Bright Burning Stars

By: A. K. Small

Narrated by: Nicole Wood, Saskia Maarleveld

Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they've formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera's prestigious corps de ballet.

Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too?

Neither girl is sure. But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition - for the prize, for the Demigod - becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.

In Bright Burning Stars, debut author A. K. Small pens a stunning, propulsive story about girls at their physical and emotional extremes, the gutting power of first love, and what it means to fight for your dreams.

©2019 A.K. Small (P)2019 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Bright Burning Stars is the compulsively readable story. I was breathless and battling tears up until the very last stunning turns onstage and beyond. A dazzling, heart-wrenching debut." (Nova Ren Suma, number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Walls Around Us)

Entertaining but not epic or anything

It was a good read - definitely not a binge read. I had zero emotional involvement in protagonist's decisions, actions, or consequences. BUT it was a "fun", grungy ballet read. The male characters have zero redeeming qualities (except 1 kinda), there's hardly any "background" on any other characters except the two main girls, but the ballet terminology was definitely there so I could see the dances unfold at least. It touched on everything: drugs, sex, eating disorders, pregnancy, abortion, unrealistic expectations, family issues, coping with death/loss, suicidal contemplation, shame, inappropriate behaviors, aaand troubled psychologies (both girls could use some Zoloft and some serious therapy). But hey, I made it through and enjoyed the competition and unnecessary drama! Like gossip girl meets a competition world or something. Entertaining overall.