Ok....this book had so so much promise! A really great synopsis, but was left with too many questions for me. No questions were answered, mainly why were things happening the way they did? Almost halfway through, I was was ready to give up, but I struggled through it. No redeeming happened, so much fell flat. Sorry, but the cover was at least pretty.

I'd give this 0 stars if I could. This book was wildly disappointing to me. Not sure if it is due to the fact that I do not like thrillers but It was just deeply unenjoyable to me. The narrative was difficult to follow and was overall uncomfortable to read and left me confused. I wish I could have enjoyed this but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Get ready for a book with a few Gothic elements that definitely reminded me of Phantom of the Opera mixed with 12 Dancing Princesses. I do have to say that I love retellings!

Penny is an interesting and dynamic character. She is a bit naive to begin with, but as the story continues we see her develop into someone who I found myself rooting for. She's someone who makes mistakes, and sometimes those cause a lot of trouble for her, but it's relatable in the sense that we all do regrettable things.

The Master gave me Phantom vibes especially with his large air of mystery and the kind of attention he attracts. While he's more of a visible character in the setting of the story, he still calls for the sort of weird obsession that people have with the Phantom. That's not to say that he's a bad character - he invokes the curiosity needed and is cloaked in an air of austerity.

The plot is a bit slower at the beginning and it took me a few chapters to really get into it, but once you get to more of the intrigue and mystery things start to really pick up.

I love books about ballet, thrillers, and boarding school books -- so this was right up my alley. Will it be winning literary awards? No. Will I remember much of it in a few years? Also no. But I know the key points and exactly which students to recommend the book to, so that's great for me as a librarian! The book is on my library wish list for when we have funds again to buy books.

I usually like most books published through swoon reads, that is why I requested. I tried to get into the story multiple times. It just failed to hold my attention.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection and will recommend it to students.

I was so excited to read this and after multiple attempts to read this, it didn't capture my attention the way I had anticipated!

It took me a while to get to this book but I don't know why I waited. Definitely had a great mix of literary elements and kept me reading way past my bedtime. I'll be recommending it to friends!

I have not had the time or interest to get through this book, unfortunately. I requested based on the author and would love to get to it eventually.

The Midnight Dance is full of beautiful writing! I love a good Gothic-esque, atmospheric setting and the finishing school was the perfect setting for a book like this. The Master has Darkling vibes, which I liked a lot but he was also creepy in an uncomfortable way with the hold he has over these girls. I would not send my child to a school with him because I'd worry about their safety... Anyway, great writing. Somewhat disturbing. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the book as a whole.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
The Midnight Dance is about Penny who is one of twelve elite dancers at The Grand Teatro, which is this finishing school. From what I have gathered, this book is historical fiction. However, there's some fantasy twists as the guy who is in charge of the school, The Master, seems to be performing experiments on the dancers and they all have these different tragedies in common. For example, all the girls lost their mothers while very young. There's also a servant named Cricket who I think is supposed to be a romantic interest for Penny.

HOW LONG DID I LAST?
I got to page 44 of 320.

WHY DID I DNF?
I had such trouble understanding what was going on. Like, I couldn't figure out the premise from context clues and had no real sense of the characters. Plus, I was just so bored. Now is absolutely not the time I think to be stuck in a book that just doesn't appeal to me.

IS THERE ANYONE THE MIDNIGHT DANCE WOULD APPEAL TO?
Patient readers who enjoy books that make you work to understand what is happening. I think there's an audience for that -- where you don't want everything spoonfed, and also people who are just reading books in normal times, not pandemic times. Also, anyone who enjoys books featuring dance will probably enjoy this historical fiction fantasy dance book.

I was excited for this book and it did have some potential but sadly it was a DNF for me about 1/3 the way through.

This was definitely a tough one to finish. It took me YEARS! I think the world building was great, and the writing had a very lyrical prose. The imagery was lacking for me. I couldn't picture this world or get into the heads of the characters.

I loved the premise. I think that the plot was interesting, but getting me to the main conflict was very difficult.

I think that this is a fine book, but for me it was almost impossible to finish. I can appreciate why others would love it.

This book was super confusing. I felt like it was all over the place. I tried hard to finish this but I couldn't. Thanks Netgalley for the Arc

DNF at 66%

Despite the gorgeous cover that instantly drew me in, The Midnight Dance just completely lost me from the start. The story was beyond confusing and unnecessarily complicated for the reader to follow along. I didn't even bother trying with the characters, especially when the book starts off with high school level drama that I just wasn't there for, the main character is an idiot, and I think it attempted to be a romance but failed miserably. Hard pass on this one which is a shame, the synopsis made it sound so good.

Couldn’t finish reading this book, I just couldn’t get into it. I wish it was better written and the story more jaw dropping and catchy. Which it wasn’t better than anticipated.

I was granted access to this title through NetGalley, but all opinions written here are my own. I was intrigued by The Midnight Dance because there's a ballerina on the cover, and I dance, so yeah I wanted to read it haha! I was not expecting this to be a super intense fantasy/steam punk standalone, so prepare yourselves for that if you pick this book up.
Penny's story was actually quite interesting to me, I say actually because I went into this book thinking there would be a lot more focused on the ballet aspect than there was. As someone who has danced all her life, I was intrigued by the cover, but I didn't think I'd like a ballet-centered novel, that could get a bit repetitive. Instead, Penny is faced with this steam punk world of the Master of the Grand Theatro. Master has been tampering with all the ballerina's memories, but Penny starts to slip out of his control and realizes that he's not the dazzling hero all the girls think he is, in fact he's the villain of their stories. I loved the way Katz developed each back story for Master, Penny and Cricket because it always kept me guessing what would happen next, but it was never exactly what I predicted. I won't give anything away, as this is a spoiler-free review, but Cricket was definitely my favorite character. He was by are the bravest person in the estate, willing to risk his life to help Penny, and don't get me wrong she's a pretty kick-butt female lead character (always a bonus). If you haven't read this book, my only warning is that sometimes Master's backstory can get a bit confusing. There are chapters dedicated to his past, but I had a bit of trouble keeping track of his age and where we were in his timeline at some points. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read! I recommend it for fans of dance-related books and steampunk because I think that really brought it to a new level and kept things interesting. I wasn't sure how ballet and fantasy would mix but I think Nikki Katz did a good job combining the two.

The Midnight Dance left much to be desired. I wanted the retelling to be so much more rich than it was. The cover art reeled me in but the characters could not keep me.

This fell flat for me. It felt like the characters were being held at arms distance—I never got close enough to be attached or care about their lives. The main plot was sprung too early, which made feel forced into a place of attachment that I wasn’t ready to be in. The world didn’t quite feel fleshed out enough to be solid. I love retellings—this one was just too weak.

After assisting with a dance recital at a local performing arts high school, I have a new found appreciation for the amount of work and dedication it takes to be a ballerina. Often times we just think of the fluffy tutus and pointe shoes, forgetting that there are hours spent practicing holds and routines, mangled toes, and physical (and sometimes emotional) fatigue.

The Midnight Dance did a fair job of showing those elements of the art form while maintaining the mystery behind the fairytale retelling.

The setting was especially great. Grande Teatro was just the right combination of eerie and elegant. The descriptions of life inside of the finishing school maintained the mysterious nature of Master and lives of the girls. There were plenty of beautiful descriptions mixed in as well that really helped my active imagination set the stage for this story.

It took a bit to work through some of the plot elements, though. For me, some parts seemed rushed and not really fleshed out. I did like the twists that were thrown in, even if they were a bit predictable.

Overall, it was an original take on one of my favorite fairytales, and I think it's worth a read.