Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Balancing Acts: A Novel

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Second time reading and loved it as much as the first

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017

This book is so fantastic for any yogis or non yogis who love a refreshing fiction novel. You fall in love with the characters and feel truly sad once it's over. First time I read it was when it first came out and when I was first really getting into yoga. This time around I've had my 200 hour ryt cert under my belt and felt it fitting to read during my first yoga retreat. Loved reading it with he new perspective I've gained after 5 years and a deeper yoga practice. I hope yall enjoy as much as I did!

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VItaLuna63

Meh

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017

Meh. 20 and 30 somethings try and find themselves and get over exes or juggle careers, kids, and marriage. The usual. Nothing to see here. "Focused as a puppy full of Red Bull." What? And picking up yoga that fast... sorry, I just don't get that piece (maybe because I struggled with it - me and my monkey mind). And "back in the day" was a repeated expression...

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bodhi4003

Balancing Acts Falls Flat

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2011

I'm both a fan of yoga and, i'm not usually embarrassed to say, "chick lit" (though I despise the reference). Therefore, I must say, I had high hopes for this book that looked to marry the two. However, I was sorely disappointed. The book was a quick read which is great for summer but mostly the ability to turn page after page was due to the fact that it lacked any depth whatsoever. To say that this book carried on for almost 400 pages on the most surface levels would be an understatement.

Additionally (and not adding to the books charm) the characters were some of the most one-dimensional cliches I've found in the genre. The book centers around four main characters who join together for six Saturdays for a beginners yoga class. The leader of the studio, Charlie, and her three disciples, Naomi, Sabine and Bess. Each women apparently undergoes some sort of metamorphosis that we are supposed to attribute to the restorative power of this centuries-old practice. And perhaps we could if the author had actually shown us the process and outlined their journey in more than one or two sentences. Instead, she tirelessly moves the characters through the novel without delving into how the practice touches their lives, or even who they are and/or whether or not they need to change.

From experience with the genre, I can identify the cookie-cutter characters the author pulls out as her cast: there's the "hopeless romantic," the "damaged by love gone wrong," the "single mom who gives up everything," and the "career-driven egomaniac." Whether due to the authors lack of talent or lack of true inspiration, the characters never become more than that. Instead, she spends the bulk of the book describing the women putting on/taking off their winter coats (I kid you not).

To say that this book was a waste of time is an understatement. Not only did the novel lack characterization, it also lacked a plot. Yes, the women had issues arise but we, the reader, were left in the dark to figure out how they were dealt with. Or how they arose. Or why we should care. Basically anything. The book just moved on of it's own accord, going nowhere. In the end, I can't even really reveal how, or if, the women are friends as other than their time at class they had little-to-no interaction. So I can't even classify this as a novel about the power of female friendship. And the yoga references lacked any realism. The author has Charlie offer up an introduction at the beginning of each class that, I believe, was supposed to touch on the yoga/life connection but was so contrite it missed the mark.

The worst part was that when the author did try to build up some tension, she easily discarded it in an attempt to tie-up her book in a nice, "aren't we all just the epitome of evolved women" bow. I do believe in the power of the genre and I hate to see it discarded by many as shallow or vapid, but now I can see why the "chick lit" time may have come and gone.

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