Tammy Greenwood is a master storyteller. Her latest portrays the highly competitive world of ballet, which was fascinating.

An arresting exploration of love and commitment in a world of dance and ambition. Thought provoking in the way love shapes our lives, even amidst inevitable changes.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The Still Point" ist eine Geschichte, die authentisch Einblick in die Welt des kompetitiven Balletts gibt. Das Buch folgt mehreren Familien und Tänzerinnen, deren Mütter, sogenannte "Dance Moms" stehen besonders im Vordergrund. Freundschaft, Feindschaft, Rivalitäten und menschliche Abgründe - auch all das gehört zur Welt des Tanzes dazu. Teilweise verliert sich die Geschichte etwas zu sehr in den Problemen, insgesamt ist es aber ein lesenswerter Roman.

This book was a RIDE and made for us dancers. You could tell how much the author knew about dance and how she eloquently incorporated ballet terms. She explains them, but it doesn’t feel like the whole book is definitions, it’s woven in extremely well. As someone who grew up dancing and en pointe, it was incredibly interesting to see all the layers and studio dynamics that I recognized. While I ended up quitting in high school to focus on competitive dance and because the studio got so toxic, I still saw so much of myself in these pages.

While at times it did get confusing who was who, it was so immensely gripping and I just wanted to see what happened next with every POV there was! There’s about four switching POVs, one of the daughters, her mother, and two other mothers. They are all so intertwined and had their own situations and issues that were so interesting to read about. So much was going on in this book, but it was super easy to follow and you couldn’t help but keep reading! It also deals with so many topics that are important, including the impact of social media, infidelity, grief, bullying, and more. As someone who has around 15 years of dance and ballet under their belt, I personally think the author did fantastic at educationally providing an insight into the competitive world of ballet.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this e-ARC!

I really enjoyed this one. I loved the alternating character chapters. It had great drama and even though I don’t do ballet it felt like the author highlighted the industry and competitiveness/jealousy very well. The ending was so satisfying yet unexpected. I loved it. Thankyou so much for the Arc!

Loved the behind the curtain look at the world of Ballerinas and Dance Mums. What a riveting and engaging story! Full of twists, turns and an onslaught train wreck of people so bad, but impossible to look away.

Olive and Bea were best friends before that fateful night one summer . . . Now the competition for a prestigious Parisian scholarship amps up as they all begin to turn on one another , as do their parents. But what actually happened that night?

The characters were well written and developed as is the intertwining drama and chaos that follows this group of 'friends'.

I grew up a dancer myself, and so quite resonated with the world set forth in this story. The competitive and cutthroat world of ballet is truly well portrayed.

The ending left me somewhat unsatisfied, or perhaps confused is a better word, but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend.

Thank you for an opportunity to read an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is not just a story about ballet. Much like Beartown, the sport is used as a setting to explore complicated themes of jealousy, achievement (both how it drives a person and how it can tear a person down), grief, and the love in mother-daughter relationships. While I enjoyed the Dance Moms-esque drama, I was also pleasantly surprised by the intricacies in these girls' and womens' lives.

The book contains short chapters (sometimes consisting of just two pages), with each shifting between different narratives - Ever, who is still dealing with the loss of her husband and the emotional and financial repercussions of that; Bea, an already driven young women who's motivations to work hard in the world of ballet become heightened when faced with the opportunity for a scholarship in Paris; Lindsay, a wife in an unhappy marriage, faced with the reality that her daughter does not want to continue ballet (in a sort of sunk-cost fallacy mindset with everything they have invested into the sport); and Josie, who's daughter devolves into the novel's antagonist with her cutthroat attitude about coming out on top in the end.

I loved the drama, the relationships, and the very moving passages about grief. I believe the fault of the novel lies in the length - it could've done with a few more editing passthroughs. The second half of the novel picks up, as the stakes become higher, tensions rise with the upcoming performance, and characters make big moves, but the first half felt a little too slow, and in some parts, repetitive or outright unnecessary.

The biggest strength of the novel was its ending. Without diving into spoilers, it was unexpected and unsatisfying in the most satisfying way because it was true to life, despite the outcome not being what the reader may have wanted.

I've never read a book from this author before, but her experience as a ballet mom truly shined through and the reading came across as personal in the best way possible. I'll keep an eye out for her future releases from now.

The competitive world of young ballerinas is well explored in this well written novel. As we meet each of these talented young girls, their motivations and expectations are woven into the jealous and competitive along with the desires and dreams of their mothers. Recommended.

I thought I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was five, which I think every other five year old also believes, so I'm not sure that's an original experience. Anyway, I certainly don't have what it takes to make it if these are what other ballerinas there are! Fun, rompy, dramatic.

The Stillpoint by Tammy Greenwood is a story about mothers and one father who are acquainted by the ballet Conservatory where the girls go to learn dance ever it’s one of the mothers of a top ballet student name B””. Her only real competition is a girl named Savvy her mom is named Josie and together they are the troublemakers in the group and then there’s Lindsay she’s the mom of long time best friend to B, Olivia or at least she was until the party at the beach right before the conservatory summer break B doesn’t remember what happened she only has slight memories of that night and although Olivia knows she isn’t talking to B in is now best friends with Savvy. So when fall session starts they learn a professional ballet dancer name Etienne Bernay is not only coming to help them train but will be directing their winter show the ballet the Nutcracker and he will also be giving a scholarship to the best student for the spring session at the Conservatory in Paris,France. This causes a buzz amongst the students but amongst the mothers some of them get a tinge of psychosis. Everyone believes their daughter should be the one to get it ever who recently lost her husband wants her daughter B to get it because due to her husband dying while surfing and neglecting to put that on his insurance form as one of his hobbies, she didn’t get his life insurance, Josie thinks her daughter Savvy deserves it because she has worked so hard according to her and Lindsay believes her daughter olive deserves it. This causes a lot of drama but there is way more drama in the book such as Lindsay who thinks her husband Steve is cheating on her at the same time she is flirting with the guy she’s selling a condo to not to mention Josie believes she has the upper hand in the Comtesse due to the fact the director is living in her guest house but she has other problems for example Mark who left her for the dental hygienist but wants Etienne out of his guesthouse. There’s also a lot of periphery drama with the dancers the families and although this may sound like a lot it really isn’t I’ve really enjoyed this book I have no interest in before this book I had not a clue about ballet just what normal people who have no interest in it know and I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only negatives I had was I found that B was a very boring character in Savvy wasn’t much better I also found B’s inner thoughts about savvy to be unrealistic because her opinion of someone who treated her so badly wouldn’t be so positive she almost came off as two vanilla along with her boring personality. Having said that there is so much drama in this book and although they had a lot of people in it I didn’t find it was hard to keep up and as I said I enjoyed the book. It’s a definite recommendation for me for those who like drama and I almost forgot they’re also filming a documentary while all this is going on and I can’t believe I forgot because I love Lotto. I want to thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Couldn’t put this down. I was captivated by the twists and turns and just loved this story. One for fans of Bunheads, Center Stage and Taylor Jenkins Reid.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ebook in return for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for the chance to read The still point by Tammy Greenwood. This is the story of 3 teenage ballet dancers, and their "dance" moms. The chapters have different narrators and are short, so no confusion on who is narrating. I found the start a bit slow, but not enough to stop me from reading. Lots of drama from both the ballet students as well as their Moms. Overall I liked the book, and the ending was a surprise for me.

It's their last year of high school and their last year at the ballet studio where they've grown up. But this year is very different. Not only is Bea still mourning the death of her father, Ethan, her former best friend, Olive, is now besties with Savvy, the mean girl of the studio. Meanwhile, Owen, one of three male dancers, suddenly wants to spend time with her.

While Ever wonders what happened between Olive and Bea, she is struggling to keep her head above water while also desperately missing her late husband. Meanwhile, Lindsay is very much not missing her husband, Steve, who still lives with her, though she suspects he's cheating. And newly single Josie has become unwilling landlady to Etienne, visiting the studio to direct the Nutcracker, award a scholarship, and apparently stir up more trouble.

As the three young women and their mothers seem to careen toward disaster, a wildfire, exacerbated by a Santa Ana wind, threatens their small town.

As much as the author expertly captures contemporary teenagers (even those who dance), it is the mothers' stories that are most captivating. And she manages to build suspense as the reader wonders what happened the previous summer to create a fissure in Olive and Bea's friendship. #TheStillPoint #NetGalley

This book felt familiar and somewhat predictable from the start. Even though I could see what mainly was going to happen I still kept reading. However, the ending fell a bit flat.

Several times the author uses “girlfriends” in an outdated, heteronormative way.

The Still Point is set in the ballet world and follows three young women and their mothers when the predictable world of their ballet studio is thrown into disarray by the arrival of a new ballet teacher, one who will direct the annual performance of The Nutcracker, is offering one lucky student a scholarship to a prestigious ballet academy in Paris, and has a small film crew documenting the process . This story follows the competition between the mothers and their daughters as they vie for the scholarship, as well as a myriad of personal dramas including grief, a fading marriage, an unplanned pregnancy, financial woes, social media bullying, changing goals, ambition, jealousy, friendship dramas and so much more. I thought the characterisation was well done. The characters felt real and (mostly) relatable. I’ve certainly known them or people like them. The actions of a couple of characters initially struck me as a little over-the-top but I soon recalled similar real life incidents and realised that they weren’t so far fetched after all. The author’s knowledge of the ballet world shone through, as did her love for it. Although it is a love free from rose-tinted glasses. She’s clearly aware of issues and possible downsides and has included many as plot points in this novel. The overall atmosphere of the ballet studio was well-captured; teens spending a lot of time together and being friends with each other juxtaposed with the reality that they are also rivals and competitors for starring roles and scholarships. Ditto the parents who have seen each other’s children grow up and want to see them do well and succeed - but not at the expense of their own child. The storytelling was strong and engaging, with the multiple points of view contributing to a broader and richer picture than just one or two would have provided. I appreciated the ending. It wasn’t a fairytale type ending but it did have most characters on a realistic and positive path. An enjoyable, entertaining read you can sink into.

This book is very grounded and not that interesting. I would have liked more tension, more poetic language!
Even the revelations at the end are too timid, and none of the secrets being revealed are that shocking.

I really enjoyed this book! I danced for many years until college, and it was so much fun to be immersed in the studio world again! Luckily for me, neither my favorite studio nor my mom were anything like those depicted in the story, but I have danced at studios that are and it was so entertaining to get wrapped up in the drama for a while. I loved the multiple POVs and thought each one was written to feel very unique to each character. Unsurprisingly, I was very partial to Bea, the 17 year old ballerina, and I thought it was so clever to include her voice along with those of the chaotic moms that controlled the lives of their ballet machine children. This book made me feel so much nostalgia for an art that I used to be a part of and wish I’d never stopped.

If you have never read anything by T. Greenwood/Tammy Greenwood, this is an excellent place to start. It's a captivating story with big and little heartbreaks and issues, set in a quiet beach side community (we all know that's where the real drama happens) and a ballet school. Ambition, art, money- these things all elicit big feelings and this story has it all. Great exploration of mother-daughter relationships and families.

4.5 stars This is a firecracker of a book. Don't pass it by thinking you can't relate to a bunch of ballet moms. This book deals with loss, youthful indiscretions, social media, infidelity, competition, and so much more. The competition for a scholarship to the Paris company brings out the worst in the dancers and their parents. Real Housewives plus Dance Moms plus teenage angst equals a superb story.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this e-arc.*

Set in a coastal California town, The Still Point follows three mothers and their daughters who are in their final year of ballet school. When brilliant dancer/bad boy Etienne Bernay arrives to direct the school's annual Nutcracker performance and award a scholarship to one dancer to study in Paris, the competition heats up.

I happily went into The Still Point expecting one thing and got something else. That's not bad mind you, just not what I was expecting. I wanted a book that was all about the world of ballet so I could live vicariously through the daughters and imagine myself dancing en pointe in a frilly tutu spinning round and round.

What I got was a deliberately paced, character driven family drama that focuses on the mothers and their lives, rather than their daughters, with the ballet taking a backseat. The story is told from alternating POVs of all the mothers, but of only one of the daughters.

With the comparison to the TV show Dance Moms, I expected a lot of theatrics, backstabbing or just bad behavior in general from most of the characters. Everything is fairly run-of-the-mill though, from the secret Bea keeps about the night on the beach to all of Savvy’s antics.

Ultimately, The Still Point feels like a loving mother's take on the world of ballet - which it actually is, as Greenwood explains in the Author's Note. She herself is a "dance mom", her daughter is a ballerina, and this book is a "love letter" to ballet and a "story of what happens when ambition becomes a dark thing". The Still Point will likely appeal to a lot of people.

Thank you to Kensington Books, Tammy Greenwood, and Netgalley for an advance digital copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and given voluntarily.

3 stars

Recommended for readers of:
General Fiction, Women's Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Fiction