The Cranes Dance Audiobook

" I really enjoyed this book and thought it was very beautifully written. The author incorporated so many details about the competative dance world into the novel, that by the end the ballet itself began to almost develop into a layered and dimensional character. I found the protagonist's , Kate Crane, srtuggle with guilt and betrayal over her sister's, Gwen Crane, descent in mental illness extremely compelling. The scenes in which Kate describes in hindsight the increasingly strange behavior exhibited by Gwen, were the most emotional parts of the book to read and they often left me thinking about them days after. The only reason I did not give this book five stars is that pacing seemed very off toward the end of the book. The last few chapters seemed to drop off and the ending did not attempt any type of closure. The abruptness of the last fourth of the book dissappointed me, but it is definitely worth reading. "

" Someone described this to me as "a funny Black Swan," but that doesn't quite do the book justice. The Cranes Dance is a very astute observation of a variety of caregiving and mentoring relationships--chiefly Kate's co-dependency with her fragile sister Gwen--and all fear, responsibility and manipulation that goes along with them. I thought Kate's descent went on a little too long, and the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly, but otherwise it's an absorbing read and many of Kate's observations are laugh-out-loud funny. "

" I really loved this one - a lot more than I thought I would. Meg Howrey's voice is authentic, modern, and consistently amusing. I can't wait to read more by her. "

" This story is about two ballet dancers in a ballet company in New York and their trials and tribulations with their careers, their relationship with each other, and their difficulties with life in general. I'm not sure why I even finished this audio book. I was a bit intrigued about a ballet dancers life style and curious about something I have never even taken the time to wonder about. I kept thinking there must be some big surprise or revelation so I listened to the end despite the horrible voice of the reader. She totally didn't match the character (age) and her reading style was really annoying. In the end I was still disappointed and would not recommend wasting your time with this book. "

" I am not sure why I read this whole book. It was rather depressing. "

" A fun bit of fluff (even if it is about depression). "

" Interesting to watch the relationship between the sisters - and to have a glimpse of a professional dancer's world. "

" The book fascinated me. It showed you the behind the scenes of the ballet. It really captured me. "

" Okay, but not an easy read. "

" I agree with Entertainment Weekly, which calls this "Black Swan without the hallucinations." Very interesting character studies, and also interesting view into the world of a professional ballet dancer. "

" Fun read narrated from a real, no filter, call-it-as-you-think-iit voice. Love the insight into dance world counter culture. "