I loved Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s first novel, The Ballerinas, and her second novel, The Ingenue, does not disappoint. In fact, this novel represents Kapelke-Dale’s deepening skills as a writer. Always strong in character development, in The Ingenue, Kapelke-Dale’s strength lies in her plot structure and the clever way in which she reverses the stereotypical fairy tale in a way which empowers women. The novel opens on Saskia Kreis (a former child prodigy pianist) who has returned to her childhood home, the Elf House, after her mother’s death. There, she learns that her mother has left Elf House to Patrick, the Director of Development at the university where she taught, while leaving Saskia the royalties to her book “Fairy Tales for Little Feminists.” Complicating things is the fact that Patrick is a child sexual abuser, who left a trail of broken young girls in his wake, including Saskia, simply because they had committed the sin of growing older. Rather than ruin her life by leaving Elf House to her abuser, Saskia comes to understand that her mother wanted Saskia to fight for her story, rather than merely returning to Elf House, where she would be living inside the stories of others. I highly recommend this book, and am eagerly looking forward to the author’s next novel. 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.

This is a meh book. The jumping between different years gets annoying and the characters are bland and unlikable. It was slow going but I did finish it. It is a forgettable book for for me. 2 1/2 stars .

I enjoyed the well-developed characters and as a native Milwaukeean whose birthday was just half a year off from the main character of the story, Kapelke-Dale did a fantastic job of making me yearn for hometown. Jumps between present and past were well-executed and this was a solid read.

I received an eARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
Interesting well developed characters whose interactions keep one reading. Ending was not predictable which made a compelling read.

The lower rating is because, for me- it was really hard to get into. It was just slow but when it picked up I absolutely loved it!

Saskia was a kid piano prodigy with a terrible mother, a crumbling family legacy in the form of a dilapidated house, and a sketchy teacher who still looms in her mind. Great premise, not so great book. First of all, I hated every single character. They were either whiny, underwritten, or horrible but they were written in such a way that I had trouble mustering up anything for them. So many of their problems could have been solved so easily (or avoided altogether.) I really liked the premise, but unfortunately, cannot suggest this slow and not good book.

A dark, gritty tale of secrets and revenge. The novel is set against the backdrop of #metoo movement and has been compared to My Dark Vanessa. The execution was lacking and the pacing was extremely slow throughout much of the story. The premise is very good, a young piano prodigy, strained mother/daughter dynamic, and an unlikable antagonist.

Sometimes going in fairly blind doesn't pay off because I was under the impression this book was going to be more about a strained relationship between a mother and a daughter but instead it was more of a #MeToo story.

The beginning started really slow for me. It took me 3 days just to make it to 30%. I blame the timeline/narration style for this. The chapters are broken into Saskia's past as a child piano playing prodigy and then into the present where she's in her 30's and she has returned home after the death of her mother. Her early childhood as a prodigy didn't serve a lot of purpose, in my opinion, and it was very slow. I kept waiting for this big reveal of this fallout between her and her mother and what caused her to drop piano. Unless I just completely misread the cues that was what was implied from the very beginning.

Instead we started to get this story similar to Lolita or My Dark Vanessa about Saskia and this colleague of her mother's who starts hanging around her life in her early teens. Thus began the start of what would become the #Metoo portion of the story. While this was interesting and read much faster than the other it wasn't uplifting and the "villain" still felt like he was winning at every turn. Saskia seemed to be reliving events like it was the first time and maybe this was partly due to trauma but it was almost like it was the first time she was seeing it as such. There was a pivotal moment in which her memories changed from love to manipulation and that started the notion of a revenge plot.

This is where the story sort of jumped the shark for me as I don't feel like the revenge plot was plausible or believable as it was hasty, in the moment, and just seemed like the author was ready to end the story and move on and this was as good a way as any. It also really ticked me off that the author doesn't explain how to say the heroine's name until past the 50% mark and of course I hadn't been saying it in my head correctly so that was just annoying. If you're going to provide correct pronunciation then do so in the first 5-10%!

Overall I didn't get a lot out of the story. It wasn't uplifting, it didn't make me feel girl power or female charged, I didn't feel really entertained and it kind of felt like work getting through it. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either.

Unfortunately I did not finish this one. I just could not get into it. I read a little over 30% and that took a month and a half. I had to finally give up. I was hoping it would get better for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately had to DNF after 55-60% :(

After hearing it was similiar to My Dark Vanessa, I had high hopes for The Ingenue. After struggling for a week or two to keep picking up, I had to give up. It was slowwwww and nothing was happening.

Evie is a talented writer who transforms fairy tales into power stories for young feminists. Mike is a professional cellist, and young Saskia is a piano prodigy. How does growing up amidst so much talent shape s childhood? Can a child forge their own identity or are they enslaved by their performance schedule? Teenage Saskia has found true love & recognition beyond the piano. Is her beau too good to be true? As Saskia connects dots she begins to uncover the truth and races to secure her legacy before time runs out. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for thé ARC. This is my honest review.

I overall enjoyed this one and I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it! It was a fun read and I think most people will as well. I enjoyed the characters and enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next!

I loved the Ballerinas and this just further shows Kaplke-Dales talents for slow burning simmering tension fiction.. Thank you to SMP for the ARC.

As much as I wanted to love this title, it's didn't resonate with me. The main character was suspicious, and there wasn't much that made me want to like her.

Brief summary: Saskia Kreis, former youth piano player extraordinaire, returns home to her family compound after her mother's death to find the family estate (her supposed inheritance) has been given away. Digging into the who and why, Saskia unearths more about her own complicated past than she plans.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free e-reader copy of “The Ingenue” in exchange for an honest review.

Following up on her excellent novel “The Ballerinas,” author Rachel Kapelke-Dale tells the story of piano prodigy Saskia in alternating time lines from her early adolescence to the present day. Saskia’s artist / author mother Evie is the inheritor of a mansion called the Elf House that Saskia expects to inherit one day but following Evie’s untimely death, learns that she has promised it instead to a man from Saskia’s past. Solving the mystery of why Evie has done so is part of the fun of this well crafted novel. An element I wish the author would have fleshed out more is that of the child concert pianist. And I would truly like to read the fiction-within-a-fiction “Fairy Tales for Little Feminists,” written by Evie and from which snippets begin each chapter.

While not at the truly excellent level of “The Ballerinas,” I give “The Ingenue” a solid four stars, and look forward to what this author has next for us.

The Ingenue, by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, is a dark coming-of-age tale of youthful talent, family relationships and the lasting effects of trauma, as a prodigal daughter returns home after her mother’s death.
Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the story features Saskia, the protagonist, and her parents, as she grows up in their historic family mansion, the Elf House.
In the beginning, Saskia is a 9 year old piano prodigy whose quiet father Mike is a symphony cellist and mother Evelyn (Evie) a writer and university faculty member. Evie is famous for her series of children’s books, “Fairy Tales for Feminists.” Saskia is raised with Evie’s code, threaded through the books: “Have many adventures …don’t look for a knight—look for a sword …and be who you are!” But her mother, while enlightened, does not help her as Saskia grows into a teenage ingénue and is “groomed” by one of her mother’s erudite colleagues, Patrick, which subsequently derails her focus and aspirations.
The story is told from Saskia’s POV, and each chapter cleverly begin with a pithy excerpt from Evie’s fairy tales, and then features a vignette from Saskia’s childhood, followed by current actions as Saskia deals with her surviving father and her mother’s estate.
This is such a well-told tale, with incisive insights and excellent character development, especially Saskia and Evie. There are wonderfully poignant moments from Saskia’s formative years and her relationship with her parents. The Elf House features as a character also, as it informs Saskia’s motivation to capture her lost happiness, and her mother’s ultimate gift to her daughter.
Bonus: For readers who live or have lived in Milwaukee (I grew up there), there are endearing and accurate references to the neighborhoods of the east side, and Milwaukee landmarks and history.
This is more of a novel of contemporary fiction than suspense, although there is a surprising, impactful conclusion! I enjoyed the author’s previous novel, The Ballerinas, and I believe she is honing her craft more skillfully with each work!!

Thanks you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

:Heavy, haunting read that I couldn’t put down. There are many moving pieces to this story. There’s the piece of a young piano prodigy named Saskia, who’s parents simply don’t know how to handle their gifted child.
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Then there’s the matter of the house Saskia grew up believing would be passed down to her as it had all the generations before, but instead is left to Patrick.
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Speaking of Patrick, that’s the last piece of the story. Much older than Saskia she is intricately connected to him for better or worse, quite frankly for worse:
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This is a story of healing, fighting back and finding your voice
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Thank you #stmartinspress and #netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review

The Ingenue is the story of a pianist prodigy, Saskia, told in alternating timelines- current day at age 38, as well as her adolescence. The first half of the novel builds the plot and characters; the second half moves more quickly and the reader has a better understanding as to why Saskia has made certain choices in her life. It is interesting to be a part of Saskia’s journey as she looks back on her past and realizes certain things about it. I enjoyed how each chapter started with a snippet of a re-imagined fairy tale, told with a feminist twist.
Overall, this was a worthwhile read, especially if you like to dive deep into a character’s essence. The ending was very satisfying!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read the digital ARC.

I had to force myself to finish this book. It was unnecessarily drawn out, and the ending was over-the-top. All of Saskia's internal struggles ended in nothing; she just walked away, and nothing changed.

AFter the death of her mother she is expecting to inherit everything she including her estate. She is shocked to learn a man whom she has a very complicated and mysterious past with and she now has to reevaluate her revenge and future. Very edge of your seat exciting read.