Ballet Books / Doll Heads Coming Home
Mar. 27th, 2026 09:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowazaleaI finished the first Drina book, Ballet for Drina, and started immediately on Drina's Dancing Year. Wow, these are so good! I actually hate the character of Drina's grandmother, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to, because she's always described as being "kind" to Drina, and...
Apparently the grandmother is not over the death of Drina's mother. The way the grandmother treats Drina about her dancing passion made me feel so constricted, I almost couldn't breathe sometimes. But the revelation that Drina's mother was the famous ballerina Elizabeth Ivory made me hate the grandmother even more. Like, that was a secret she had no right to keep. Grandmother is clearly the narcissist and Grandfather is the enabler -- they adhere perfectly to the formula. All these other adult characters are so nice to Drina... Miss Whiteway, even some random ballet critic that never met her before, and her own grandmother treats her like trash. Drina begins crying uncontrollably in the department store when everything starts to come out, and her grandmother is so harsh. Does the "Stop crying -- what will others think? Compose yourself" business my mother did to me. It's a bunch of weighty stuff, and all her grandmother can do is shame her for crying in a public place. Moreover, after Drina's exceptional performances that have all the other adults gasping over her, she rides home with her grandparents in frosty silence repeatedly because grandmother doesn't approve of the ballet. Not a word of praise. The only thing that bothers me about the series is that I'm not sure I'm supposed to hate the grandparents as much as I do. The grandfather is sympathetic to Drina but always goes along with what his wife wants, even when it hurts Drina, so he can go in the trash can, too.
I am on the second volume of Hinako Ashihara's Forbidden Dance. Actually, I am done with it, but I haven't finished all the "extra" stuff yet. I always dislike the extra stuff at the end of manga volumes, because I never have any interest in reading it, but I don't feel like I'm done until I do. I'm always so happy when a volume doesn't have that stuff.
Forbidden Dance is lighter reading than Drina. No parents or grandparents to deal with, just rivals, lovers, and vying for that ultimate goal. For the main character in this series, that goal is to be a member of an all-male dance troup called COOL, because it's just so, I guess, cool, and I don't understand her goal, because I would never want to be, but I still enjoy reading it. And there's actually no gender-bending in it, believe it or not. I like gender-bending sometimes, but it would have been unnecessary trope-y stuff here.
My two doll heads, Lorien's and Glynnis's, are in customs in Chicago right now. I couldn't believe the photos when Dollmore sent them. They have transformed these heads into breathtaking dolls. I feel for the first time like I actually have a Volks SDC Kurenai like I always wanted, because I've never seen her with a decent face-up before. And I had no idea that Glynnis would look this wonderful -- an inexpensive doll to begin with, and 12 years old now.
Apparently the grandmother is not over the death of Drina's mother. The way the grandmother treats Drina about her dancing passion made me feel so constricted, I almost couldn't breathe sometimes. But the revelation that Drina's mother was the famous ballerina Elizabeth Ivory made me hate the grandmother even more. Like, that was a secret she had no right to keep. Grandmother is clearly the narcissist and Grandfather is the enabler -- they adhere perfectly to the formula. All these other adult characters are so nice to Drina... Miss Whiteway, even some random ballet critic that never met her before, and her own grandmother treats her like trash. Drina begins crying uncontrollably in the department store when everything starts to come out, and her grandmother is so harsh. Does the "Stop crying -- what will others think? Compose yourself" business my mother did to me. It's a bunch of weighty stuff, and all her grandmother can do is shame her for crying in a public place. Moreover, after Drina's exceptional performances that have all the other adults gasping over her, she rides home with her grandparents in frosty silence repeatedly because grandmother doesn't approve of the ballet. Not a word of praise. The only thing that bothers me about the series is that I'm not sure I'm supposed to hate the grandparents as much as I do. The grandfather is sympathetic to Drina but always goes along with what his wife wants, even when it hurts Drina, so he can go in the trash can, too.
I am on the second volume of Hinako Ashihara's Forbidden Dance. Actually, I am done with it, but I haven't finished all the "extra" stuff yet. I always dislike the extra stuff at the end of manga volumes, because I never have any interest in reading it, but I don't feel like I'm done until I do. I'm always so happy when a volume doesn't have that stuff.
Forbidden Dance is lighter reading than Drina. No parents or grandparents to deal with, just rivals, lovers, and vying for that ultimate goal. For the main character in this series, that goal is to be a member of an all-male dance troup called COOL, because it's just so, I guess, cool, and I don't understand her goal, because I would never want to be, but I still enjoy reading it. And there's actually no gender-bending in it, believe it or not. I like gender-bending sometimes, but it would have been unnecessary trope-y stuff here.
My two doll heads, Lorien's and Glynnis's, are in customs in Chicago right now. I couldn't believe the photos when Dollmore sent them. They have transformed these heads into breathtaking dolls. I feel for the first time like I actually have a Volks SDC Kurenai like I always wanted, because I've never seen her with a decent face-up before. And I had no idea that Glynnis would look this wonderful -- an inexpensive doll to begin with, and 12 years old now.
