Taking place in Minnesota in the 80's, we follow Rosa as she fights to break free from her tyrannical ballet Master father and finally move to her own beat. Rosa lives in the shadow of her perfect older sister who was supposed to be the next ballet star of their Minneapolis dance studio, but is now paralyzed after an accident that Rosa believes to be her fault. She must dance for her sister, because she no longer can. When it's announced that none other than Prince is not only using their studio as a rehearsal space, but also auditioning students for a benefit concert, Rosa will do anything to get in front of her hero and finally dance with full abandon.

Hell of a debut! Probably one of the strongest I've ever read. Torres does an incredible job with exploring the grittiness of this time period. Rosa and her family don't live in the greatest neighborhood—prostitutes, drunks, and druggies line the streets as Rosa makes her daily walks to and from the studio. The author also doesn't shy away from showing the harsh and grotesque aspects to ballet. There is a lot of pain and guilt all throughout this story—literal and emotional. These authentic characters really shine through and the writing makes you feel fully immersed in the time period.

This is incredibly well diverse with representation from the lgbtq+, disability, Latinx communities. There are also quite a few triggers: alcoholism, queerphobia, police brutality. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to a younger reader, but I do think this is a really important book and I hope it gets into the hands of a lot of readers.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Thanks to Knopf Books, Netgalley and Turn the Page Tours for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*

"Dancing ... it's like crashing into the music until a story emerges from the wreckage."

Aside from my main loves science fiction and fantasy, historical fiction has always been an automatic draw for me. Whether it be nostalgia from a familiar era or the promise of learning something new from a different perspective, I love picking these titles up to see what I'll find between the covers. When it came to The Turning Pointe, I was pulled in immediately from the first synopsis and promise of spending time in the 80s. That combined with the familiar world of dance and presence of Prince made this is a story I definitely wanted to follow.

Rosa's world grabbed me from the very beginning. I loved the writing style and how lyrical everything felt, especially when it came to details of dance movements and the everyday happenings of her surroundings. Being dropped in the dance world brought back plenty of memories for me, especially when it came to the inclusion of terminology, and certain aspects of the story made me feel as if I were watching some of my favorite dance movies all over again. This being set in the 80s was also a plus, and the vibes really jumped off of the page in the detailing of everything from makeup and clothing to the music and energy of the different spaces inhabited by the characters in the story. So much imagery popped in my head at every turn and the visuals that played back with each suggestion brought it all to life.

As much as this was a story about dance, there's also a lot to say about passions and forgiveness. Every character on the page faces some sort of struggle when it comes to this, whether just one of these topics or both, and it's great to watch each one finds their own way throughout. Although it wasn't told in first person, every inner dialogue came through and I rooted for them to have happy endings and find peace in their decisions. I could have done with a little more development and not so short and sweet solutions in some cases, which perhaps could have been solved with a little more time with certain characters, but as this was ultimately about Rosa's growth into her own person, I didn't mind it as much by the end.

Overall, this was such a fun read, full of both vibes and heart, and while I know this is a complete story for this point in Rosa's life, I'd definitely be down to see where her future career blossoms from here.

I loved the voice of the MC, Rosa. Loved all the descriptions and all the early 90's references to Prince, Ralph Maccio, Walkman's, etc. Thoroughly enjoyed all the characters, but wish some had been more developed. I wish we saw more on the AIDS crisis than just magazine covers. I wish we saw Nikki more in his element instead of just hearing descriptions of his makeup and clothes. I didn't really buy the Kat arc, but whatever. The ending does wrap up a little too easily when the story was nothing but struggle the entire time. Still, the story tackles a difficult subject with grace and I very much admire the story and the author. I will keep an eye out for this author and recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading about families that must find their way back to one another. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

CW: death, AIDS crisis, police brutality, homophobia, alcohol abuse

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the read.

Let's just start with the angle that hooked me - the ballet. As a former hobby ballerina, I loved being immersed back into the dancing world. First of all, I never really did much pointe, but being back in the world of leotards, lambs wool, and dancing classes thrilled me. At the same time, it's so clearly connected to Rosa's passion and expression. I loved how The Turning Pointe explores the relationship of Rosa to both ballet and dance in general. Dance can express us in ways words cannot.

And for Rosa not only is ballet a sore subject, but also her relationship to the dance she feels in her soul is different. This connects to a general theme of dreams in The Turning Pointe. She must figure out if her dreams are truly her own and if it's worth pursuing someone else's. If the weight of family expectations and guilt is enough. The family relationship, while complicated and laden with guilt and issues, was fantastic to read about. To see characters struggling and not knowing how to reach out, ships passing in the night, until a tipping point.

An immersive glimpse into 1980s Minneapolis, told from the perspective of a teen dancer struggling under her father/dance teacher's demands and the guilt she feels for her sister's paralyzing accident.

You ever read a book that seemed like it was just absolutely meant to be one of those amazing coming-of-age teen movies that came out of the 80s and 90s and is now a cult classic?

The Turning Pointe is that book for me.

The things I loved:

➸ The 80s lingo was so immersive! A little hard to follow for someone like me who grew up in the 00s, admittedly. But really fun to read nonetheless!

➸ The descriptions of dancing tied to the protagonist Rosa's emotions. Ballet for her (and for most dancers, let's be real) is pain, but also connections to a family she desperately needs and wants to be there for her. Meanwhile, funk and jazz fill her soul and lack the trauma she associates with ballet, but she also feels that participating in that form of dance distances her from her family. It's a heart-wrenching, bittersweet dilemma.

➸ Nikki, the queer, cross-dressing boy Rosa finds herself falling for, is so unapologetically himself. In Reagan-era USA, this is a beautiful, powerful, humbling thing to see. And let's be honest, even in today's supposedly more enlightened times, it's still beautiful and powerful and humbling.

➸ The dynamics present in the Dominguez family reflect the dynamics of so many ethnic minority families, especially in families that come from collectivist cultures. The theme of forgiveness - both of self and of others, and especially of the long journey needed in order to deserve it - is a difficult one to portray, and Vanessa L. Torres knocked it out of the park. I think this may be the thing I loved the most about this book. Family is a complicated issue for a lot of people, especially when for those who are taught all their lives that family is all we have. And this book encapsulates everything that is ugly, complex, tangled, and yet ultimately beautiful and heartwarming about it.

CONTENT WARNINGS: fatphobia / diet culture, graphic description of injury, queerphobia, police brutality

Thank you, Knopf Books for Young Readers, for allowing me to read The Turning Pointe early!

Vanessa L. Torres' debut is a magnificent window on the eighties, an irreverent era of transformation. And that is what this story is about. Paired with a beautiful prose and a splendid heroine, The Turning Pointe really surprised me, especially as Torres included a genderqueer love interest. Looking forward to share this story with students.

3 stars

In this debut novel, Torres provides readers with all of the material they anticipate in a dance-related novel, and much of those expectations are wrapped up in the identity and antics of the main character: Rosa.

Rosa - who was born to dance thanks to the legacy her like-minded parents have bestowed upon her body and lifestyle - is experiencing a fair amount of struggle when readers meet her. Her post-puberty body has created some challenges and unkind attention, her parents are struggling with alcoholism and extreme guilt, and her sister was fairly recently in an accident that Rosa immediately reveals she caused. This final note is the most interesting in terms of potential development, and Glo, Rosa's sister, is the most intriguing character of the bunch, especially when it comes to her art. On top of her family members, Rosa is also dealing with typical growing pains as well as a budding romantic relationship.

The components are good here, but I wanted more depth and less reliance on tropes and what felt like gimmicks. When I think of this novel for the long haul, I'll think of the excessive discussions of bodily fluids, Prince, and Rosa's feet. I was on the dance circuit myself for a very long time, so while some of this gore was expected, it was a bit overdone at times. The Prince components had the potential to be charming (who doesn't love him?!), but this was so heavy handed that it became distracting. Nikki, the love interest, is not only conveniently named but also automatically referred to as "darling Nikki," for example. Will someone wake up the next morning and find that "Nikki wasn't there?" Wait and see. The references to LGBTQ+ issues of the time also felt rushed and too surface. These topics are important - both historically and in conjunction with the dance setting and related characters - and they deserve a more thorough treatment here.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and also developed an "if only this..." wish list as I read. There's a lot of promise in these characters and in this book overall, so I'll be looking forward to another - hopefully deeper dive - from Torres in the future.

This was a good book overall. I really liked the characters and the plot. I will definitely be purchasing this for my high school library. The plot was engaging and kept me interested throughout the 600+ pages.

I was excited to read this bc I love Center Stage and am forever chasing YA novels to give me that high. (Tiny Pretty Things so far was the closest.)

This book for me though....was not it.

I think there are aspects to like here--I think the Prince-centric 80s Minnesota setting is cool, I think the queer teen drag scene is cool, I think it's cool to highlight the talents & struggles of dancers of color.

But the plot itself was SO SWEATY, and not just because of all the hard dance practices. (Rim shot) It just felt like I could realllly see the seams where the author wanted X emotional effect and therefore Y had to happen and therefor character had to do Z thing even though Z thing didn't really make sense. Like for example early on we see that Rosa's sister is a paraplegic and it's clear that Rosa is hiding something about that (even though it's her own narration which is already kind of a shaky narrative device in the first place, of like why the narrator is clearly hiding something from....herself?) But the reveal that (view spoiler)

If this were a Disney Channel movie I'd definitely watch it but the problem is dance movies can get by on super thin plots/character developments because it's nice to watch dance performances but dance BOOKS have a higher bar to clear and IMO this one did not do that!!

Rosa Dominguez was raised to be a ballet dancer, and while she loves dancing, she’s also never been given any other choice. Her father is a strict ballet Master who tears her down while pushing her to be flawless. The only thing keeping her truly tied to the studio where she dances is the fact that her musical obsession, Prince, practices in a studio in the same building. If she does well, she may be able to dance in his show. Meanwhile, she meets a boy named Nikki who refuses to fit into a box and who shares Rosa’s love of dance. As she finds herself increasingly drawn to him, she becomes increasingly torn about how to live her own life.

This book tried to tackle a lot, and yet it still felt like a slog to get through. I didn’t feel very invested in what was happening until about two thirds of the way through. It was a really slow start, and the kind of book that gave information when it was convenient rather than when it was logical. For example, Rosa’s sister Glo was injured and has seizures due to an event that we assume Rosa caused (or that Rosa implies she caused), but the reader is left wondering what that event was for a significant part of the book. Of course, this is done to keep the reader wondering what happened, but with it being told in first person narration, it felt odd to keep it “hidden.”

Also, while many topics were touched on, many also didn’t feel explored enough. Through hearing about Nikki’s experiences, Rosa begins to think more about AIDS and how many people it has affected - something she didn’t really think about before, since it hadn’t affected her personally. But this is so lightly touched on that without the reader already having a good background knowledge of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, they wouldn’t necessarily get anything out of the conversations that happen here. The obsession with Prince, meanwhile, was pushed and discussed so much that I found myself sick of it. That isn’t because it was Prince specifically, but because constant mentions of a person who is hardly in the book just isn’t particularly interesting. We do see Rosa talk about him less as the story goes on and she deals with other issues, but it seems like her obsession just shifts to Nikki.

The story also seemed to wrap up unbelievably neatly. I don’t want to give anything away, but I found myself not buying some of the sudden character shifts and plot points that had to occur in order for the story to end where it did.

All of that said - I can acknowledge where this is a case of this book just not resonating with me. I do think there are teens who would connect to these characters and who would appreciate this book a lot more than I did. I don’t think it was a bad book necessarily, but perhaps my lack of interest in the plot made me focus more on the negatives than the positives. I’m rounding up to three stars for this one because I don’t want to pull the rating down too low, as I think there is a lot here that could be meaningful to certain readers.