Book Review: The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk

 

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Genre:  YA, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: May 11, 2021  
Description:

"For fans of Sarah Dessen and Mary H.K. Choi, this lyrical and emotionally driven novel follows Alina, a young aspiring dancer who suffers a devastating injury and must face a world without ballet—as well as the darker side of her former dream.

Alina Keeler was destined to dance, but then a terrifying fall shatters her leg—and her dreams of a professional ballet career along with it.

After a summer healing (translation: eating vast amounts of Cool Ranch Doritos and binging ballet videos on YouTube), she is forced to trade her pre-professional dance classes for normal high school, where she reluctantly joins the school musical. However, rehearsals offer more than she expected—namely Jude, her annoyingly attractive castmate she just might be falling for.

But to move forward, Alina must make peace with her past and face the racism she experienced in the dance industry. She wonders what it means to yearn for ballet—something so beautiful, yet so broken. And as broken as she feels, can she ever open her heart to someone else?

Touching, romantic, and peppered with humor, this debut novel explores the tenuousness of perfectionism, the possibilities of change, and the importance of raising your voice."

I really loved this. The story, the characters, everything felt very real and raw. It didn't immediately impress me, but Alina's trauma, how she deals with it, and the introduction to a new environment and people keep you interested. 

Alina overall was a well-written character. Teenagers are not the easiest characters to write, but I'll say Mariko did a fantastic job. Alina was relatable, even if you're not a dancer. The way she reacted to the trauma from her leg injury and her dreams of being a ballerina felt real. She doesn't get over it immediately, but she also doesn't dwell on it forever. Seeing Alina slowly recover and accept what her life is now and how she can never go back was satisfying. This was character development done right. Sure she makes mistakesand catches herself backtracking, but what teenager doesn't. We all make them, even when we realize we're wrong anyway. 

I also really like Jude. He was such a cute character and perfect in getting Alina out of her shell. I'm glad that there were layers to his character, but not too much where he becomes too complex because that would've been too much for the plot since there were enough feelings going on already. Also, the romance between him and Alina was absolutely adorable. I liked how well they were together and how their dynamic/relationship wasn't the most simple, but also wasn't really complex. It was just perfect. Aside from Jude, I also enjoyed the supporting characters as well. They don't have the most perfect relationships with Alina, but what teenagers do anyways? It's the imperfect relationships in the story that help Alina realize what she's been doing wrong with her life, and I'm glad things happened the way they did because they helped her grow a lot as a character. 

I also really appreciated the racism that Mariko incorporated into the story. I've read books that included ballet before and this might be the first time racism, at least to this level, was involved. I don't really know much, or anything at all, about ballet, so this was an eye-opening experience for me. Mariko even tackled racism not only in ballet but also in school, because kids are kids and they say stupid things. I would say the more serious topics overall in this story were handled really well.

Overall, this was a beautiful book. 

Overall rating:  5/5