I really wanted to love “Last Dance on the Starlight Pier” by Sarah Bird, but unfortunately I found it average at best. It started off well, but, after Evie left nursing school, I had a difficult time staying invested in the story and found myself skimming much of it. It did pick up again toward the end, but much of the story just seemed to drag on and on. The book is very well researched, but the characters never came alive for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier
by: Sarah Bird
St. Martin's Press

Set in the time period of the Great Depression, Bird's novel covers several social themes while centering around the dance marathons popular during this time. Main character Evie Grace Devlin had a harsh childhood, with aspirations of becoming a nurse.

The book delves into many social and political issues, as we follow Evie's journey to leave her past behind and make something of herself. Not only does she attend St. Mary's School of Nursing, but she also becomes immersed in the world of marathon dance competitions. The people she meets along the way are complex and diverse. She struggles with trust, acceptance, and love, as she navigates life.

Many of the occurrences in the book are harsh, grim and gritty, as is the language. Many are struggling to survive emotionally, physically, and financially. I found the topic of dance marathons to be a fascinating, if somewhat shocking, lesson into that way of life. Issues of morals, class, socio-economic levels, and sexual orientation are woven prominently into the story, along with resilience and acceptance.
The book kept my interest to the end.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press
for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#NetGalley #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier

Last Dance On The Starlight Pier provides a look at what people did to survive during the depth of the Great Depression in 1932, by focusing on the phenomenon of dance marathons. I learned a lot about what was involved in producing and living through a multi-day dance marathon. I also enjoyed learning about Galveston, Texas. That was the good part. Unfortunately, the main character, Evie Grace, just didn’t resonate with me very much and I felt the book dragged a lot, until near the end. Evie's actions/decisions didn’t seem to mesh with how smart she was supposed to be. I also felt that her sudden epiphany which changes her attitude toward LGBTQ characters wasn’t particularly realistic for the era; it felt very anachronistic.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The narrator, Cassandra Campbell, did an excellent job with the many voices and accents.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook and to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for access to this e-ARC. This complimentary copy was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. This book will be coming out April 12.

Typically, when reading historical fiction, I feel the need to at least have a dual timeline with current day so I can feel familiar with at least some aspect of it. This book had some dual timeline elements but the bulk of "current time" was set during the Depression in the 1930s and it was so, so good.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird was an incredibly well-written book that exposed me to a setting I'm not familiar with (dance marathons/vaudeville/nursing school in the 1930s) which would've felt extremely foreign to me but it was held together through the indomitable Evie Grace. As you learn about her life and you're with her as she undergoes some pretty major changes, your heart just breaks but you can't help cheering for her.

I definitely don't want this to be my last Sarah Bird experience and am grateful for a book showing me that maybe I need to open my eyes a little more to historical fiction.

Frenetic look at a period of desperation and how people survived. Focused on the child of a widow who is the world’s worst stage mother, a child who was the financial support of her family. Trying to make it on her own, she is accepted to nursing school where she spends 3 years under the protection of a friend whose family controls Galveston. But on the eve of graduation she finds that her dream is in shambles due to the machinations of her mother. There are scenes that make no sense. For example, arriving in Chicago she hails a cab while being penniless. She hooks up with a mob controlled dance survival troupe working as both a nurse and a con, stirring up crowds. It reads at times like a frenetic Perils of Pauline reel, yet the handsome love interest has interests elsewhere. There is a lot of action and adventure, high tension and shiftiness. Who can you trust? Most of all, can you trust yourself to make it through the hard times and danger?

I thought this book was GREAT! A young girl in Texas rises above her abusive childhood in a whirlwind of opportunities and adventures amid The Great Depression. This book was wonderfully packed with factoids from that era, from common vernacular to politics to cosmetic trends, which I found fascinating. The story was solid and “woke” even given the timeframe in which it was set. The imagery was vivid and the story flowed well - I devoured it, couldn’t wait to read whenever I got the chance. Highly recommended - I can’t wait to read this author’s other works, I am so appreciative of this introduction.

This was a new author for me, and I enjoyed this book. Written during the great depression it was depicting dance marathons as a way to make some much needed money. Evie has had a hard life with her mother and finally makes a break, but her dreams fall apart as things come out that had been hidden. This story depicts the hard life so many endured during the depression. I would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, I am under no obligation to leave a favorable review the opinions expressed here are my own.

Last dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird was the first book I have read by the author. I was riveted through most of the story, especially the scenes with the marathon dancing, which I always used to love watching in movies. While I thought Evie Grace was a strong young woman, she definitely made bad choices, and often without thinking them through. However, adding in the additional political information about FDR just slowed down the pace of the story for me. Overall I enjoyed it, and will look forward to another book by Sarah Bird.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Evie wanted nothing more than to leave her background in vaudeville and her difficult (to say the least) mother Mamie behind so she lied in order to get into nursing school. Unfortunately, it all comes out just before her graduation in 1932 so, denied her pin and her dream, she finds herself back on the circuit, this time of the dance marathon. She's hired as a nurse, of sorts, for the dancers but finds herself dancing, paired with Zave. The handsome and suave Zave has a secret. This moves back and forth a bit in time and between Galveston and Chicago and it's always atmospheric. Evie doesn't always make the best choices but the desperation of the Depression rings in her choices. Thanks to netgalley for the ArC. Interesting characters and the marathon setting made this a good read.

There was a lot I liked in this story but a lot I didn't like. Many of the characters were enjoyable and the scene, set in the Depression and the world of marathon dancing, was interesting. But, at the same time, I gnashed my teeth every time someone referred to homosexuality as a disease, something curable. Yes, I know some people felt that way and some still do. But to feel the joy associated with the idea of "curing" it was too much for me. That along with the horrible scene when Evie was 9 and in the burlesque show and the sappy ending all resulted in an uncomfortable less than satisfactory feeling at the end of the book.

A decent historical fiction set in the early 1930s dance-a-thon scene. It seemed to try to put in one too many social issues (dust lung, should we try to "cure" homosexuality, nursing, the great depression, the mob, families...). I will recommend it to historical fiction fans.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC and Libro.fm for an ALC :-)

I wanted to like this book. But I also wanted it to be interesting. We don't always get what we want.
The most I had ever heard about dance marathons game from Gilmore Girls episode where they did one in Stars Hollow. So basically, I knew nothing about them. I thought it would be an interesting topic and take on a historical novel set in the time of the depression. This just isn't something that is regularly talked about from that time period, and I think it had the potential to be GREAT. Instead it was SO BORING and so full of political agendas. Like today's political agendas as much as the time of the depression. I thought because of the topic it would be a lighter take on the time period and not so heavy. But shortly in to the book it brought up WAY under age dancing at burlesque shows, pedophilia, then it led in to genderism (agreed that was an issue) and curing homosexuality, plus the political talks of President Herbert Hoover. It was just a lot of agendas thrown in. And maybe its the time of my life or the season of our own pop and political culture that I just don't want to "escape" into another heavily issued book.
Plus, did I mention it was boring. So I made it to 75% and skimmed the rest. Because honestly I didn't care, and I figured I already knew what was going to happen. And spoiler alert: I was right in having it figured out.
So, 2 stars feels generous to me.

I had never heard of dance marathons, but enjoyed this story and learning about all that is involved with the marathons. I liked the character Evie but she made some poor decisions. Rich in historical detail, this was a very good story.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier started off slowly for me but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. I liked many things about this historical fiction novel, including the time period - Texas during the Great Depression - and the look into the hard scrabble world of dance marathons, The main character was very likeable and I was rooting for her throughout. The story touched on many issues such as different types of love, self-acceptance, yearning for what is lost and seemingly unattainable, class differences, and friendship in its many forms. The author vividly describes the harshness of life during the early 1930s but also manages to infuse a sense of hope, determination and resiliency in the story. A well-written read.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press ans Netgalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this was historical and about dance so I requested it. If I had realized it was during the Great Depression I probably would not have read it. Not exactly a happy time period. I stay away from WWII novels for the same reason. It is the story of Evie, her dad dies and her mother is cruel. Good times. She is able to get a scholarship to a nursing program to get away from her horrible life. Unfortunately her past catches up to her and she ends up going back home. She calls on a friend of the family and discovers the world of dance marathons and they just happen to need nurses. I found some videos online about the dance marathons in the 30s and 40s. Crazy stuff! The book then takes an unexpected turn toward the gay community of the 30s which was fine but just unexpected. I just felt like Evie said she was going to change the world but we don't see that. She finally stood up to her mother, which was long overdue. I wanted to see the change she said she would make.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I really enjoyed it. I knew nothing about the dance marathons that took place during the Depression, and it was fascinating learning about them. And given that this is historical fiction, there was definitely some drama in the storylines that accompanied the history, but it kept me interested all the way through. I loved the ending - it was a perfectly satisfying way to complete it all. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance digital copy!

Sarah Bird's Last Dance on the Starlight Pier unveils the dance marathons of Great Depression, set in Galveston and Chicago.

Evie Grace Devlin worked to escape a dark past. When her dream of becoming a nurse is threatened, she finds herself in the spotlight of dance marathons. The dance marathons were a way for people to come together to escape the real world and have an opportunity to have food and shelter and a chance to win cash prizes.

For me, this was a different aspect of the Great Depression that I had not been familiar with. I enjoyed the resiliency of the characters and the idea that there isn’t anything this country can’t do when we work together.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion

Set in the depression era, most of the story takes place in Historic Galveston, Texas. I enjoyed reading the author’s view of Galveston during those years. With the depression, prohibition, vaudeville and a presidential election looming in the backdrop, readers follow the life of Evie, a young woman trying to make a decent life for herself after getting off to a bad start during her childhood.

Evie has managed to get a scholarship to a Catholic nursing school, but lied on her forms about her past. She immediately gets off on a bad foot with the head of the school and after an exemplary three years, she is turned away without her nursing credentials.

Soon Evie finds herself thrust back into the life she grew up in, only instead of vaudeville, she is doing the dance marathon circuit. Evie falls in love, faces adversity and eventually lands back on her feet before the story ends. The last portion of the story moved along quickly and was a bit confusing, but I feel that was the author’s intention.

I really enjoyed this book, even though some of the events near the end seemed a bit unbelievable for 1930’s Texas.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review.

LAST DANCE ON THE STARLIGHT PIER is one of those historical fiction tales that somehow manages to glamorize a really rotten period of history by making the suffering of a group of young people seem like a ‘family-of-choice’ that will struggle through together and be better for it all. The Depression in Texas was not that type of an experience and even though author Sarah Bird has created characters that bond together through adversity, the lives they might have led were truly miserable. I understand the alternative would not have been as compelling a book. But the ending felt really odd to me. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier was a page turning tale of a girl named Evie.

Evie grew up on the Vaudeville circuit where her dad was a popular performer. As an adult, she makes her way to nursing school but never receives her pin because of her troubling past. She falls back into the performing world via the dance marathon circuit but gets mixed up with some crooked characters along the way.

To be completely candid, this book was very messy. This book could have gone through another round of editing before the galley was released. Besides being riddled with typos, Evie's character was filled with contradictions. She would say or do something at the end of a paragraph only to contradict it a few sentences later.

One of these such incidences was her relationship with star performer Zave. In some paragraphs she described their love like siblings, but then would quickly shift to being romantically in love with him before switching back. There are times where Evie acts immature and naive only to turn around and be confident and demanding. Both instances, plus some unmentioned, were confusing as a reader trying to understand the characters.

The plus side was that the writing is easy to read, the pages turned, and the story had an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the execution was sloppy.