Thanks to @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my digital and audio copies!

This was such a great audiobook! It took me about 10% to get into it, but once I did I really enjoyed it. The timelines alternate between past in the late 90s and present. I had an easy time following it, and I felt the narrator did a great job of bringing me into the story.

I loved the setting in Paris, and I appreciated the pressures of being an aging woman in an image based career. There was a lot of drama in this story, and was more women’s fiction then dark thriller as I was anticipating. Great debut and will definitely look for more from the author!

This book was all you would expect. The dog-eat-dog world of dancing. The feeling like you are never good enough in an extremely competitive sport or is it a job? The way the girls came off it was more of a job, but one they all wanted to excel, but at what cost and to who? The author did touch on some difficult subjects as well. Body image and abortion are the two big ones that come to mind.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, the start was a bit slow, but it did pick up.

3.5 stars

This is a good read, packing lots of content & character development into a single novel. At times it seemed unsure of what genre it wanted to be (romance? a friendship story? a domestic thriller?) & the tone fluctuated, but despite that & a somewhat implausible ending I enjoyed this book.

[What I liked:]

•I enjoyed reading a novel that’s so immersed in the world of ballet (training school, dancing in a company professionally, working in choreography, etc.). This book gets the details right.

•There are some great character development arcs. I particularly enjoyed the MC’s friendship with her elderly entomologist neighbor, her growth as a choreographer & artist, & gaining the self confidence & honesty to face up to her mistakes & failings instead of making excuses.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The ending was hard to swallow, particularly what happens with & to Daniel. It seemed a bit over the top compared to the tone of the rest of the book.

•The pacing could have been better. There is much hand wringing by the MC over guilt from a past misdeed that is vaguely alluded to an annoying number of times before it’s ever built on. Likewise, the tragic breakdown of the MC’s relationship with her ex is vaguely alluded to way too many times before it’s explained.

•Well, the MC commits a serious crime (& no, it wasn’t actually self defense, it could have been avoided), then confesses it to the police, but the police tamper with the interrogation recording & coach the MC to change the story to be one of actual self defense out of…sympathy? Completely unrealistic.

CW: infidelity, physical assault, revenge p**n, sexual assault, sexual & romantic relationships between bosses/employees & teachers/students, sexism, substance abuse, terminal illness, eating disorders, miscarriage, abortion, domestic violence, murder

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

When I was a girl, I wanted nothing more to be a ballerina. My lack of grace was more geared towards swimming than dancing, but I never lost the love for the ballet. Add to it movies like Center Stage, Black Swan, and Save the Last Dance…and I fangirl! Definitely means I had to read The Ballerinas by @rachelkapelkedale .

This is a tale of three girls who trained together in younger years, but not have very different roles in the world of ballet today. It’s a story about how these women struggle to accomplish their dreams and reveals some ugly truths of being a professional dancer. The characters are well developed the three different plot lines seamlessly joined together. I was captivated from the beginning.

I was able to switch between the egalley and the audio version of this book. I feel the narrator of the story also did a fantastic job. @potterell talented in this regard.

4.5 Stars – Rounding to 5 for Goodreads.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Also thank you to @macmillianaudio for the audio version of this book.

I really enjoyed this book centered around three aging ballerinas with the Paris Opera Ballet. The characters are all deeply flawed and entirely relatable, and the world of these dancers was fascinating. I learned a bunch about the grueling career and slim chances of ballerinas to become successful. Several elements of the ending took me by surprise, though it was a satisfying conclusion.

Readers who are intrigued by the professional world of ballet and the politics/drama that goes along with it, may want to check this book out. It centres on three friends/dancers who meet at a prestigious ballet school in Paris but lose touch over the years. They are reunited when one of the women returns to her former ballet company to choreograph a ballet and casts her old friends in the lead roles. The plot alternates between two timelines - when the friends were at school together and present day. It is a mix of coming of age and the fierce competitiveness of dance. It involves a healthy dose of dramatic flair, historical secrets and unresolved angst.

I found this audiobook hard to put down and I was easily drawn into the narrative. I’ll admit it was kind of soap opera “ish”, but given the cutthroat dance setting, much of it rang true to me. I also appreciated some of the dramatic twists and challenges. My only disappointment was the ending as it was a bit far fetched. I recommend the audiobook version.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I rarely read books that are not fully horror. Although this one seemed much more like just fiction, there was a bit of a twist at the end and so much emotion. I have never read or watched any of the current ballerina shows, books, etc., but after enjoying this one so much, I am very interested to get more into the culture, as well as this author.

"The Ballerinas", by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, is a dual-timeline novel, centered mainly on Delphine, a young French woman, ballerina in her youth, and ballet choreographer in her adult life. The novel alternates from her youth years in Paris, training as a ballerina alongside her best friends, to the present day, choreographing her first ballet in Paris, after returning from a long time stay in St. Petersburg.. There are secrets and drama, as there would be among (teenage) girlfriends, and present-day Delphine hopes to make up for the past by doing right by her friends now in the present.

This book appealed to me because it was marketed as mystery/thriller, but I found it more of a fiction/ drama, than a mystery/thriller. While there were some elements of suspense, I felt like they got lost in the character drama and the story carried on for a bit too long for me to really care about any of the characters. What I really did like were the bits of information about ballet sprinkled here and there throughout the story. They were definitely interesting, and were probably my favorite part of this book. Also, the cover is beautiful.

The narration, performed by Ell Potter, was engaging. I had initially started reading the e-book, but was having trouble staying invested in the story, so the audiobook format helped. I personally didn't like the accents for certain characters (i.e. heavy Eastern European accent for a Russian character), but that didn't take much away from the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in change for my honest review.

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale was a thrilling book! I knew there would be a dark twist and loved listening to it all play out! This book goes back and fourth between present day and schooling for three friends and shows how personalities are shaped and how one thing changed their lives forever.

this book was an amazing insight into both female friendships and a showcase of strong, competitive, and extremely ambitious women. i absolutely loved it and will enjoy hearing what my other students have to say about it.

This book was a wild ride. There are so many storylines it's almost hard to keep up with. I liked the format of the interweaving flashbacks but it did take some time to get used to. This story follows three young ballerinas who begin as students and then rise through the ranks of the Paris Opera Ballet. It’s written in first person by the main character Delphine and flashes between them growing up and now in their mid-30s. ⁠When there are only two spots for the three girls, trouble arises.
⁠
I didn't realize it was classified as a thriller when I started, or I would have been disappointed. As this book is more literary fiction than thriller or suspense.

The narration of this book was really well done. She really added to the story for me and made me much more engaged with the story.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I really loved the story and the look inside of dedicated/displaced world of ballerinas. The story was good and the characters were believable. However, after reading the description, I was just expecting more suspense.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the audio ARC. The narrator was also really good.

Ballet is beautiful. It’s an incredible combination of art, beauty and athleticism. This story revolves around three women who are desperate to dance, stay at the top of their field and will do anything to get and stay there. They are friends, but are they? Can things that happened long ago be forgiven? Secrets are never good and will somehow always find their way from the darkness into the light. I kept waiting for..more. Something that would make me care more about the characters and their outcomes, that would have me not wanting to put the book down. For me, it didn’t happen. It was well written and yet, for some reason I didn’t connect with any of the main characters and I was expecting more “thriller”. I did like the format of interweaving flashbacks with current times.

Who doesn't have a certain image of a ballerina in their head. This beautifully written novel that is also a slow burning thriller will sate your thirst for info on the ballet world. In Ballerinas, we follow 3 young women competing to be the prima ballerina in the very prestigious Paris Opera Ballet Company.

Through flashbacks and current events we learn that the main narrator, Delphine, the child of a prima start ballerina, left her soloist spot to become a choreographer in Russia. As the book opens, she returns to Paris to choreograph for her old friends Margaux and Lindsay and the ballet company. Delphine returns with the plan to become a star in her own right, while keeping secret something she did as a young child.

It's a slow burn and a beautiful one. I loved learning more about the ballet world and particularly appreciated the descriptions of power and strength and even pain associated with well known positions of ballet. There is quite a bit of spot on commentary regarding the commodification of the female body and a ballerina in particular but I think this story would appeal to any competitor, anyone who loves stories of close friends, the slow burn of domestic -style secrets and of course a fan of ballet. Grab this when you can, better yet listen to the beautiful and amazing voice of Ell Potter. #NetGalley #TheBallerinas #MacMillanAudio



Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget.

This year there are only two spots, two spots for three girls. Three friends, Lindsay, Delphine, and Margaux are children who grow up in ballet school together, but not really in competition with each other until they are young adults, vying not for three top spots when it's their time, but two. What will these three young promising ballerinas do? Well, they will make a pact to stay close friends no matter what and be happy for the two who get cast in the leads in the production. The events that transpire up to this announcement of the top ballerinas set the course for them and their lives. The story of what happened is told mostly through Delphine in her thirties, through flashbacks to her childhood. The reader really gets to see how ballerinas suffer through pain, both mental and physical, to become stars and just how driven they are. They are so driven to succeed at all costs that they also must be willing to give up almost everything else life has to offer, including love, family, and friendships. I mostly listened to the audiobook which was well-narrated.

The Ballerinas follows three friends and ballerinas - Delphine, Margaux in their teenage years and present day. They may be beautiful ballerinas on stage, but behind the scenes their lives are filled with secrets and drama.

I will say this was listed as a mystery thriller, and I would not describe it as that at all. To me it was more of a character driven fiction story, but once I got past expecting a thriller I enjoyed it.

This book showed allll the parts of the ballet world, including the darker sides. The cutthroat rivalries, the perfectionism, the body issues (from body image to bad feet), but also the deep and complicated friendships that form. As someone who studied ballet for 18 years, so many pieces of this book felt so real. The way this book was told through alternating timelines added a lot of depth to the story and showed how the relationships and other issues progressed throughout their lives.

I went between the physical and audiobook and really enjoyed both. I thought the narrator was perfect for this book!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copies.

I think the biggest struggle for THE BALLERINAS is going to be its comparison to BLACK SWAN & books of that like. I did like the book but I was always waiting for that OMFG moment/s that really never cAme. I liked the author’s take on the trope though. Delphine’s story and those of her closest friends, focuses mostly on them as older adults. I would be open to seeing what’s next from the author. Enjoyable but it just didn’t blow me away.

💁🏻‍♀️ Overall Impression: This is a dance drama contemporary fiction with a lot going on and yet another book where I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it.

📖 Synopsis: 3 friends are elite ballerinas at the Paris Opera Ballet. Told between 2 timelines of the girls in school through their early years and then 10+ years later when Delphine moved back to Paris.

💭 Thoughts: this book had a lot going on where I’m not entirely sure what the main point was. I’ve always loved dance and fascinated by the dance world (fav teen movie- Center Stage) so I was captivated by the girls and their world but it was like the author wanted to add a lot of real world drama to it and it felt a bit disjointed.

Also no idea why this was considered a thriller cause it’s 100% not. The girls do have some shady pasts that they hunt about but it’s 100% a drama.

I had a copy of the audio and the egalley (thanks so much to @netgalley for those) and really enjoyed the audio. The narrator does a great job of the different accents throughout, re Russian, French, English, American.

If you like dance drama and watched Center Stage on repeat, then this is for you.

The reviews I’ve been reading for The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale have been somewhat mixed, but I must say that this book really worked for me. It’s a slow-burning, character-driven novel that shows the dark and seedy side of ballet. I enjoyed this juicy tale about three friends desperately climbing their way to the top in order to become successful ballerinas. Full of complicated friendships, love affairs, strained mother/daughter relationships, betrayal, sabotage, and a sex scandal, I was entertained from start to finish. I did end up listening to this one, and honestly don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I opted to read the physical book instead. The narration was phenomenal, and definitely upped my rating. The narrator’s voice was haunting and mysterious, and her French accent was simply gorgeous. I could’ve listened to her all day. So, definitely go the audiobook route if you can. Highly recommend!

As a ballet choreographer myself, I was really looking forward to a book that delves into the unique, intense, magical, cutthroat, indescribable world of ballet. Coming at this book from a strictly ballet perspective, I was genuinely impressed by how meticulously the Paris Opera Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet School, and ballet in general were researched and presented.

As far as the rest of the novel, I ended the book with mixed feelings. I don’t believe the book’s descriptions and comparisons to Black Swan and other novels were accurate; while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it was disappointing and a bit bewildering. I was expecting and hoping for more drama, suspense, and mystery. Instead, it was all rather straightforward and predictable.

Some elements of the story seemed to thoroughly drag without purpose (for example, getting an excessively detailed history lesson about the life of Alix of Hesse, the future Alexandra Romanov). The writing was compelling enough, but shortening the book by a few chapters perhaps would have aided in the storytelling.