The Ballerinas is a story about the complicated elements of female friendships and the lengths one will go to achieve success. This book depicts the harsh reality of the world of ballet, beyond the grace and elegance. Lines are definitely crossed as trust is broken and relationships are fractured all in the name of stardom. Each character is well developed as we travel through various stages of their lives and careers. The plot is sprinkled with surprises and events that were shocking and unexpected. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my copy.

I danced for years, through college actually, and I continue to be fascinated by the art and the drama surrounding it. Everyone knows that dancers befriend fellow dancers, but that there is always a sinister air to it. Dancers want to be the best and Rachel Kapelke-Dale captures that perfectly with the trio of friends in The Ballerinas. Delphine, our unlikeable narrator, is best friends with Lindsay and Margaux, they've lorded over the their fellow dancers since ballet school and now, years later, the trio is back at Paris Opera Ballet. While their roles have changed dramatically, both at POB and with one another, they come together to leave their final mark as they near retirement age.

While it shouldn't be billed a thriller, it is a women's fiction with a sinister edge to it. A bit more suspenseful than it is thrilling, The Ballerinas is a story of the narcissism that feeds ballerinas on their climb to the top. It's incredibly well researched, Kapelke-Dale knows ballet and the music that feeds the stories, she captures the men in the art perfectly, but it is all lost on the characters.

At times meandering and other times so quickly paced that the plot is lost, The Ballerinas is not what I expected at all from a debut St. Martin's Press author. It's a book that's easy to skim, one that doesn't even attempt to make you like its narrator, and one that doesn't feed at all into the story until much later in the novel. If only the entire book had the pacing and intrigue that last 40% had. The Ballerinas is, unfortunately, a slog of a novel. The final 40% is epic and beautiful; a story of empowerment and forgiveness, of learning ones true self. Set to the music of Janis Joplin, the final chapters of the novel made me keep reading, they held my attention, their promise of more was beautiful. Unfortunately, it couldn't save the read for me and I finished The Ballerinas underwhelmed.

“The Ballerinas”, by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, is a slow-burn, character-driven, feminist novel about friendships and secrets around the Paris Opera Ballet.

Although it was character-driven, it is unfortunate that I didn’t connect with any of the characters. However, it was interesting to see the changes in the friendships and the loyalty that was woven throughout. Also intriguing, the peek into the lives of ballerinas: the competition, hard work, body image and devotion of their performances.

Described as a mystery and thriller, I'm still thinking about that as I didn’t have that feeling while reading. It had a few plot twists that were appealing but were also sort of predictable. In the end, it had a promise to be a great book, regrettably the overall premise and the beautiful cover set my expectations too high.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Rachel Kapelke-Dale for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. ❤️️

The world of ballet is all consuming. Beginning in childhood, dancers obsess about diet, weight, practice and their place in the competitive ballet corps, all the while knowing that they will be too old to dance by their mid thirties.

Delphine has just returned from Paris after thirteen years in St. Petersburg. She’s transitioned from dance to choreography and plans to premiere her new ballet at the Paris Opera Ballet. She, Lindsay and Margaux met as young girls at the Ballet Academy and became close friends and fierce competitors. As Delphine tries to fit back into their lives, she’s forced to deal with a secret she’s held for years. A secret that will forever change lives and may end their treasured friendship.

The Ballerinas is an amazing immersion into the world of ballet.Dance dominates the lives of the three women. Friends, family, spouses and children all come second. This is a well-written informative book with fascinating characters. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Kapelke-Dale for this ARC.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let's face it, there's something almost undeniably erotic about the elite world of professional ballet, a certain fascination to be found at the thought of such (albeit real or imagined) cut-throat competition, intense rivalries, and the fortitude to push one's body to the brink and beyond...I'm as guilty as the next when it comes to being a sucker for the chance to get a glimpse behind the curtain, so my curiosity was immediately piqued when I came across this new novel.

It was not what I expected, or more to the point, not quite as described by the publisher. Aside from the ballet connection, I didn't find the book at all reminiscent of Dare Me or Black Swan; this wasn't a bad thing - I didn't like Dare Me and I most definitely did not enjoy Black Swan. I did, however, expect a different kind of darkness. There was certainly enough 'dark' to go around, but it was less mystery/thriller and more female subjugation and self-sacrifice. Pretty heavy stuff. Yet, while the story itself moved rather slow, I soon got sucked in. (3.5 rounded up)

This is being marketed as a thriller, but it’s not really a thriller at all. It’s definitely moreso straightforward contemporary fiction, with one major turn at the end.

I’ve always been fascinated with the underbelly of the ballet world, particularly on its brutal emphasis on perfection, on how women are treated, on the competitive nature of this very niche lifestyle. This was a fascinating look at the Paris Opera Ballet and what it takes to get ahead in that environment.

The main character, Delphine, was incredibly selfish and made some super frustrating decisions, but it made her growth and journey all the richer to witness. I really loved seeing her feminist awakening. The “Fuck All Men” attitude of this book may rub some people the wrong way, but given the way the men acted here, I’m all for it. Just look up the New York City Ballet’s Me Too accusations to see how real and insidious sexual harassment in ballet is.

I’m still deliberating about whether I liked that ending or not. Right now I’m leaning towards yes, but I can see why people may not. Either way, I think this makes for a great book club choice and ripe for discussion.

A tale for any little girl willing or unwilling to take ballet class. All those unrealized dreams that come to haunt us as you take a barre class because you know that all too familiar stretch is beneficial to the mind and soul. Three friends have bonded over dreams realized and unfulfilled in a world of scrutiny and deceit. These three are tied to each other by a secret neither wants revealed .each has a stake in its silence and we the reader see a world beyond the tutus and the stage makeup. It is full of pain of performance and silence. It’s glorious. Happy reading

I tried to like this book, but I couldn't. Even after a few chapters, I could not connect with the characters and the story enough to care about what happened to them.

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I love books about dancers. I’m not sure if it’s because I absolutely cannot dance or that I did a few years of ballet as a child, but they are my absolute favorite. There are usually some good dramas intertwined in them. So needless to say I had high expectations. I’m sad to say they did not match up.

Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. Not because it was just a terrible story, but because it was a slow story. I read a lot and I have a lot of books I want to read. I don’t have time to spend weeks on a book because it doesn’t have a hook. I liked some of the characters and the setting, but it was so very slow to pick up. At 30% I still didn’t have any general idea of where the story was going and it was jumping back and forth between current time and the past, which caused even more confusion. So while I tried and pushed forward as much as I could, it came to a point that I just decided it wasn’t a book for me and put it down. The only thing keeping it from a one star review was that it wasn’t bad writing. It was just boring for me.

I’m not saying this book is horrible. I just couldn’t get into it enough to decide to finish it. It was just… meh… to me. But I always encourage people to read on their own. See how it vibes with you as an individual. I always like to give authors two books to see if it’s just their writing style so I will be picking up another book by Rachel Kapelke-Dale to see how I enjoy it. Let me know what you think after you read.

So good! Really enjoyed the back and forth plots and the ending was awesome. Definitely recommend. Great thriller! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

The Ballerinas is the debut novel of Rachel Kapelke-Dale; it was published on December 7th. My teenage daughter has danced since she was 3 years old, and although she has given up ballet (and all other genres) for tap only, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, with an inside look into the physica, mental, and emotional demands of ballet and the quest for stardom.

The Ballerinas follows a friendship trio – Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay – from their schooling at the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) to their professional (and personal) lives beyond. Delphine leaves Paris for St. Petersburg, Russia, to work with her choreographer boyfriend, giving her distance from a huge secret that hangs heavy over her friendship trio. When she returns to Paris years later as a choreographer, she hopes to make her mark as a choreographer and smooth over any lingering bumps with her friends.

This story was very character-driven, following Delphine (and her friends) through two timelines. I loved the writing and I felt like I was right in the mix of all the drama that ensued. The dark side of dance/ballet was at the forefront of the novel; hence, the characters were quite unlikable. I enjoy dark reads, and this was a solid story in that regard. By the end, however, I found myself wanting for a redeeming character, event, and/or realization.

I look forward to reading what Rachel Kapelke-Dale writes next. Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Cancer, death, death of a parent, violence.
Delphine returns to the ballet company she left with a terrible secret, and now she’s back as a choreographer.

I liked that she recuperates the friendships that she lost with Lindsay and Margaux. It was refreshing to read about adults and not highschool 15 year olds. I didn’t know where to stand with Margaux at first, but she’s cool. The parts when they danced were my absolute favourite

This book deals with some heavy topics, which include basically men taking advantage of the women in every possible way, but I am glad it turns out okay for women and not so much for the men. Honestly, they all sucked, fuck them.

“Men are always trying to get us to pick camp, to declare our allegiance, to reveal what kind of woman we are so that they can judge whether we are doing it right. Why can’t they just let us be people?”

DNF 50%
Just so draggy and to be honest, boring. I found myself wondering on multiple occasions if we would ever get to the point. The initial deep dive into the intensity of a ballet company was quite interesting, but that’s where it left me. I just didn’t seem to connect to the story and care where it was headed.

This is a story about dancing through the pain.

I mistakenly thought this was going to be a tense exploration of the pressure placed on dancers- but really it was an exploration of a long term friendship. There were aspects I really liked, including the overall writing style & the way in which the author fleshed out the protagonist.. and also aspects I didn’t love, including all of the male characters, and the amount of time spent in the past timeline.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫/5, rounded to 4.

Thank you so much Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the eArc!

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a fascinating novel about a close-knit group of friends in the highly competitive world of ballet at a highly prestigious company in Paris. The story is told by Delphine, a choreographer who has returned to Paris with the aim to make up for betraying her close friend 14 years prior. The story alternates between the present (2018) when the characters are 36, and the past during their young adult years. The plot reminded me a little of The Divines by Ellie Eaton in terms of dual timelines and confronting the role they played in the betrayal of a classmate.

The story is a little slow, but starts to pickup in the second half. It becomes clear just how competitive and toxic the world of professional ballet can be. I liked the exploration of misogyny, power, and ego pondered in the plot. Though the characters weren’t necessarily likeable, I was fascinated by them and their actions and really appreciated that they do mature on spite of sometimes seeming trapped in their roles as teenagers.

Ell Potter, one of my favorite audiobook readers, masterfully narrates this book. Her voice is so pleasant and rich and emotional at the right moments.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC.

This book was one of the books I was looking forward to reading most this year. I was waiting practically on tenterhooks for over 6 months because I love ballet, I love ballerinas, and I love books and movies about them. I had read Meg Abbott’s “The Turnout” earlier in the year and I had adored it, so I was hoping I would love this book just as much.

But I ended up being so disappointed when this book didn’t even come close to meeting any of my expectations. Despite the buzz and hype surrounding it, it wasn’t anything like Black Swan or reminiscent of Meg Abbott’s writing. There was so much potential in this book and I feel it was wasted.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the pacing. The frequent switching between past and present until the past caught up to present caused the pacing of the book to stutter and stop. It slowed down the pacing so much I kept looking at how far into the book I was and going, “Really? I’m only that far in?” Flashbacks are a sloppy storytelling device in the first place, and if you’re going to use them you need to use them as a condiment, not as almost 50% of the food on your plate.

And for all the bravado of how us readers won’t see the twists coming, I saw it telegraphed a mile away. I just waited for the characters in the book to get there.

It was an okay book, but not great. I just wish it had lived up to what it could have been.

I really wanted to love this book. I was so excited when I got approved for an advanced copy. But these characters are HORRIBLE PEOPLE. Every single one of them. From Delphine trying to act all innocent, to Nathalie not doing anything about Jock. Horrible people. Not one has any redeeming qualities.

I loved reading The Ballerinas and found parts of this book enjoyable. I was drawn in by the cover and premise and the immersive nature of ballet but found myself not really liking the characters.

First I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's press for this ARC. I chose it purely on the cover and the fact that it was a Read Now on NetGalley.
I really enjoyed the entire book. The stories did get a little confusing and crossed but I think that was the point. Their lives were so entwined with being that the ballet community.
I loved the growth of Lindsay and Delphine. Their friend was so solid and I enjoyed how they had each other's backs. I really liked reading how they started and how they ended up. And I always will read a book that drops the line that someone is a murderer in the first paragraph.
Definitely recommend!

Overall: Less of a thriller and more of a drama with some tension from the past.

Pros:
Writing Style. Enjoyable and kept me wondering which what was happening.
Ballerinas. Each woman was distinct and clearly had a point in the story.

Cons:
Genre. From the description it felt this was setting up to be a mystery or thriller about the past, but that was not the case.
Overload. Sometimes this story feels like it’s trying to discuss too much and feels overloaded with topics.