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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just as fantastic as I expected it to be, October 14, 2009
This review is from: Tour de Force: A Love Story (Paperback)
Review by Gretchen Hoffman
I love ballet. Although I never got past intermediate ballet class as a kid, I love going to see dance performances, and if there's a book about dancers, you bet it'll pique my interest.
Gillian Kincade is an upcoming ballet star in the New York dance scene. Jacob Ferrar left the glitz of performing to become an artistic director, focusing on dance that glorifies God. When Jacob offers Gilly the lead in his play, she has to decide where she's supposed to be. But after an accident, the dancing future for both becomes uncertain, and they must learn to trust where God leads.
This book was just as fantastic as I expected it to be. (The cover alone made me want to read this! Especially since I love ballet.) The main characters were so fun, and the secondary characters were just as intriguing and well written as the main ones. I especially liked how real everyone was. Gillian and Jacob were not perfect by any means--they struggled with how to express their Christianity in everyday life and where the line is between tolerance of others' lifestyles and still sticking up for morality and truth. Sometimes it seems like the characters in books have it all figured out, but Gilly and Jacob didn't, and the book didn't end with them suddenly being able to perfectly balance their ideals with non-Christians around them. Life doesn't always have simple answers, and this book showed that. Plus, Ms. White did an excellent job of showing God's miracles. Although miracles seem rare nowadays, God is always faithful, and miracles today are just as real as they ever were. An excellent read. I will be getting more of Elizabeth White's books for sure.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
thought provoking, September 11, 2009
This review is from: Tour de Force: A Love Story (Paperback)
Every little girls dream is to be a ballerina, isn't it? I remember dancing for many years imagining what it would be like to be one. Unfortunately I have elephant feet and didn't get far (only took me 11 years to figure that out hehe)
So when Gillian (Gilly as her friends call her) get the opportunity to dance as a soloist there is no looking back - a whole new world opens up. But even more important to Gillian is her faith in Christ and how she displays it to her dance friends and family. To complicate her world she finds there may be more to life than dancing...
Tour de Force by Elizabeth White is definitely modern and thought provoking work of fiction. I was surprised by some of the topics and characters in her book (ie. her dance partner is gay, and her friend has an abortion) but in all honestly I do think it is a realistic look at the dance world and the characteristics of our fallen world.
I enjoyed White's heroine and her strong characteristics, yet innocence still in tact. I like that she presented the struggles right out and didn't side-step them but dealt with them.
A possible stumble for some people maybe that there are a lot of ballet terms in it. I like that White gives you the list of terms if your unfamiliar with them (it shows she knows her stuff), but it is easier if you actually know what they are or you'll be flipping a lot.
The only thing that bothered me was the minor detail of a minor character Graham the six year old nephew of the leading man Jacob(his sister died and he was the guardian). He reminded me more of my three year old instead of an actual six year old. He could have been cast as a three year old with the same effect. Anyhow, like I said minor detail lol
If you like raw emotion, a bit of romance, and some definite "issues" to be dealt with you'll enjoy this coming of age book a lot!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tour de Force, June 16, 2009
This review is from: Tour de Force: A Love Story (Paperback)
Reviewed by Cindy Loven
Gilly Kincaide, is an up and coming ballet dancer, with a bright future in New York. A small town girl from Alabama, she is a devout Christian, who lives her life out loud, with a positive witness to her fellow ballet troupe. An accident to another dancer places her in a lead role, which in turn thrusts her into two prominent ballets with lead dance positions.
I at first struggled getting into this book, becoming bogged down with the ballet terms, but I persevered and found a wonderful story. My personal tastes would have been fine, with subtle references to the ballet terms, instead of the in depth terms used.
The story unfolds with a former dancer Jacob Ferrar, now an artistic director of a ballet company, "discovering" Gilly for a part in the Nutcracker and even more important, wanting her to dance a original ballet he was developing for her in particular. However an accident, during a presentation to the board, threatens to end Gilly's career, and thrusts her into a whirlwind of confusion and faith testing situations.
This story will totally hold your interest as you follow along to see what develops between Gilly and Jacob. Your faith will grow as your see God work in each of their lives. This book is definitely worth reading. 326 pages [...]
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