This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2025.
Mars Chang has just landed a summer scholarship at the Allegra Academy, a prestigious ballet institution that could open many distinguished doors for the young, ambitious dancer. Once there, however, she’s met with disdain due to her modest background, quickly learning that at this esteemed institution, class and legacy matter more than talent and skill. But she presses on, dancing through the derision gracefully enough to catch the attention of the school’s venal, venerated founder. Mars is soon thrust into a corrupt choreography, perilously pirouetting around the academy’s darker deeds. When these nefarious affairs put the life of her budding crush in danger, Mars must decide whether her passions and aspirations are worth sacrificing her conscience and sense of self. Yu’s intense ballet drama is as much a critique of class divisions as it is an adolescent melodrama of ambition and moral conflict, and the feints and flourishes will keep readers riveted. Present alongside other visceral stagings of elitism and entitlement, such as A. K. Small’s Bright Burning Stars (2019) and Erica Ridley’s The Protégée (2025).
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