This book was good, but I didn’t feel like the characters had any real character development and the “thriller” part of it wasn’t much of a thriller. Definitely good for someone who wants to start getting into thrillers though.

*****Coming out December 7, 2021*****

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley, I was chosen as an early reviewer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Delphine had a history with the Paris Opera Ballet School where she was a dancer and now after many years away, she has returned as an choreographer. She was always in the shadows of her mother’s success as a dancer. Would she be able to meet her mother’s expectations for success? Even after her mother died, her mother’s success was always on the back of her mind.

What Delphine is now realizing working there as a choreographer is that sometimes different cultural aspects of the school never changes. The friendships that dancers make will be life long, but the drama and competition that comes with it can be brutal. Will Delphine be able to make changes to the school, so that it not only gives opportunities to the young dancers, but also gives opportunities to older dancers? Or will she be up against tradition where the chance of change is no hope? This book follows her experiences from Dancer to Choreographer. What a realistic story of friendship, heartbreak, jealousy, and success on what it takes to be a dancer and choreographer. It is a book that is perfect for all those who have danced or have the love of ballet!

I was excited to obtain an ARC of this novel and it didn’t disappoint. One can imagine that the ballet world is graceful and glamorous but Rachel Kapelke-Dale reminds readers of the sacrifices and ruthlessness of it all by exploring it through the eyes of Delphine, a young ballerina in Paris. The novel effectively navigates back-and-forth through present day, as Delphine returns to Paris as a choreographer, and various periods of Delphine’s career, as she vies for the highest honours of the ballet world, along with her two best friends, Lindsay and Margaux, all students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

The novel has dark undertones, and an exploration of feminism, which add many layers to the story. The characters are engaging and the reader is hooked from the very start, hanging on until the final dénouement to understand what truly happened to Delphine to leave Paris, for a stint in Russia, allowing her to leave behind an incident which still haunts her to this day.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

As a former ballet dancer, this whole story spoke to me. Very well done and I always appreciate a story of sisterhood.

Review date: May 7, 2021
Publication date: December 7, 2021

Reading that this book was described as Black Swan meets Luckiest Girl Alive, I was certainly intrigued. I am am so glad that I got the opportunity to read this book.

Synopsis: The book centers around a trio of best friends, all ballerinas. Not my 4-year-old dancing just to get out of the house dancer, but born and raised - training in PARIS, eat nothing, dance ONLY, live, breathe ballet dancers.

At the heart of the story - uncertainty. So much uncertainty about the next advancement, so uncertain about the future, uncertain about life outside of dance, uncertain of anything but the fact that dance was all they knew. Dance is the only thing they could equate their worth to. Now, this makes for an interesting dynamic in a friendship. You're all each other has, but you're also each others stiffest competition.

With three converging timelines, focusing mostly on Delphine's story and life, we get one timeline of Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay's days as underlings at the academy, then we have timeline #2 of Delphine on her own, living a different path than originally planned, and the last is the current timeline. This was a bit confusing if you speed through thinking that the year will tell you where we are at, sometimes, in this story, the month is also important.

I recommend this book! I enjoyed the friendship, the drama, the suspense, and that ending! This was a slower burn for those that need a quick paced story, but still a great read.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really started out liking this book, but what it all turned into was some weird feminist book. I don't understand the point of the story other than it's okay to do bad things if you're a woman. I was really disappointed

I wanted to love this book, and I tried, I really did, but it evidently is not the book for me. I found all of the characters unlikeable and never invested into the story for that reason. I am sure this book has it's audience, sadly I am not it. Sidenote, it does have the most gorgeous cover.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc which i voluntarily reviewed.

Absolutely loved this! I love historical fiction already but for some reason, I've always been into fiction involving ballet too...kind of an unexpected trope to be into, but here we are. I loved the way the story was told with the two timelines and I love seeing great female friendships in fiction!

This book was described as a feminist-leaning mystery about a choreographer and former professional ballerina with a rocky relationship with her former best friends, who returns to the city where she grew up and began her career, and is forced to finally confront the skeletons in her closet, and the problems in her present.

Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. Told in alternating timelines - between the past and the present - our main character Delphine tries to work through past and present trauma, repair her relationship with her friends, and hold onto her job as a choreographer for the prestigious, exclusive Paris Opera Ballet.

The best part of this book, in my opinion, was the ballet. As a general rule, I love books about performers and artists, and I wanted to love this one; it's fascinating to dive into a completely different world that way. I found myself clinging to the performance details, which were more engaging than the central conflicts or the main characters.

Delphine was well-developed, if flawed almost to the point of being unlikeable; that type of characterization can work in the right setting, but it was clear to me that we were supposed to sympathize with Delphine, which I personally found difficult. The supporting cast of characters was largely underdeveloped, and I often found myself wishing that they were more three-dimensional.

The plot was unevenly paced, picking up in the latter half of the book and rocketing through several "twists" at a breakneck pace. This pacing, I think, undermined the impact of those plot events, and, especially, the final "twist" felt jarring. If they had been spread out more throughout the book, or even more thoroughly foreshadowed, I think they would have been to better effect.

In all, this one wasn't for me, though I really wanted to like it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF-I gave this one the 100 page test and I decided to put it down. The description lured me in, but I didn't feel like what I was reading was matching to the description. From other reviews, I may not have hung in there long enough to see what the big revelation was, but overall I found the characters not likable so it was hard to keep wanting to read where the story led.

A cross between Centerstage and Black Swan, this book takes you to Paris and into the cutthroat, highly competitive ballet world. Centering around three ballerinas trying to make it to principal dancers and spread out out over 25+ years, timelines flip back and forth to tell their struggles with men and aging, their need to be perfect, their secrets they kept to get ahead, and, most importantly, their story of friendship. As a person who grew up dancing, I was immediately captivated by this story. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start with I did not care for Delphine. I wondered how in the world she had any friends much less the two best friends, Lindsay and Margaux, in the book. I love watching ballet and I have a great respect for the ballerinas'. This book made them out to be whinny and not very nice people.

Although labeled as mystery/thriller, this novel is really general/women's fiction. The story centers on three very different women, and their lives and friendship from the time they met in the Paris Ballet's school. I really enjoyed the look at the Paris Ballet - the ballet school, the competition of how to succeed and become part of the actual Paris Ballet, etc. - the lives of the young girls working to achieve their goals, and their lives after they became true ballerinas. I also loved the comparisons of Paris to St. Petersburg. This book is also the story of these women and their friendship long after those school days, and realizing who you really are, and making amends. The references to what the main character "did" to one of her friends were a little heavy handed, and it took a looooong time to discover what actually happened. But while the story was a little choppy at times, and part of the ending was a little unlikely, there were some very interesting twists and overall a very good story. I will be watching for this author's next novel. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc. 4 stars!

After reading the premise of this book I thought it might really be intriguing. I thought the cover was absolutely beautiful and I admire anyone with the strength and stamina (physical and mental) to devote so much time to ballet.

I have to say that I did struggle with the writing in this one. I was getting continually confused between the past and the present because of how it was written. And, thrillers/suspense are one of my all time favorite genres. This was supposed to be that but I didn't get that feel at all.

Just not a strong novel for me, but others might really enjoy it.

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a dramatic view into the world of ballet. If you enjoyed the movie Black Swan (so good!), then you will definitely love reading The Ballerinas.

Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay are a trio of ballerinas who perform and study at the Paris Opera Ballet School. The story is told from Delphine's point of view, but as readers, we get to see all three girls become women. The book is told in past and present tense, eventually meeting and then told in present tense only. The story unfolds as Delphine comes back to Paris from living in Russia and begins choreographing a ballet for the Paris Opera Ballet.

During the course of this book, I enjoyed reading about ballet, the intensity that girls experience from such a young age, and the friendships that evolve from being together 24/7. The dynamic between the three girls (eventually women) was interesting to me, but I thought it was realistic and not idealized.

Delphine was not a likable character, but she had a lot of redeeming moments in the book, especially toward the end when she has a "come to Jesus" moment with herself. Lindsay and Maragaux were both a bit annoying, but they were "real" which made the narrative better.

Overall, I enjoyed this book immensely because it brought me out of my comfort zone as it isn't a book I'd normally choose.4 stars because I felt there was A LOT of dialogue and it got a bit tedious to read it at times.
**Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Kapelke-Dale, and St Martins Press for an advanced reader copy of this book.**

This book was more drama than thriller and it really let me down. I was hoping for something along the lines of The Dark Swan, instead it was more about the pettiness and lengths ballerinas will go to, to be number one.

A time-jumping, riveting peek into the enchanting but grueling life of ballerinas. This novel also explores the intimate connection between longtime friends supporting each other through life’s joys and trials. Leads up to and finishes with a feminist ideology, underscoring the actions of the characters. Very enjoyable, couldn’t wait to get back to the lives of Dolphin et al.

I love ballet. My mom was a dancer and she wanted me to be one- I wasn’t cut out, but I grew up in that world so I can tell you this book was fantastically researched and accurate. I enjoyed the narrator (Delphine) and her friends Margaux & Lindsey. I loved the setting of Paris as well. The book is described as a thriller, and there were definitely thrilling exciting parts, but I found this to be more literary and character-driven than most thrillers. That’s a very good thing, in my opinion. The book starts a bit slow, but the build up is going somewhere and the second half really takes off! I thought the descriptions of the anxiety and pressure and meltdowns were so realistic and well done. I absolutely LOVED this book and I can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you so much for the opportunity to review!

I tried to read and this book just didn’t grab me. It reminded of Black Swan. The characters are interesting but I just couldn’t get to the plot fast enough. I prefer thrillers and mysteries more so it may have just been that it wasn’t the right fit for me.

I was so looking forward to reading The Ballerinas. I would like to congratulate the author because it's obvious a lot of research went into this book and it shows. Either that or she was a ballerina at some point, but I don't think that is the case.

The world of ballet is so very cruel to those who wish to succeed from deformed feet, the damage inflicted by en pointe dancing, to eating disorders and very low self-esteem. As beautiful as ballet is to watch, it must be horrendous for the ballerinas.

From The Ballerinas: "Don't they realize, " I'd hissed to Margaux during a curtain call after a particularly grisly performance of Swan Lake fifteen years ago, "That we're all covered in the most disgusting sores under our shoes?" She's plastered her pink grin wide, grabbing my hand as the curtain went up, exposing us once more.
"Of course they know," she said between her teeth. "That's why they like to watch."

This sums up the book. It's filled with pain, drama, each character's cruelty to others, and the never ending fight to get ahead no matter the cost to you or those you profess to love like sisters.

I don't mind dark books and believe me this one turned very, very dark, but the reason I didn't rate this book higher is because it dragged in the middle and there was so much repetition that I grew bored. I also was let down by the "big reveal". When it came it was more of a letdown. Overall none of the main characters were likable. They were surface likable, but were hiding the ugly deep down.

I will say that this book did touch on a pretty timely topic - sexual abuse / mistreatment of others and it was handled in the end, which was good to see.

I do think there are many readers that will enjoy this book. It just wasn't working for me. I would recommend it to those who enjoy ballet and like reading about it from the inside, those who enjoy darker friend sagas, and women's fiction fans.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for providing an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.