Cover Image: The Ballerinas

The Ballerinas

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Member Reviews

I apprecitate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this a really interesting read and the characters are quite engaging. it kept me reading until the end. I highly recommend.

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I thought this book was just okay.

It is more of a character driven drama than a thriller.

Just not my cup of tea.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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Thank you NetGalley and author Rachel Kapelke-Dale for the free E-Arc of this book in exchange for my thoughts and opinions. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4 1/2 stars
This book was a roller coaster ride. The author did an amazing job bringing the readers behind the scenes of the ballet. The narrator had a great story telling voice. I enjoyed the mystery that slowly unfurled as the story progressed. The characters were intriguing and held my interest. The ending was so crazy yet satisfying. Overall, if the ballet has ever interested you, this book is for you. I can't wait to read another book by this author.

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This was a beautifully written novel about friendships, family, secrets and the power passion has over the human race. It was very poetic and creatively written, so it's a story you need to pay close attention to. It's a little complicated to follow because of the flowery language but still an excellent read.

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This debut novel was tension filled and the atmosphere was wickedly crafted. I was drawn to the darkness behind the dedication of the ballerinas and the drama that lingers just on the edge. Not having much experience in this world, I appreciated the details and how the world was built for the reader. It allowed for a smooth read. ☆☆☆

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Though the narrative is slow-paced (Not A Thriller), it's the hook line that immediately pulled me into the story—the nagging question of who she killed and why is ever-present in mind throughout:

‘Before Nathalie emailed and offered to take me back before I killed anyone, I saw variations of the same quotation everywhere: Paris is always a good idea.’

THE BALLERINAS, by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, is very much a coming-of-story centered around the narrator, Delphine Léger, her fellow ballerinas and best friends Lindsay and Margaux.

The story is told by way of alternating timelines of past and present events, through Delphine's perspective, the reader bears witness to three young girls who grow up in the shadow of great ballerina dancers—like Isabelle Durand Étoile, Delphine’s mother—each striving to be the best at any cost.

‘Paris was my birthplace, my home for the first twenty-three years of my life. It was where I had my first kiss, where I met my two best friends, where I danced in sixty-four performances of Swan Lake, forty-three Nutcrackers, twenty-six La Sylphides. Where my mother wrenched my three-year-old hand and ground it, smarting, against the wood of the barre.’

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an eBook of THE BALLERINAS at the request of an honest review.

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Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the #gifted copy of the book.

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a story of friendship. Ballet is such a challenging profession and it can be cut throat. I have several friends who did this for years. It takes immense dedication. The characters in this book weren't very likable, but I enjoyed the feminism undertones. Overall, this is a solid read.

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I am not sure what I expected from the book but I was left disappointed. The story follows 3 ballerinas as they try to make it to become stars. I was a dancer so I had heard all of the stories about ballerinas and how difficult their lives can be. This book was too predictable for me. I normally like when books go from present day to the past and back but this one jumped around too much for me. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this available..

I struggled to try and understand this book, I didn’t know where the story had started and where it was taking me.

I had to read some of it over and over again to try and understand it but I just couldn’t. I didn’t finish it as I just kept losing what the story was supposed to be about.

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I am not a dancer so I had a hard time getting into this story. I did appreciate the complexities and truths that were told about female friendship. Reminded me a bit of Black Swan at times.

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This was such an intense read! I couldn't put it down and wanted to know more about Delphine's life. I found her particularly relatable and felt invested in what consequences her actions wrought for the entire book. The numerous twists kept me guessing and made this a speedy read. I've already found myself recommending this to several others with differing interests. It's a great read for fans of YA, mystery, dark academia, athletics, etc.

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I would characterize this book as a drama and not a thriller. The story obviously had a lot of information about ballet, which I didn't connect with.

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Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book for my honest review.

Told in alternating chapters set in the early 00's and 2018/2019, The Ballerinas tells the story of dancers Delphine, Lindsay and Margaux growing up in the world famous Paris Opera Ballet School.

I enjoyed the drama of this book and the genuinely gasped at the climatic event towards the end. These characters are hard to like and the neat bow this novel ended in didn't sit well with me.

Overall a good 3 star read for me.

Since receiving this ARC this book has been published and is available to read now!

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I wanted to like this more than I did. I did enjoy the ballet parts, and the Paris setting, but it was slow at times and I wanted to smack Delphine upside the head more than once. I also don't understand how people are tagging this as a thriller. It's contemporary fiction, about what it means to be a friend and feminism.

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Title: The Ballerinas
Author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Genre: Adult Contempary
Format: library hardback book
Series: N/A
Star Rating: 3 stars

tw: assault, underage drug and alcohol abuse, grooming of a minor, infidelity, cancer, disordered eating, alcoholism, murder, abortion, miscarriage, recording without consent, sexual assault of underage women, revenge porn

If there is anything to know about me, I love the world of ballet. I am not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination but I just love the world. Everything about it to me is just magical. I love dancing and music. Classical music is so soothing to me. Just everything is great to me, so I should have liked this book right? But alas, I didn’t. This book was alright. It was kind of annoying, to be honest.

The main character was just a mess. Delphine was so selfish and horrible. Lindsay and Margaux, her best friends, were equally terrible. It felt like they didn’t like each other at all. Even when the chapters were of them at school, they still acted like they secretly didn’t like each other. Reminds me of my high school time. I had friends that I’m pretty sure didn’t like me. They often ruined a lot of relationships for me. I almost got beat up once because someone thought I was my friend. Needless to say, I am not friends with them anymore.

This book has been compared to the Black Swan, a movie. Well, at least that’s what I saw on the Goodreads page. That movie was way more grittier and intense than this book. I recommend you all watch that movie. I personally think it’s Mila Kunis’ best performance. Anyway. Sure, there was some tension involving a secret. But honestly, the secret wasn’t even that horrible. It was awful, sure, but not as bad as they made it seem. Once the secret was revealed, the plot kind of lost its way.

Overall, this book was okay. One of the positive things, that I forgot to mention in my annoyance with the main characters, that it had going for it was it certainly is a feminist book. There was an awesome message about how women need to fight back and not put up with men’s crap. Other than that, it was okay. They talked a lot about different music, dances, and performances. I didn’t really know what most of them were. So that was annoying. Overall, just a mediocre book at best.

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The Ballerinas

by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

There is something to be said for a book that takes a reader through a whole gamut of emotions and reactions. The Ballerinas was that book for me. I have loved ballet since I was in second grade and started taking dance lessons. I grew up reading dancer biographies and as an adult watching the TV show Fame and various dance movies. I thought I knew how difficult being truly dedicated to becoming a dancer is. The Ballerinas reinforced my beliefs about dancer education but also took my understanding to a whole new level.

I didn’t really like the way the author told the story going back and forth between the younger versions of Delfine, Lindsay, and Margaux, the main characters, and the same dancers as adults. Although the month and year are spelled out for each part of the narration, the storyline jumps back and forth. I imagine this was partly done because of some secrets the author was holding back to create tension and chose to gradually reveal them. Nevertheless, I found this style somewhat distracting and confusing.

I did not like the characters in the first part of the book. I came to like them more as their motivations were gradually revealed, but I never really empathized with any of them. Delphine is the narrator. The story is told from her point of view, and the reader learns most about her. She does grow and change, but it is a difficult and uncomfortable journey for Delphine and for the reader.

As the story is told, it is obvious that something happened that changed the dynamic between the friends. The hints become stronger as the book progresses. Other areas of conflict rise to the surface towards the end of the book and burst through in tense scenes of dramatic confrontation.

The themes of the book also ebb and flow. Some are strictly focused on ballet. Others examine the power struggle between men and women and how people use each other with their focus on themselves. Trust, reliability, friendship, and striving to reach goals are among the themes. I ponder the handling of forgiveness in this novel. There are some major events and issues that should have been addressed. They were not explored by the characters as much as would have been necessary for actual forgiveness to occur; that glossing over and moving on did not seem realistic to me. I wanted to like this book more than I did; I admit I was fascinated by the storyline towards the end of the book and the resolution was surprising.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 3/5

Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Notes: The text is replete with “f… bombs.”

Publication: December 7, 2021—St. Martin’s Press

Memorable Lines:

I’d thought that I’d escaped our shared history by moving to Russia. I thought that I’d separated myself from the ghosts of my past. And yet here we were, pulling apart and coming back together in infinite variations, like a kaleidoscope, a courtly dance that never ended.

“I love you,” I whispered to him on the banks of the sparkling Neva, as we stared up at the gold domes of the city. And he kissed me fiercely, hungrily, until I could almost forget he didn’t say it too.

“Everything good is risky,” she said. “The thing that you have to remember is that if you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.”

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Thank you for this arc copy of The Ballerinas. It wasn't; my type of book but others may like it. I did enjoy the cover picture though.

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Despite not enjoying the characters in the novel, the author was able to keep me engaged. After a slow start, I found the second half a fast paced read.

Women’s themes were woven through the story and was timely for me - after having watched women in sports documentaries. Women go through so much pain, blood, and tears in the industry. Unfortunately, so many victims of violence, and this story was no exception.

My critique would be the lack of likeable characters as I’m a character driven reader. However, great writing as I wanted to see the story play out - regardless of the characters!

I recommend for book clubs to discuss the varying points of view this book would have.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and author for providing me an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a review.

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The Ballerinas is one of those stories that starts with promise but just tries to do too much. I was very entertained, but the plot for a bit harried towards the end. This one is a solidly middle of the road read for me.

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My daughter took ballet lessons when she was little. I loved seeing her in her leotard, practicing at the bar. She was graceful and elegant, and stunning. Ballet brought her so much joy, for a few years. I would have supported her, if she had chosen to continue to dance in her teens. But I’m glad she didn’t. I know what it can do to some young ladies, and I didn’t want to see that happen to my girl.
In this book, The Ballerinas, you get to see all the good and the bad of ballet. There is the friendships that last a life time, the determination and drive that creates strong women, but also the competitive maliciousness that can happen. Not to mention body image issues and permanent physical damage to their feet. It’s a cruel art, that we only see the glamour part of. Rachel Kapelke- Dale tells the horrible truth of it all through a trip of ballerinas that bonded in their youth and struggled in their adolescence. It’s a story about expectations set one women, their bodies and roles in motherhood and life.
Without being too blunt, the story makes its point through a scandal that has rocked the ballet for years. It shows the fragility of a dancers image, and how easily it can be damaged and how quickly it can be erased. It’s heartbreaking and raw, and told through from a blood bound ballerina that was born to dance.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a great conversation starter, and would be a very good book club choice. And for those of us that used to be dance moms, it’s a deep dive into what could have been.

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