This was a great ride - fun and dark and twisty, I raced through it and the other book in this duology. Great, horrible characters and I loved the world of ballet.

I was not able to read this one in full as it was archived before I was able to download it successfully.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins, Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra for my arc of Shiny, Broken pieces in exchange for an honest review.

Some minor spoilers for book one Tiny Pretty Things. You can read my review of the first book here: https://lifehasafunnywayofsneakinguponyou.wordpress.com/2020/11/16/tiny-pretty-things-by-dhonielle-clayton-sona-charaipotra-review/

Book 2 picked up after the summer break following the events of book 1. Once again it focuses on the three characters Gigi, Bette and June.

I have mixed feelings about this book, it did feel like it rehashed a lot of the plot line of book 1 but with the characters turned on their heads. It was good to see Gigi turn away from her special snowflake attitude of book 1 but equally I felt that the lack of romance and true rivalry made it less of a page turner than book 1.
The writing was in all honesty quite poor it was just rehashing the same thing over and over and I've never read a book (and this goes for book 1 too) where people are always 'plopping down' so much.
In all honesty this fell really flat for me. It still had a lot of the issues that book 1 did I don't feel like that got cleaned up but while book 1 had its faults the story was still interesting. For book 2 overall the story just didn't grab me. I just felt like none of the characters were likeable or made you want to route for them.

A brilliant follow up to Tiny Pretty Things, Shiny Broken Pieces follows our protagonists as they decide what their future will be. Heart wrenching, shocking and beautiful!

Shiny Broken Pieces is a phenomenal sequel to Tiny Pretty Things. It concludes the duology that took us into the world of competitive ballet. The new dance season is high-stakes as dancers compete for the coveted company slots at the end of the year. The story has diverse characters and handles important topics such as eating disorders, drug abuse, racism, bullying, etc. If you enjoyed Bunheads or Center Stage, this is a series you need to read asap. Truly cannot recommend Tiny Pretty Things and Shiny Broken Pieces enough!

This is a great second novel! It was a fast paced and entertaining read. I really enjoyed it, and can't wait to see the Netflix adaption.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

Even better than the first book!

The drama heightens in the second instalment to this explosive series.

And I've just seen that it is supposed to be coming to Netflix, I can see this making addictive viewing.

After all the awful events that occurred in Tiny Pretty Things, you'd think these ballet dancers would have learned their lessons.

Perhaps being kinder to one another.

But where's the fun in that.

As the new season begins, the older level 8 dancers must compete for not only their roles but their spaces to continue on at the ballet school.

What's unique about these novels is that not one of the characters are particularly likeable, they all have flaws and a real mean streak (think Mean Girls). But that actually made me like the story more.

Can friendships heal as these teenagers gravitate their way through growing up and learning that not everything can go their way despite their own desires?

Brilliant fun, with a fair bit of ballet, diverse dancers and blokey boys (I can't stress how important this is to convey in ballet). The "twist" ending was weak, the girl who is punished has objectively behaved less badly than those recruited to replace her, but it did allow the plot to tie up in a satisfying manner. I particularly liked the sensitively handled debate around accepting a place at a second tier company vs. going to university with a boyfriend, and I was satisfied to see that character achieve happiness and independence.