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ameliabiblio's review
2.0
I was interested in this book because I am a dancer. It was very well written, however, I found that Georgia and nearly all of the other characters are unlikable, with the most consistently likable character ending up estranged from Georgia by the end of the book. The subject material material that this book deals with is very serious, and it shows a different side. This usually creates an interesting and refreshing read, however, it caused me to dislike Georgia greatly. She made some very stupid decisions that ruined other lives around her. It seems that this could have been caused by her home life, but nothing is ever truly explained and the ending leaves the reader wanting more. Overall, the pretense is quite interesting, but the way the story is developed leaves the reader wishing that they had never picked up the book at all.
nessyfg's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of people hated this book because of the flawed characters, the terrible family the main character has, etc, etc. But, hey, this book represents a fragment of reality, maybe not yours (hopefully), but I personally can name a few people that are just like the characters in this story. I mean, teenagers can be mean, that's a fact. Also, lots of teens are manipulated by their environment and their family and tend to replicate their parents' behavior somehow. So, my thoughts on this book is just that this represents an existent reality, unfortunately. Also, the writing is very captivating even in its simplicity.
squirrelsohno's review
4.0
Martha Schabas’ debut VARIOUS POSITIONS has had a less-than-stellar reputation amongst my friends and other online reviewers, with a lot of hatred going towards it. I went into it not knowing what to expect other than ballet and sex. But something about the premise intrigued me, even though I am normally not a fan of contemporary books, nor do I know ANYTHING about ballet. What I found, though, was a book pitched as young adult that really should be on adult shelves only, a book about a girl going through a sexual awakening in the competitive world of ballet.
VARIOUS POSITIONS is about a 14 year old ballet student named Georgia, who has recently been accepted to the most prestigious ballet school in Canada. With girls pushing each other to do horrible things (become anorexic, lose their virginity to strangers, etc), Georgia has set her sights on the school’s notorious head teacher, a famed choreographer named Roderick. Famous for his harsh words and brash teaching mechanisms, he incites fear in most of the girls. Showing any emotion to his criticism, girls claim, is grounds for expulsion and the end to their ballet dreams. But for Georgia, he is the object of her affection. She imagines a relationship between them despite their massive age difference, and even thinks about having sex with him. Things only escalate from there.
This is definitely not a book for everyone. As I mentioned, I don’t think this book should be targeted at the YA audience. The book is heavily based on sex between teacher and student – Georgia with her teacher and then again between Georgia’s parents in the past. She spends a great deal of time fantasizing about sex, watching porn, and getting into compromising situations with Roderick. Although the protagonist is 14, she comes off more as a 19 or 20 year old, with her thoughts, mannerisms, and words. The publisher says this book is for teens aged 14-18, but I disagree with this. This is a book for girls 16 and up, if not adults outright, and I think marketing it to adults instead would have done this book a much greater service.
While I did not sympathize with Georgia, I did enjoy her narration, looking at it from a purely outsider perspective. Her thoughts were strange and repulsive, yet at the same time they draw the reader into her world. The life she has adopted for herself and decided to love is utterly fascinating, from the lengths these girls go to in order to succeed or their relationships with one another. Schabas portrays the trials and tribulations of young ballet dancers well, from their struggles with weight to the expectations put on their heads by their teachers, their families, and themselves. In addition, after reading this book, I really wanted to rewatch Black Swan. Totally random thought, I know.
The writing was for the most part strong, although there were a few too many awkward metaphors used too often, comparing smiles to leaving the lights on when you leave a room. Schabas definitely shows promise, but I think with better marketing, this book would have been a much stronger debut. It is not YA and marketing it as YA really did take the book down a notch for me.
VERDICT: A strong debut in a category where it doesn’t belong, VARIOUS POSITIONS is a well-written story of a girl’s sexual awakening in the world of ballet. But really, this book is not for young adults, and I would not recommend this to girls under the age of 16 at all.
VARIOUS POSITIONS is about a 14 year old ballet student named Georgia, who has recently been accepted to the most prestigious ballet school in Canada. With girls pushing each other to do horrible things (become anorexic, lose their virginity to strangers, etc), Georgia has set her sights on the school’s notorious head teacher, a famed choreographer named Roderick. Famous for his harsh words and brash teaching mechanisms, he incites fear in most of the girls. Showing any emotion to his criticism, girls claim, is grounds for expulsion and the end to their ballet dreams. But for Georgia, he is the object of her affection. She imagines a relationship between them despite their massive age difference, and even thinks about having sex with him. Things only escalate from there.
This is definitely not a book for everyone. As I mentioned, I don’t think this book should be targeted at the YA audience. The book is heavily based on sex between teacher and student – Georgia with her teacher and then again between Georgia’s parents in the past. She spends a great deal of time fantasizing about sex, watching porn, and getting into compromising situations with Roderick. Although the protagonist is 14, she comes off more as a 19 or 20 year old, with her thoughts, mannerisms, and words. The publisher says this book is for teens aged 14-18, but I disagree with this. This is a book for girls 16 and up, if not adults outright, and I think marketing it to adults instead would have done this book a much greater service.
While I did not sympathize with Georgia, I did enjoy her narration, looking at it from a purely outsider perspective. Her thoughts were strange and repulsive, yet at the same time they draw the reader into her world. The life she has adopted for herself and decided to love is utterly fascinating, from the lengths these girls go to in order to succeed or their relationships with one another. Schabas portrays the trials and tribulations of young ballet dancers well, from their struggles with weight to the expectations put on their heads by their teachers, their families, and themselves. In addition, after reading this book, I really wanted to rewatch Black Swan. Totally random thought, I know.
The writing was for the most part strong, although there were a few too many awkward metaphors used too often, comparing smiles to leaving the lights on when you leave a room. Schabas definitely shows promise, but I think with better marketing, this book would have been a much stronger debut. It is not YA and marketing it as YA really did take the book down a notch for me.
VERDICT: A strong debut in a category where it doesn’t belong, VARIOUS POSITIONS is a well-written story of a girl’s sexual awakening in the world of ballet. But really, this book is not for young adults, and I would not recommend this to girls under the age of 16 at all.
hello_sunshine's review
1.0
I definitely picked this up for the cover, but Georgia's story was kind of like a car crash. I wanted to quit reading, but I had to find out what happened. I felt sorry for her in the end and the whole thing was awkward and uncomfortable.
bookishblond's review
4.0
Fantastically well written, darkly disturbing, and very adult. Whoever shelved this book as YA must have been the same guy who wrote the synopsis inside the dust jacket. He obviously read a different book.
Like my fellow Goodreads reviewers pointed out, the synopsis is very misleading. This isn't really a ballet book and it definitely isn't a YA book. Georgia is only 14, but she is already a deeply disturbed individual. This might be connected to her home life. She is sex-crazed and it is subtly implied that society made her that way.
This book is beautifully structured and written. The author must have some kind of background in psychology. I can see why this book offended the other reviewers on Goodreads, but the author isn't saying that all 14-year-olds are sex maniacs. Instead, she's painting a gorgeous portrait of ONE individual that we, as a society, created.
Very interesting. Read it with an open mind. If you get a chance, go to your local bookstore and move all the copies of "Various Positions" from the YA section to Fiction.
Also, isn't the cover gorgeous?
Like my fellow Goodreads reviewers pointed out, the synopsis is very misleading. This isn't really a ballet book and it definitely isn't a YA book. Georgia is only 14, but she is already a deeply disturbed individual. This might be connected to her home life. She is sex-crazed and it is subtly implied that society made her that way.
This book is beautifully structured and written. The author must have some kind of background in psychology. I can see why this book offended the other reviewers on Goodreads, but the author isn't saying that all 14-year-olds are sex maniacs. Instead, she's painting a gorgeous portrait of ONE individual that we, as a society, created.
Very interesting. Read it with an open mind. If you get a chance, go to your local bookstore and move all the copies of "Various Positions" from the YA section to Fiction.
Also, isn't the cover gorgeous?
whichthreewords's review
4.0
Schabas does an excellent job depicting the blinkered thinking of a teenage protagonist who tries so very hard to be mature... but just isn’t, poor thing, and gets it all wrong.
megea's review
3.0
This is a difficult one. The subject matter is certainly unpleasant. But it is done well, for the most part, and captures the anxiety of being young and clueless, and how everything gets worse and worse because, what with being young and clueless, it is too impossible to talk to anyone for guidance and a reality check...
kwbat12's review
2.0
I really don't know what to think about this book, whether I liked it or not. I read the whole book in a single sitting, which says something, and the voice I found authentic, even if it is a perspective I rarely see in texts. I'm not sure where I expected things to go, but they didn't progress as I expected. The book felt reminiscent of Lolita, in the obsessive thoughts, although we are hearing all about the girl in the story. I leave this book unsure of how to proceed.
choosejoytoday's review
3.0
So I read three YA, ballet books within two weeks of each other. Of all, I think this is my least favorite, only because the main focus of the book is not ballet. I would argue that this is a sexual awakening story (to be read with the likes of the classic, Forever by Judy Blume), in which ballet serves as a lens to give a unique perspective. So yes, it serves a purpose that the main character is a ballet student, and yes, the story was a unique story, but I was not prepared to read about a 14-year-old girl's discovery of herself as a sexual being. It felt authentic (though I don't have much to compare it to), and I really liked the choice that Schabas made in not having the ballet teacher complicit in the advances made by Georgia. It would have been too cliche.