Book Title: Pointe
Author: Brandy Colbert
Published Date: April 10th, 2014
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: YA Contemporary
Standalone
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Theo is better now.
She's eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor.
Donovan isn't talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn't do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she's been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.
Disclaimer: This book was a personal purchase.
Review:
Um...
Um...
Holy catfish, this book was far more complex than I ever gave it credit for. It's not "just" a ballet book with kidnapping and anorexia subplots. It involves friendships, boys, choices and, even a more dark subject matter, rape and I think realizing that was important. There was definitely more than met the eye for this book. It tackled a ton of tough subjects and it was done well, really well. When you first start reading this book, you think it's going to head in one direction, but it doesn't and that really threw me off for a little while.
Theo didn't always make the best decisions, but that's what I loved about her. She was real, she was human and she was dealing with more issues than I had ever dealt with in my life. She loved and was devoted to ballet, something that never wavered throughout the book. She was loyal to her friends Sara-Kate and Philip. She had supportive and loving parents who she had put through the wringer. And there's Hosea, he's spoken for, but Theo cannot help but be drawn to him.
And then, there was Donovan. Her best friend who she hadn't seen in 4 years. In those four years there had been leads, but all had been false. Until the day, he returns. It's an ordinary day, a day much like the previous days. Except Donovan is back.
Theo is desperate to see him, to talk to him, but he's not talking, his mother is honoring his request to keep a low profile. So Theo has no choice but to wait.
Waiting is hard for Theo. She likes being in control but she cannot control this situation. She cannot control anything about Donovan's return and the legal case that will follow it. Because there will be a legal case. The person who took Donovan will be put on trial. Worst of all, Theo must testify about the last time she saw Donovan before he disappeared. Secrets threaten to come to the surface, but Theo knows that she can't keep quiet anymore. She knows that she must spill secrets that she's kept for four years.
The feels were definitely there in abundance. I cried a lot in the beginning of the book and I cried a lot at the end of the book, so major kudos to Colbert for giving her readers those all important feels. This book didn't read like it was penned by a debut author. It read much more like Colbert was a seasoned author. It was well written and beautifully written.
I think this book was incredibly important for reasons that you'll find out as you read the book. It touches on important topics and it does it with honesty. As I laid awake in bed after finishing it, I felt my feelings for this book only soar higher. I want to be able to give this book a full five stars, but I wanted to see Donovan more in the book. He was the one I wanted to know more about.
Yet I understood why he wasn't in the book that much and my favorite part between Donovan and Theo was at the end. It was beautiful, heartfelt and so damn perfect. 4.5 stars to this extremely important and beautifully written book. I definitely would recommend it to fans of contemporary YA and I will definitely read anything this woman writes.
