The Shadow Girls is another great novel full from Nina Laurin. Full of suspense and all the drama that comes with an elite ballet school full of teenagers and their sometimes overbearing, sometimes oblivious mothers. Told in multiple perspectives and timelines, this is an intriguing story that is so fun to watch unfold. Another great one by Nina Laurin! If you love the drama of the ballet world, definitely check it out.

The Shadow Girls by Nina Laurin is a psychological suspense novel that takes a hard look into the cutthroat world of ballet.

Georgina Prescott was once a prima ballerina until a severe metatarsal fracture tragically ended her career. Now she fiercely manages her 16 year old daughter Anna's meteoric rise in the competitive ballet world. Having recently been named as the lead role in an important performance, Anna seems to be making her presence known. But when Anna falls and fractures her foot, Georgina sees her daughter's (and her own) dreams crumbling away. Whispered rumors that Anna's fall was an intentional act by Naomi (Anna's best friend and the girl that steps into Anna's place in the performance) spread and Georgina becomes obsessed with finding out the truth and holding her accountable. Everything changes though when Anna receives an anonymous letter telling her to keep her mouth shut, and then she disappears...

This novel was definitely suspenseful and intriguing!! I do feel like it is more geared towards a YA audience rather than adult but I still really enjoyed it!! The author had to have done some extensive research because the imagery was so detailed that I was fully immersed into the narrative. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves an escapist thriller that is like Dance Moms but with an ominous atmospheric vibe.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nina Laurin, and Grand Central Publishing for this ARC!! Publication date is April 22nd 2025.

If you're not a lover of ballet, don't let that keep you from grabbing a copy of Nina Laurin's latest thriller, The Shadow Girls. The interpersonal dynamics between not only the ballet school girls, but mother-daughter and teacher-student had me riveted. None of the characters are particularly likable, but they're all fascinating. While not a whiplash-inducing twisty thriller, there is at least one reveal that made me keep anxiously flipping pages. Nina Laurin once again proves to me why she's one of my must-read authors.

I enjoyed the story itself - a behind the scenes of the twisted world of ballet. That said, the character and plot development was lacking. A lot of telling and not showing with the characters - I didn’t feel like I got to know any of them. While the plot has a lot of twists, I also didn’t feel like some of them were earned.

'The Shadow Girls' was an excellent thriller that held me captivated through the end. The action takes place at a ballet academy. There are two timelines: present during Anna's fall and what happens after, and the months leading up to the fall. There are also multiple points of view. I enjoyed the drama found at the ballet school and in the girls' personal lives.
5 stars.

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

What will they do for a role? That's the question in this tale set in a hotbed ballet school. Anna has always been the star and Naomi the runner up. Anna's mother Georgina was a ballerina before her marriage and she pushes, hard, for Anna. Naomi's mother Dawn works nights as a nurse. Now Anna has broken her metatarsal and all bets are off for the big performance. This moves around in time before and after Anna's accident and that's a problem-the time line is murky and it's not always clear where we are in the sequence of events. Everyone has a secret, even Anna, whose perspective isn't given until the end. There's lots of drama (gotta love the drama) but best of all are the twists, including a real whopper. The women are all believable, the scenario suspenseful. No spoilers but know that I was actually surprised. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. This was a page turner for me.

A surprisingly intriguing story following mothers and daughters at an elite ballet school. I was skeptical at first but ending up really enjoying this story. Characters are well developed, although not necessarily likable. Plenty of twists and turns in this drama.

Set in the world of an elite ballet school in the Massachusetts area, the story follows two ballerinas in their final year. Anna is the prima, a teen with natural talent and beauty. Her mother, Georgina, is a former lead ballerina and is heavily involved in Anna and the school's lives. Naomi is Anna's best friend and is always second to Anna in terms of roles and talent. The book is told from multiple points of view, and hops between the present day and the past, to discover how Anna injured her foot and can no longer perform the lead in the upcoming production.

This book is marketed as a thriller/suspense novel, which is not entirely inaccurate. I think it would be better as a YA thriller/suspense novel. Adults are involved in the narrative, but the drama is more YA vibes. The writing is good, and the story does keep you guessing. I know nothing about ballet, but my millennial connection to Center Stage interested me.

Thank you, Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing, for this Advanced Reading Copy. All opinions are my own.

I wish I liked it more. This is not a “psychological thriller,” this is a boring and predictable story about competitive teenage ballerinas. Surprise, there’s some backstabbing. There’s no mystery or surprise here, and all the dialogue was stiff and surface-level. No emotions, no personality.

The high-stakes world of elite ballerinas. It's been done a few different ways - Black Swan, that weird Sutton Foster show, Center Stage. The Shadow Girls had the potential to be great. Instead, this felt like a Lifetime TV Movie or an extra-long teen drama episode. It's shallow and rather dull.

I think this is probably best for YA, rather than general fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Nina Laurin's "The Shadow Girls" dives deep into the dark, obsessive world of elite ballet, delivering a psychological thriller that will leave readers breathless. Evoking the unsettling atmosphere of "Black Swan" and the taut suspense of Megan Abbott's "The Turnout," this novel is a masterclass in building tension and exploring the complex, often toxic, relationships that form in the pursuit of perfection.

Laurin skillfully weaves together the perspectives of two mothers, Georgina and Dawn, creating a narrative that is both compelling and unsettling. Georgina, haunted by her own thwarted ballet dreams, becomes consumed by suspicion when her daughter Anna's career is derailed by a mysterious injury. Her obsession with Naomi, Anna's rival and supposed best friend, is palpable, and Laurin expertly portrays the descent into paranoia.

Dawn, Naomi's mother, provides a stark contrast. Initially, she is a picture of maternal pride, but as rumors swirl and accusations mount, she is forced to confront the possibility that her daughter might not be as innocent as she believed. The author's exploration of maternal instinct and the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her child is both nuanced and chilling.

The setting of the elite ballet academy is rendered with a sharp, almost clinical precision. Laurin captures the relentless pressure, the fierce competition, and the dark undercurrents that lurk beneath the surface of this seemingly glamorous world. The descriptions of the physical and emotional toll that ballet takes on its practitioners are vivid and unsettling.

The pacing of "The Shadow Girls" is perfectly calibrated. Laurin gradually ratchets up the tension, revealing secrets and sowing seeds of doubt with each passing chapter. The introduction of the anonymous letter and Anna's subsequent disappearance elevates the stakes, transforming the novel from a psychological thriller into a gripping mystery.

However, some readers might find the characters' motivations occasionally opaque, and the sheer level of obsession and paranoia can, at times, feel overwhelming. Yet, this very intensity is precisely what makes the novel so effective.

In conclusion, "The Shadow Girls" is a compelling and unsettling thriller that explores the dark side of ambition, the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, and the destructive power of obsession. Nina Laurin has crafted a meticulously plotted and atmospheric novel that will linger in the reader's mind long after the final page is turned. It's a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and anyone fascinated by the cutthroat world of elite performance.

I'm sorry but we took stage moms/athlete parents and used their ridiculousness to pin two against each other and I am here for it!

I tried repeatedly to get into this book and it just seemed odd to me and I didn’t like it. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

This was a great book!! I love how it is so mysterious and the letter is eerie and the writing just makes it work so well! I think it was a great book. I love the dance studio scene, and this book had me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what was going to happen next!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Georgina Prescott’s ballet career ended years ago by a metatarsal fracture and now, the same thing has happened to her daughter Anna, who attends a prestigious ballet academy. The only person who know what happened is Anna’s BFF Naomi, and Georgina doesn’t quite trust her, as rumors swirl around that Naomi caused Anna’s fall & unfortunate injury. Georgina is determined to find out what really happened to her daughter in this unputdownable thriller.

This book was amazing! I have always really liked ballet, but I think anyone would love this book. I was initially drawn to this book because the cover is gorgeous. Once I read that description and saw it was about ballet, I had to read it. I was immediately hooked from the start. I loved how the author showed you the behind the scenes of the ballet. The author did a great job to really show the emotions in this book and the character development was perfect. I highly recommend even if you aren’t a fan of ballet.

Anna and Naomi are the top two students at their prestigious dance academy. Anna, with natural talent plus all the privileges that come with money and a mother who is a former ballerina herself, is expected to have her pick of company jobs when she graduates; Naomi has fire, but without the same advantages (either innate or based in privilege) she has always been second on the casting list, and she knows her pickings will be slimmer. But it's their last year, and neither girl—to say nothing of their mothers, or the teachers at the academy—is quite satisfied with the status quo.

I'm a sucker for a ballet book and no stranger to those fully of jealousy and intrigue, but this is a pretty grim read. The book switches between POVs, with a focus on Georgina (Anna's mother) and Naomi; Anna herself does not take center stage until very late in the book. And it's clear from the beginning that neither Georgina nor Naomi is a particularly pleasant person to spend time with: Georgina is a consummate stage mother, micromanaging her daughter's food (have to maintain that underweight ballet bod) and training (Georgina has ingratiated herself enough with the school to pull some significant strings) and friendships (Anna has very few of them, which is just the way Georgina likes it). She has a laser focus, and if it ever mattered what Anna wanted or what made Anna happy, well, it's been a long time since those things mattered. Naomi, meanwhile, is no better: though she's officially Anna's best friend, Naomi is definitely in it to keep her enemies closer. She's jealous and bitter and calculating from the get-go, convinced that Anna is the thing between herself and success and resenting her mother for having to work to keep Naomi in school fees and pointe shoes.

Other characters float in and out: Naomi's mother, who is briefly the only palatable character in the book but rapidly descends into the same unpleasantness that afflicts everyone else; the women running the academy, who really give no shits; the new artistic director, who in all of his considerable dialogue I don't think says a single thing that is *polite*, let alone kind; and on it goes. Anna is almost universally painted as a bit of a saint, but because we aren't in her POV until the end (and even then she's, you know, not really a saint), it's really just...bitterness and sex and drugs and lies and sleaziness and sabotage and venom. A lot of it involving fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds. Oh, and some improbable scenes involving the police. (I won't go into details, but the most realistic thing about it is that only a white girl with money and visibility would get an all-available-resources treatment when she's been missing for ten minutes and all signs point to her having left the house voluntarily.)

I didn't love the structure—the chapters flip back and forth through time, but (partly because just about everyone starts out at Bitch Level 10 and then stays there) I had trouble figuring out what was taking place when; it didn't matter all that much to my understanding of the book, but I'd probably have found a more linear plot easier to follow. And there's a *lot* of a character calling "a number" or finding something shocking or similar and then withholding that information from the reader until it's revealed later down the line. I tend to prefer books where the reader knows what the POV character knows; hiding that info from the reader always registers as a bit contrived.

So...a low three stars. Despite all of the above, this made for a very quick read, but...I was glad not to be in the characters' heads any longer. It'll be a good fit who like their characters messy and unlikable and their ballet drama with a side of broken glass in the pointe shoes, but I needed someone—anyone—to root for, and I never really could.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

#TheShadowGirls #NetGalley
Brilliant.
Ballet is all about grace, beauty, and perfection—but beneath the surface, it’s a ruthless world of ambition, obsession, and secrets. Nina Laurin’s The Shadow Girls plunges readers into this cutthroat environment, blending psychological suspense with the intense pressures of elite ballet training. Fans of Black Swan and Megan Abbott’s The Turnout will find themselves captivated by this chilling and atmospheric thriller.
Georgina Prescott’s world shatters when her daughter, Anna—a rising ballet star—suffers a metatarsal fracture, the very injury that ended Georgina’s own career years ago. The timing couldn’t be worse, as Anna was poised to take center stage at her prestigious ballet academy. Instead, her best friend, Naomi Thompson, steps in to claim the coveted role. Rumors quickly swirl through the insular ballet community. Did Naomi sabotage Anna? Is she as innocent as she seems? While Georgina becomes consumed by her suspicions, Naomi’s mother, Dawn, fiercely defends her daughter. But as the tension escalates, Anna receives a cryptic, anonymous note warning her to stay silent—and then, she vanishes. As both mothers struggle to uncover the truth, the lines between loyalty, ambition, and betrayal blur. What really happened to Anna, and how far will a mother go to protect her child?
Likes :-
1 Compelling, Multi-Layered Characters: Georgina and Dawn are flawed, complex, and fiercely protective. Their conflicting perspectives add depth to the story.
2 Atmospheric and Suspenseful: The world of elite ballet is painted with eerie precision—its cutthroat competition, whispered rumors, and suffocating pressure create the perfect setting for a psychological thriller.
3 Unpredictable Twists: Laurin expertly weaves in red herrings and shocking revelations that keep the reader guessing until the very end.
Overall :- The Shadow Girls is a gripping, unsettling thriller that masterfully explores the dark side of ambition and motherhood. With its tense atmosphere and unpredictable twists, it keeps readers on edge from start to finish. Whether you love psychological suspense or are fascinated by the high-stakes world of ballet, this book is a must-read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for giving me an advance copy.

The Shadow Girls is a thriller-suspense novel toward a young adult audience. The ballet students and their mothers are pretty unlikeable, so the enjoyment comes from seeing how the drama unfolds between the characters. I would suggest this to a reader who enjoys ballet and young adult books. Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

#TheShadowGirls