Hi all, I’m Camille from the Cherry Jellybeans
blog and Goodreads, and I was chosen to review En Pointe by Chloe Bayliss as
part of the AusYABloggers Review Tour.
En Pointe by Chloe Bayliss
Pages: 264 pages
Publication: 30 Sep 2019
Published by: Pantera Press
Camille's Rating: 3.5 stars
View on Goodreads
Synopsis:
“Have you ever had an addiction? An obsession? Have you ever wanted something so much that you can’t imagine your life without it? For me, that’s dance.”
“Have you ever had an addiction? An obsession? Have you ever wanted something so much that you can’t imagine your life without it? For me, that’s dance.”
This is a story about never giving up on your dreams, no
matter what life throws at you.
Chloe Bayliss was born to perform and thanks to a lot of hard
work and determination, she’s on her way to being a ballerina. At sixteen, she
gets accepted into an international dance school and everything she dreamed of
is about to come true.
But then overnight a mystery illness takes Chloe from
starring in Swan Lake to clinging to life in a hospital bed.
Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined the
hurdles she would face – but also how she would eventually triumph. Against all
odds, she finds a whole new way to flourish, and despite the challenges she
faces, Chloe never stops dreaming big.
En Pointe is the real-life story of how an aspiring ballerina
became an inspiring young actor after overcoming a life-threatening illness.
Miracles really can happen, even if they’re not the ones you
asked for.
I enjoyed reading this Young Adult
autobiography by Chloe Bayliss. It was my first time reading a story like this
one. As a mid-30s young woman, I found that I didn’t enjoy this autobiography as
much as I could have because I felt that I was in the wrong age group to
appreciate it. However, if I picture myself back in time to when I was my 14 or
15-year-old self, I believe I would have enjoyed her story more than I do now.
This story was both heartbreaking and entertaining in equal measure. At the
start of the story, Bayliss is a dedicated dancer whose life is dance, dance
and more dance. She has no time for anything else while her family uproot their
lives to accommodate her every need. But that all changes six months before
Bayliss is due to graduate with her Diploma in Dance and Performance. She is
rushed to hospital with acute kidney failure and spends an awful eighteen
months fighting off life-threatening disease.
It was good to see that as Chloe grew up
during her illness, she learns to grow up and see the world through a different
lens. The sixteen-year-old Chloe realises it wasn’t just about her dancing
anymore as she must lean on others to survive. Although it must have been tough
to hear from various experts that Bayliss shouldn’t and wouldn’t be able to
dance anymore, especially when at her lowest. She meets and spends time with
her family members again and begins to have better relationships with them. Her
sister is a real character, and her parents are beautiful people. I can’t imagine what they were going through
and wouldn’t wish the events that happened to this family on my worst enemy.
It was heartbreaking and harrowing to read about
the various experiences that happened while Chloe was in the hospital. I can
only imagine what it felt like to have the nurses put sandbags on her chest to
stop the bleeding after her second biopsy. I would feel as annoyed at the
doctors as Chloe did when she knew she was about to have another seizure, and
no one would listen to her. It would
have been excruciating. It was
interesting to read about her first crush and her wanting to have sex and live
like a normal teenage girl too. I remember what it was like to be angry at boys,
especially when Jake left her right when she needed him most. In turn, all
these experiences shape the dancer Bayliss becomes once she is strong enough to
defeat her limitations and graduate finally.
By the end of the story, I was
glad to know that Chloe had beaten her illness but found her to be a little
selfish in the way that she made her parents relive this horrible time. I also
think the ending to be overdone and inflated. The conclusion might have read
better if it was divided into two chapters instead of one.
Overall, I found this book to be both
inspirational and hopeful in turn. I hope teenagers read this and know that if
Chloe Bayliss can defeat her illness and achieve her dreams, anyone can.
I rate this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Absolutely lovely and thoughtful review.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine going through what Chloe did.
I've noticed that these situations can really bring out traits in people that weren't really there beforehand (in regards to your comment about Chloe being selfish and making her parents relive the horrible time).
I hope that people who read this book (especially younger people) find it as inspirational and hopeful as you did.