First Position: A brand-new spicy romance of forbidden love. A passionate and thrilling debut for 2023!

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The dual narrative of Sylvie and Jocelyn was fantastic, with incredible pacing! I so badly wanted to know what happened between all the characters and how Sylvie’s fall from grace came to be. I had moments of both fiercely loving and hating both the FMC’s and wanted so badly to be proud of where they ended up. This is definitely more of Sylvie’s story but it is ultimately about their relationship and what happened to and between them. Heather couldn’t help but notice it was a very nice ass … even by ballet standards, sitting high and round above hamstrings so defined they looked like bridge cables under his tanned skin. Whoever this guy turned out to be, she’d never be able to forget that under those sweatpants he had a perfectly sculpted butt.” For some reason, my default is to defend her shit as reasonable. “It’s rehearsal—she’s got to be hard on us.”

First Position: A brand-new spicy romance of forbidden love

So edgy, so different, with a constant undercurrent of tension whether on the stage or in the bedroom... Raw and addictive. I loved it.' She was] exactly where she was supposed to be. The thought fuelled her muscles, buoyed her jumps and made her feet faster and more precise than usual, her body anticipating each note and clinging to every balance as if it was unbearable to let go … She had been broken and betrayed, but she’d found the courage to break free, and that’s what she was now: free, whole and more powerful than she’d ever known.” Well, I don’t know—how am I supposed to read that? In my head? Whose head should I be in?” He doesn’t answer before I rail on. “Maybe it’s just that she hates me, and it’s really that simple.”

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I really, really enjoyed this read and would recommend it to anyone looking for a tense (re)becoming of age story about a Ballerina recovering from a toxic love affair, while falling for her ballet companies new star. I listened to the audio book narrated by Savannah Peachwood and Summer Morton. The audiobook is fabulous and I can not recommend it enough. We are in such similar careers, to keep it separate is better. You’re working with the person all day, and then you’re with them at night. It’s like, too much.” There's one really good scene here--it's when we see a ballerina injure herself mid-pirouette and the main narrator basically says internally "awful, but great. now the rest of us have a chance"--and I found that tension to be delicious, and I wanted more of THAT. But instead, for most of this book, we follow Sylvie (mostly, sometimes Jocelyn) while she trains, does drugs, goes to sex clubs, doesn't feed herself, etc, etc--and maybe this IS a realistic portrayal of ballet life, but it does not a novel make. This NEEDED a through-line, some sort of plot, and it just didn't have that.

First Position by Melanie Hamrick: 9780593638149

Even though there is no sound, everyone can hear the scream from within me. So loud in my own head that I almost want to cover my ears. I almost lose my absent voice.’ So edgy, so different, with a constant undercurrent of tension whether on the stage or in the bedroom… Raw and addictive. I loved it.’ The ballet world is glamorous, artistic, beautiful and fascinating. But it’s also dark and cruel. It’s competitive. One day you’re it, the next one you’re not.Asked if she ever saw herself married, Melanie said: “I don’t know, I’m kind of like, a live-in-the-moment type of person, so who knows.” I also loved the theme of friendship and how redemption can be found in your love for others. I could see that in her relationship with Jocelyn and Alessandro. By building them up, she inevitably finds the courage to be the dancer she was always supposed to be. There are often more rivalries than friendships in art as competitive as ballet, so when you find these true friends – it's essential to hold on to them and treat them like the unique jewel they are. Sylvie and Jocelyn have their own chapters where they tell their story to the reader on their own terms. Both describe their perceptions of their past and present – starting with when they first entered the NAB. It is never confusing and instead highlights the tragedy of what Sylvie went through. The pacing is consistently a medium pace that only slowed down on a few brief occasions, making this book a pleasant read in terms of pace.