Slammerkin and Pas de Don't Book Reviews

 Hello bookworms! Welcome back to a double whammy book review post! I finished two books yesterday and thought I would share my reviews here. The first book I finished was a dark historical fiction novel called Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue. The second book I finished was a sweet romance Pas de Don't by Chloe Angyal. Let's start with Slammerkin!

Slammerkin Book Review

Slammerkin is a very dark, graphic, and brutal depiction of impoverished women in 1700's England. Please be aware that there are triggers for rape, forced prostitution, slavery, violence, sexual assault, forced abortion, murder, the list goes on. Now, let's get into the review.

    The main character of Slammerkin is a young teen girl named Mary Saunders. She has big and bright dreams of wealth, fame, and just an overall better life for herself. Instead she starts out living with her mother, cruel stepfather, and baby half brother in a cramped cellar. I don't want to give much away of this book because I find that the less you know, the better the reading experience will be. Let's just say instead of life getting better for Mary, it gets worse. Much, much worse. However, her fighting spirit and optimism for a better life never dies, which is in itself admirable and endearing. 

     This book is so dark, sad, and just plain old violent. However, I absolutely loved it. The writing style was unfrilly and very honest and sincere. No flowery, lyrical phrases, just blunt descriptions. Mary was an unlikeable character honestly, just with how she treated and viewed people and the way she thought mean things, but really do you blame her after everything she went through?? I don't blame her, so I don't hate her. You kind of root for her to get to a better place in life, even long after you realize it's never going to happen. The ending shook me to my core and greatly saddened me. I just sat there, absorbing what I read, shed a few tears, and then still the book stayed with me. I gave it a full five stars, loved it, will reread it, and I recommend it to anyone who can handle reading accurate yet harsh depictions of 1700's life in England for impoverished people, specifically women. 

Pas de Don't Book Review

Pas de Don't is a much lighter book, thankfully lol! Yet it does deal with serious topics such as equality in ballet, women's rights specifically, and senior housing inequality in Australia. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Pas de Don't is at its heart, a sweet and spicy ballet romance. We have Heather who lives and works in NYC's ballet company and is engaged to Jack Andersen, a ballet god amongst men, but who happens to be a cheating jerk. So, Heather moves to Australia to work in Sydney's ballet company and get a fresh start after her breakup with Jack and grow as a ballerina by herself. She meets our hero, Marcus, in the funniest way, I will let you discover how, but just know his nicknamed becomes Butt Guy lol. 

    Sparks and chemistry fly between them and Marcus becomes Heather's tour guide for around Sydney, showing her good food, cool places, and koalas! They grow closer and closer, but there's just one problem. Sydney ballet company has a rule: Pas de Don't (instead of Pas de Deux) meaning people cannot date/be romantic/hook up within the company. Immediate firing will happen to the couples involved. So keeping their relationship a secret, the book progresses on! I won't give anything else away, but there is a very happy ending with all loose ends tied up nicely, just how I like my romance *swoon*

    I gave this book 4 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed it. The romance was so sweet yet spicy in several scenes, Marcus was a great guy who sincerely apologized when messing up. Heather was a strong woman, learning to be herself and show her strength to be brave. I loved the side characters who all added something to the story. I loved the setting of mainly Australia (which I loved learning about) and also NYC which I always love learning about. The ballet world was fun to read although I admit I skimmed through some long dancing scenes which continued endlessly sometimes, which is why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The romance was great but they just didn't WOW me enough to make them a fave couple, hence 4 stars yet again. 

   However, I highly recommend this book for a fun summer read by the beach especially if you love ballet, Australia, and strong women characters. 

That concludes my reviews of Slammerkin and Pas de Don't! I hope you check these books out if interested! Thanks for reading!

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