This story was interesting, although I am not comfortable with some elements. But to disclose those would be a spoiler.

A heart wrenching, enthralling read. Sarah Bird artfully explores the humanity of those dancing for survival, as well as their struggles, secrets, and friendships. The financial struggles, politics, policed sexuality, and the role of modern medicine are also brought to light through the captivating storyline. Definitely would recommend.

After being denied her Nursing pin, Evie ends up as a nurse in the somewhat underground Dance Marathon circuit during the Great Depression. Tending to the participants, including the handsome star Zave, Evie becomes part of the family, and therefore part of the show. But lines blur between what is for show and what is real: the characters are not necessarily who they seem on stage. As a nurse, Evie feels the need to heal everyone, but what aspects of people truly need healing, and where is it society that needs to change? (I did not know much about Dance Marathon's in the 1930s and was shocked - even google dance marathons to see the results that come up - it's astounding.)

I couldn't put it down! I read quite a bit of historical fiction, and it's not common to find a book as refreshing and new as this one. Even with the book that begins with the climax and then goes back in time, I genuinely had no clue what was coming next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are all my own.

This book was a different type of read for me. It was set during the great depression. I enjoyed reading about the dance marathons that occurred as a way to escape the real world. Plus it provided an opportunity to win cash as a prize. I was impressed with the amount of research the author did. While I did not care for the romantic side of the story and there were too many characters who appeared and then disappeared to never return, it was an interesting and unique view of that time period.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I'm going to be honest. I WANTED to love this book. Like, a lot. The cover sucked me in from the get go. It looked like the kind of historical fiction novel I would love. But it just didn't do it for me. At times it was hard to follow. There was a lot going on and often times I felt like things were kind of vague. I can see how some people may really enjoy this story. This one just wasn't for me.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is set during the great depression. In it, you will meet interesting characters that will take you on an even more interesting adventure. At times, I was very confused with what was going on but I think that was the whole point. We get to see things through Evie's eyes and at times she does go squirrely. Her words - not mine.

Other than that, I felt like I was missing little pieces of information. Like I wasn't seeing the entire puzzle until the end of the book. I'll admit that the beginning completely sucked me in and I was very intrigued with Evie's character and what might have gone down. Unfortunately, once things started to confuse me, I started to like her less and less.

Then again, I probably would act like her or even worse than that if I went through what she did. Which is why we had to go back and forth to see what actually happened. Lies, truths, and secrets all come out to play and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat too.

In the end, I'm happy that I got the chance to jump into this. It was interesting to see what life was like for these character during this era and how they viewed what was happening politically too.

This story takes place in Galveston, Texas and in Chicago during the Great Depression. Evie, the main character, decides to leave behind Vinegar Hill and an abusive mother to attend nursing school in Galveston, Texas. She attends the nursing program there for three years. After finding out about Evie’s dark past as a vaudeville dancer, the director refuses to give Evie her well earned nursing pin. Evie leaves town and ends up meeting some marathon dancers who change her life. Now she finally feels like she has family and people who care about her. Evie ends up dancing in one of the shows with Zave, the show’s main star. This book focuses on Evie and her relationships with the dancers and also the current struggle of the Great Depression. I enjoyed this book but felt very disappointed with the events leading to the end of the story. It left me feeling very disheartened. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced preview of this book.

I really enjoyed the dance marathons the author shed light on. I wish Bird expanded on the marathons much more as opposed to weaving numerous plot threads . Bird certainly possesses ambition - in my opinion too much so. I felt the plot took on deep topics somewhat head-on, and I was disappointed when the writing didn’t reflect their intensity. The tone of the book was just too simplistic not matching the serious subject matters. I must add I didn’t buy the plot totally - a little too far fetched for my reading taste. I did feel the harshness of the era along with the struggles people endured.

The characters were definitely eclectic and just enough was revealed to give you a feel of their past and their present.

I suggest thorough editing - a few historical instances were way off the mark, a pet peeve I detest when reading historical fiction. Fact checks a must!

Great effort but lacking something I can’t quite put my finger on, call it a vibe, a feel, whatever, it missed something of an IT factor for this reader. Perhaps if there wasn’t so much going on in the narrative it could have worked but as is it’s just too busy with a lack of strength it should have owned.

The years of and following the great depression caused a great deal of hardship for most people. Dance marathons were a way to survive, though they took a toll on the dancers. This is an interesting story about the times.

Watching and reading about the huge dance marathons during the 20 & 30's, is fascinating. A time period right after the roaring 20's that was full of happiness and liveliness, comes a bleak time of unsurety, the Crash of '29. Some people stood in long lines for food and others became creative and desperate to dance their days away at dance marathons for food and cash. Some towns banned them considering it disrespectful and disruptive behavior, but the endurance of these dancers gave hope to others. You were at least guaranteed 3 healthy meals a day and were able to sleep 15 min of every hour......No thanks...

This was a story set in the depression in the United States. Story begins in Texas with Evie watching the Starllite Palace burn into the sea. Then the story goes back to Evie's life and how she came to be at that place at that time. Reading the story taught me about dance marathons and prohibition during this time. I was swept up into Evie's story and rooting for a happy ending for her. Along the way you will meet a zany cast of characters that are there for Evie. Give this book a chance and I think you will be swept up.

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I would definitely be recommending this book to readers on my Instagram bookstagram account.

This was not an easy review to write; I wanted to love this and really thought I would - a story of marathon dancers, student nurses, friendship, potential romance, historical fiction? Yes! But, not really… The writing was gorgeous, the plot is such an interesting one, but the characters were so flat and insipid. The romance part isn’t and is just frustrating; I couldn’t really see making Evie so incredibly naive given the mother she grew up with, but, regardless, it held my attention.

Again, the writing is terrific but I hoped for more character development and less repetition.


Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this title. Opinions shared are influenced by nothing other than my reading experience.

I accidentally started review for this book that I was writing for another book.. I will update soon when I'm done reading! I'm sorry

I kept starting this book, walking away to read something else then coming back and starting over. I just could not get engaged with the characters and the pace of the beginning just could not keep my attention. I did finally finish it and I think the writing is very good and the story does build and drag you in. I received an ARC from the publisher St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley and I appreciate the opportunity to access this book.

You know how you think you're reading a story you've read 100 times but somehow, at some point it's not at all? That was The Last Dance on the Starlight Pier. My only exposure to a dance marathon was the one in Stars Hollow when Dean and Rory broke up; but I do want to read more about them if even 3% of this was true. For those who read The Four Winds, this is the anecdote to that, hope during the Great Depression with the hunger and desperation at the edges the threat of it being more plot device to explain motivation. The cast of characters was great, and I really liked Evie as the narrator. If you want your historical fiction heavy on the descriptions and colorful cast with only glimpses of the harsh reality of the crash,, this is a book for you.

I enjoyed this book but also thought it a bit sad too. Evie seems to be doing all she can to escape her circumstances and yet life continues to throw curve balls at her.
Evie is kinda feisty and determined. It was a good story.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

It's the early 1930's, the eve of the FDR era, and in a country with more similarities to present day than one would think, desperate hopefuls are participating in punishing dance marathons just to get by. Elvie Devlin, a victim of circumstance on many levels who only wants to gain status as a registered nurse, finds herself caught up in this world, and tells her story against the background of Galveston Texas. I've loved Sarah Bird's writing for years, and here she shows her hand in writing about a part of her beloved state unexplored before, bringing to life the era, the people. Loved it.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier
Sarah Bird
Release date: 11 Apr 2022

Synopsis:
"Set during the Great Depression, Sarah Bird's Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a novel about one woman—and a nation—struggling to be reborn from the ashes.

July 3, 1932. Shivering and in shock, Evie Grace Devlin watches the Starlite Palace burn into the sea and wonders how she became a person who would cause a man to kill himself. She’d come to Galveston to escape a dark past in vaudeville and become a good person, a nurse. When that dream is cruelly thwarted, Evie is swept into the alien world of dance marathons. All that she has been denied—a family, a purpose, even love—waits for her there in the place she dreads most: the spotlight.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweeping novel that brings to spectacular life the enthralling worlds of both dance marathons and the family-run empire of vice that was Galveston in the Thirties. Unforgettable characters tell a story that is still deeply resonant today as America learns what Evie learns, that there truly isn’t anything this country can’t do when we do it together. That indomitable spirit powers a story that is a testament to the deep well of resilience in us all that allows us to not only survive the hardest of hard times, but to find joy, friends, and even family, in them."

Review:
I LOVED this book!! Highly recommend - definitely 5 stars!! Great characters, fantastic storyline, beautifully written tale! Please put on your TBR list. I'll be buying a copy of this book when it is released next April.

Galveston - vaudeville - The Depression - nursing school - Houston - dance marathons - West Texas - Dust Bowl - Chicago - Prohibition - Capones - mother/daughter issues - "reversing sexual inversion" - Hoover & FDR - nuns - "silver showers" - resilience

My only quibble would be: how & when did these dance marathons end? It would have been nice to read how long an actual marathon went - how many days were these poor souls holding each other up? Did the "regulars" always win the marathons?

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This was too much of a slow build for me unfortunately, and covered almost all of the same ground (albeit more slowly!) as "They Shoot Horses Don't They?" – which I highly recommend watching/reading if you are interested in dance marathons. Depression-era dance marathons are a vivid setting for a story, a fascinating cultural practice that does not exist now, but reminds me of the theatricality and faux-melodrama of professional wrestling. So while I was primed for the premise, the execution of "Last Dance" left much to be desired. I think the flash-forward in the opening fails to give enough information about anyone or anything to really hook the reader, it's really not much of a cliffhanger, then we jump back in time and track the main character Evie's painstaking life at nursing school, etc. To me, the pacing felt pretty tedious until Evie joined the dance marathons (which, for me, was the reason I picked up this book), but even then, the author makes very odd creative choices (introducing a grandmother, abandoning her), making the love interest completely unavail., etc. – I just couldn't get on-board with this story.

An interesting historical fiction about the dance marathons during the Great Depression. The author brings to life a unique event in a time of economic downturn and poverty. I enjoyed following the character through her journey.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Sarah Bird for the advanced copy of Last Dance On The Starlight Pier. #NetGalley #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier