Review: Dance With Me by Livia J Elliot

Blurb:

In a world of beauty, a ceramic-made ballerina awakens atop her music box. She must dance for her elven owners, and so her ballet goes on and on. They praise her elegance, her poise and balance, until one day she falls and her ceramic fractures–but the ballerina stands and dances again, ignoring her ever-increasing cracks. The music plays, captivating and demanding … but should she dance? Even when what she once loved becomes a trap? This is a dark fantasy exploring the confines of depression.

Review:

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and mourned the passing of time—or felt like your worth was slipping away with your youth—you might feel something stir while reading this. It’s a book for the perfectionist, for the people-pleaser, for anyone who’s ever felt worn down trying to hold someone’s gaze just a little longer. If I had to compare it to other works, I’d say maybe The Indian in the Cupboard meets Black Swan—but softer, stranger, more intimate. Truthfully, I haven’t read anything quite like it.

The plot’s deceptively simple: a ceramic ballerina brought to life, trying to dance her way into her maker’s heart, waiting and living only for that moment of joy in his eyes, struggling to hold on to his wavering attention, before time and wear take their toll. But beneath that, there’s this thread of fear—of being replaced, of not being good enough, of being seen and dismissed. There are moments of connection, of misread intentions, of love tangled up in insecurity. And while I won’t spoil anything, I will say this: it lands. Quietly, powerfully. Right where it needs to.

Livia has a way of painting vividry with her prose. There’s a nostalgia in this book’s setting, something that reaches back into my childhood, reaches into part of my soul that’s been forgotten. It sets a stage of innocence and wonder, and then layers on the darker melodies that life and time bring with them. And yet, it never loses its magic. On the contrary—it holds you somewhere between both.

The truth is, had I been presented with a book about a ceramic ballerina that lives in a cupboard, I’m not sure I would have read it. If I didn’t know Livia—if I hadn’t already come to respect her tireless work ethic and sharp intellect—I might have missed the chance to read this book early. The question of whether or not my respect and admiration for Elliot’s work is making this review lean towards endorsement is, I believe, the point. Because Livia has openly stated that this work is deeply personal. And in many ways, the trials of the Ballerina mirror the trials of Livia J. Elliot: writer, podcaster, illustrator, entrepreneur.

It’s these kinds of works I treasure the most. All writers, I think, are at some point guilty of writing to market, of tailoring to trends. But these days, I find it increasingly rare to close a book and feel the author’s soul imprinted on the page—to feel a deep, honest connection. Dance With Me is honest. It is vulnerable. It bares itself without shame. And it is, in every sense, a triumph.

On the Kickstarter:

The Kickstarter for the stunning, printed, illustrated, and signed editions of this book launched on May 6th. I hope you’ll join me in following the campaign—and, if you’re so inclined, back the project