University of She

In the romance novel Variation, Rebecca Yarros explores the very real scourge of bigotry against ballerinas. I’m only being halfway tongue-in-cheek for this is a major source of stress throughout the novel – ala Capulets and Montagues. The protagonist Alyssa, the daughter of the Miranda Priestly of ballerinas, paradoxically can best be described as a principal ballerina with everything to prove. After an injury sets her back, she retreats to recover in private, but an irresistible coast guard from her past (Hudson Ellis) and a bad little girl with wild accusations (Juniper) turn her world upside down. WRITING: The writing doesn’t particularly grip me however Yarros does a lovely job of providing a cliffhanger or revelation at the end of every chapter, making it a real page turner or whatever the equivalent is for the audio version. This seems like such a small thing, but you would be amazed by how many authors end their chapters with bland, uninteresting occurrences like “and then he a...