, obsession, self-discovery, college, first-love

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 23, 2012 Francesca rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was originally posted on my blog (http://readinghammock.blogspot.com)

“Bunheads” is a daring story about a young woman trying to figure out her life--- choosing between her fantasy life of ballet and the more harsh reality of college filled with responsibilities. Since the author, Sophie Flack, used to be a professional ballet dancer, this book is based on many of her personal experiences. Flack’s story took me into the reality of a dancer and what really happens backstage.

Flack described t...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 23, 2012 kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, ya, 5-star

I loved this story and the way it's told. It's first person present and you feel that you are experiencing the story along with Hannah. She has lived and breathed ballet for most of her life, attending a prestigious ballet school from the age of fourteen which neccessitated living away from home and then joining the company at seventeen. There is the constant rehearsals and classes and competition for better parts and advancement. I could feel Hannah's frustration.
One of the things I most enjoye...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Stefania rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, tearjerkers

I loved this book! As someone who danced from the age of 3 to 17, I really identified with the world that Hnnah lived in. I was never good enough to reach the level that Hannah reached, but there were still so many things that I experienced as well. I made similar sacrifices to continue dancing as long as I did. I did question whether it was worth it or not many times, but I also knew that my skill level would never allow me to advance to a point where my entire life would be taken over by dance...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Christiana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen-fic, high-school, has-sexy-times

Possible Reasons I Really Dug This Book:
1. It reminded me of the movie Center Stage
2. It gave a realistic portrayal of the life of a ballet dancer, which I have always been a bit curious about
3. It had a lovable boy interest
4. Hannah's hardships are relatable: to be the best, better than anybody, you almost always have to have a drive to do nothing else and happily give your life over to it. And it's okay if you aren't the best and want to allow yourself to live outside of that passion, which br...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Pros: Flack does a fantastic job of writing about ballet; dance is not an easy art to translat into prose, and Flack succeeds in capturing both on- and off-stage action beautifully. The book is realistic about the pressures and problems of the ballet world without being overly sensational, reflecting nicely the main character's acceptance of distorted behaviours such as anorexia and over-exercising.

Cons: The core story arc felt weak and not entirely believable. Perhaps it's because my own dance...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Liza Wiemer added it

Shelves: arc

I received a copy of the BUNHEADS ARC from Heidi of YABibliophile. http://www.yabibliophile.com/ Thanks Heidi for passing this on to me.
Ever wondered what it's like to be a ballet dancer? If so, BUNHEADS is the novel for you. Even though Sophie Flack's novel is fiction, it's clear she draws upon her firsthand knowledge from when she danced for the New York City Ballet from 2000-2009. She does an exquisite job explaining this world and making it real for the reader - the intensity, competition, e...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Shellie Foltz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bunheads by Sophie Flack is the 49th young adult novel I have read this calendar year. I've been all sorts of places and experienced all sorts of things with the authors; but, the world Flack invited me to peer into was by far the most unusual, unfamiliar, and fascinating. In truth, I have a greater chance of personally experiencing cryogenic freezing and reanimation on a new planet or saving a human clone from a life of scientific experimentation than I do of dancing ballet.

Though her heroine,...more

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Romance

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About Sophie Flack

Sophie Flack danced with the New York City Ballet from 2000 to 2009. She is currently studying English at Columbia University. Bunheads is her first novel.

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Quotes from Bunheads

“Things are prettier in June, but they're clearer in July.” — 6 people liked it

“Considering I pretty much melted from a single peck on the cheek, I'm worried that a real kiss would turn me into a quivering puddle of goo. But I'm willing to take the chance.” — 3 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: Bunheads Goodreads rating: 3.70 (2438 ratings)
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