Don't Forget to Dance

Sylvia Hall

Summary:

You know who you are. I don’t. I don’t know where I come from or where I’m going...

Ravenna Collins is intelligent, beautiful...and deeply unhappy. She just doesn’t seem to fit in at home any more. She’s always known she was adopted but suddenly it’s become vital that she discovers who she really is...

Then she meets Beth and Ravenna feels in touch with her roots at last. Beth teaches her to dance and it is through these liberating rhythms that Ravenna finds herself close to discovering the truth. But the truth twists and turns in a merry dance of its own, and soon Ravenna is in danger of losing the only real home she has ever known...

Plot:

I thought this story had a lot of potential. There is so much you can do with a story about dance, and the descriptions and emotions could have been portrayed wonderfully through it. I could see the author trying to connect the main character’s feelings and thoughts with the way she dances, but unfortunately it wasn’t as well done as it could’ve been. Much of the writing became a little pretentious and it felt like the author was trying too hard to create beautiful descriptions and kind of lost track of the plot line. Also the story didn’t seem to go anywhere, and the plot twists were a litle anti-climactic, although there was some moments I really enjoyed.

Characters:

I liked and felt for the main character, but I probably won’t remember much about her, except that she loves dancing. The other characters were all pretty well handled, but none of them really grabbed my attention. They were different and interesting, but not fascinating.

Who should read this:

13+, mainly for mild language and sexual content as well as very mild violence. If you want a descriptive story and love dancing you might enjoy this, but I feel like there must be better books out there about this subject matter.

My rating:

This book wasn’t boring, it just wasn’t as good as it could have been and while I was reading I just kept noticing things the author could've done differently. 2/5

Quote:

If you don’t know who you are, you can belong anywhere. You’re free. I could be anybody.

I couldn't find a cover image for this book :/ and my copy isn't in great condition and has plastic on it so I couldn't scan it...