The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Final Rating: 3.1/5

  
   I have arrived at the realization that a book I do not regret reading, captures within the first half and charms me long after the lamp chain should be pulled for the night. Although, my realization may seem common sense, there always seem to be books that weaken my attention in the beginning, then radiate at the last page unexpectedly stay within my thoughts days after and then there are "combination" books like The Painted Girls.

   This novel started with such brilliance easily attributed to Ms. Buchanan's finesse with the voice-over of the simple storyteller or in this novel's case two narrators. Descriptions of the sinister rues of 19th-century Paris combined with the graceful yet unsavory veneer of the ballet stage created a premise that this reviewer could not look away from. Historical facts and elements created an unforeseen education on: culture, coquettes, guillotines, art and the whole early atmosphere of the book brought back my own memories of awkward childhood attempts at the "barre".

   Even though the novel sparkles with the aforementioned use of many essentials, atmosphere, plot and reminiscent of any recommendable Historical Fiction title holds its own beautiful flow with commendable transition from light and dark topics of history and human nature. This overall brilliance finished in sheer disappoint when the tension in the middle sagged, any possible buildup wavered between the two story lines, palpable disturbing events were introduced and repeated and then finally The Painted Girls came to abrupt frenzied ending that left more questions of arrival than an actual feeling of completion.

-read and purchased on my nook