The Painted Girls

Cover The Painted Girls
Tazer says:
As a dancer and ballet lover, I expected to lap this book up - but I didn't. I found it very hard to get involved in the story or to care about the three sisters. They never sprang off the page at me, for some reason.Unlike other reviewers, I don't mind the idea of writing in alternate POV's - I've seen that done very well in other novels. However in this book there wasn't enough difference between the "voices" of the two sisters, so I had to look at the chapter heading to know who was "speaking". It was as if the author was writing in her own voice throughout,and just threw a bit of bad grammar into the older sister's chapters in the hope that would make her sound different. It's obvious the author did her research and worked hard to be faithful to her historical setting. I just felt she didn't really get under the skin of her characters and therefore, neither did I.
Makhenz says:
Buchanan imagines the lives of a few of Edgar Degas' subjects, creating a story which is
...plausible, entertaining on the whole, and, apparently, consistent with the little bit of history known about them. Unfortunately, I did not find the first half of the book very engaging. It artistically portrayed the struggles of three girls, ages 10-16, to bring in enough money for food and rent, but the plot needed more conflict early on. Later in the book there are more dramatic and emotional conflicts -- personal, interpersonal, and societal -- well woven together to bring the book to a satisfying close.MoreLess
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