Mini Review: Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 13th, 2011

When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent.

I wanted a lot out of this book, and I had high expectations, but I was so, so disappointed. It's a ballet book, so of course I had to pick it up and read it. I loved the dance portions so much, and I appreciated how they were written. It was interesting to see it represented in verse, which is different from the other dance books I've read.

But once Remington/Rem came into the picture? I just couldn't. Sara was just so obsessed, and he was so lame and obviously using her. She was so convinved of their relationship, but it was so blatantly obvious, and I just couldn't deal with it. I could predict the direction the book was going to take, but I hated how it was sort of an abusive relationship--at least the way I interpreted it--that almost felt like it was supposed to be okay because she was so naive?

I couldn't deal with that or with the characters and their interactions, so I just put it down. I wish I could just take all the dance parts and read them, but I very sadly couldn't get through the other parts of the book.

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