I wish I could be more positive about 84 Ribbons. I really wanted to like it. To begin with I thought it was going to be a mixture of some of my favourite dance movies – Centre Stage and Save the Last Dance – and to some extent it was but I could not warm to our protagonist Marta Selbryth. Rather than feeling sorry for her when things went wrong in her life I found myself getting more and more frustrated with how she responded. She came across as petulant and whiny. I felt sorry for her boyfriend and best friend who had to put up with her outbursts.

84 Ribbons had promise but needed a more likeable protagonist to really have made an impact.

84 Ribbons by Paddy Eger is available now.

For more information regarding Paddy Eger (@PaddyEgerWriter) please visit www.paddyeger.com.

For more information regarding IBPA (@ibpa) please visit www.ibpa-online.org.