A tale for any little girl willing or unwilling to take ballet class. All those unrealized dreams that come to haunt us as you take a barre class because you know that all too familiar stretch is beneficial to the mind and soul. Three friends have bonded over dreams realized and unfulfilled in a world of scrutiny and deceit. These three are tied to each other by a secret neither wants revealed .each has a stake in its silence and we the reader see a world beyond the tutus and the stage makeup. It is full of pain of performance and silence. It’s glorious. Happy reading

I tried to like this book, but I couldn't. Even after a few chapters, I could not connect with the characters and the story enough to care about what happened to them.

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I love books about dancers. I’m not sure if it’s because I absolutely cannot dance or that I did a few years of ballet as a child, but they are my absolute favorite. There are usually some good dramas intertwined in them. So needless to say I had high expectations. I’m sad to say they did not match up.

Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. Not because it was just a terrible story, but because it was a slow story. I read a lot and I have a lot of books I want to read. I don’t have time to spend weeks on a book because it doesn’t have a hook. I liked some of the characters and the setting, but it was so very slow to pick up. At 30% I still didn’t have any general idea of where the story was going and it was jumping back and forth between current time and the past, which caused even more confusion. So while I tried and pushed forward as much as I could, it came to a point that I just decided it wasn’t a book for me and put it down. The only thing keeping it from a one star review was that it wasn’t bad writing. It was just boring for me.

I’m not saying this book is horrible. I just couldn’t get into it enough to decide to finish it. It was just… meh… to me. But I always encourage people to read on their own. See how it vibes with you as an individual. I always like to give authors two books to see if it’s just their writing style so I will be picking up another book by Rachel Kapelke-Dale to see how I enjoy it. Let me know what you think after you read.

So good! Really enjoyed the back and forth plots and the ending was awesome. Definitely recommend. Great thriller! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

The Ballerinas is the debut novel of Rachel Kapelke-Dale; it was published on December 7th. My teenage daughter has danced since she was 3 years old, and although she has given up ballet (and all other genres) for tap only, I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, with an inside look into the physica, mental, and emotional demands of ballet and the quest for stardom.

The Ballerinas follows a friendship trio – Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay – from their schooling at the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) to their professional (and personal) lives beyond. Delphine leaves Paris for St. Petersburg, Russia, to work with her choreographer boyfriend, giving her distance from a huge secret that hangs heavy over her friendship trio. When she returns to Paris years later as a choreographer, she hopes to make her mark as a choreographer and smooth over any lingering bumps with her friends.

This story was very character-driven, following Delphine (and her friends) through two timelines. I loved the writing and I felt like I was right in the mix of all the drama that ensued. The dark side of dance/ballet was at the forefront of the novel; hence, the characters were quite unlikable. I enjoy dark reads, and this was a solid story in that regard. By the end, however, I found myself wanting for a redeeming character, event, and/or realization.

I look forward to reading what Rachel Kapelke-Dale writes next. Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Cancer, death, death of a parent, violence.
Delphine returns to the ballet company she left with a terrible secret, and now she’s back as a choreographer.

I liked that she recuperates the friendships that she lost with Lindsay and Margaux. It was refreshing to read about adults and not highschool 15 year olds. I didn’t know where to stand with Margaux at first, but she’s cool. The parts when they danced were my absolute favourite

This book deals with some heavy topics, which include basically men taking advantage of the women in every possible way, but I am glad it turns out okay for women and not so much for the men. Honestly, they all sucked, fuck them.

“Men are always trying to get us to pick camp, to declare our allegiance, to reveal what kind of woman we are so that they can judge whether we are doing it right. Why can’t they just let us be people?”

DNF 50%
Just so draggy and to be honest, boring. I found myself wondering on multiple occasions if we would ever get to the point. The initial deep dive into the intensity of a ballet company was quite interesting, but that’s where it left me. I just didn’t seem to connect to the story and care where it was headed.

This is a story about dancing through the pain.

I mistakenly thought this was going to be a tense exploration of the pressure placed on dancers- but really it was an exploration of a long term friendship. There were aspects I really liked, including the overall writing style & the way in which the author fleshed out the protagonist.. and also aspects I didn’t love, including all of the male characters, and the amount of time spent in the past timeline.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 💫/5, rounded to 4.

Thank you so much Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for the eArc!

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a fascinating novel about a close-knit group of friends in the highly competitive world of ballet at a highly prestigious company in Paris. The story is told by Delphine, a choreographer who has returned to Paris with the aim to make up for betraying her close friend 14 years prior. The story alternates between the present (2018) when the characters are 36, and the past during their young adult years. The plot reminded me a little of The Divines by Ellie Eaton in terms of dual timelines and confronting the role they played in the betrayal of a classmate.

The story is a little slow, but starts to pickup in the second half. It becomes clear just how competitive and toxic the world of professional ballet can be. I liked the exploration of misogyny, power, and ego pondered in the plot. Though the characters weren’t necessarily likeable, I was fascinated by them and their actions and really appreciated that they do mature on spite of sometimes seeming trapped in their roles as teenagers.

Ell Potter, one of my favorite audiobook readers, masterfully narrates this book. Her voice is so pleasant and rich and emotional at the right moments.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC.

This book was one of the books I was looking forward to reading most this year. I was waiting practically on tenterhooks for over 6 months because I love ballet, I love ballerinas, and I love books and movies about them. I had read Meg Abbott’s “The Turnout” earlier in the year and I had adored it, so I was hoping I would love this book just as much.

But I ended up being so disappointed when this book didn’t even come close to meeting any of my expectations. Despite the buzz and hype surrounding it, it wasn’t anything like Black Swan or reminiscent of Meg Abbott’s writing. There was so much potential in this book and I feel it was wasted.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the pacing. The frequent switching between past and present until the past caught up to present caused the pacing of the book to stutter and stop. It slowed down the pacing so much I kept looking at how far into the book I was and going, “Really? I’m only that far in?” Flashbacks are a sloppy storytelling device in the first place, and if you’re going to use them you need to use them as a condiment, not as almost 50% of the food on your plate.

And for all the bravado of how us readers won’t see the twists coming, I saw it telegraphed a mile away. I just waited for the characters in the book to get there.

It was an okay book, but not great. I just wish it had lived up to what it could have been.

I really wanted to love this book. I was so excited when I got approved for an advanced copy. But these characters are HORRIBLE PEOPLE. Every single one of them. From Delphine trying to act all innocent, to Nathalie not doing anything about Jock. Horrible people. Not one has any redeeming qualities.

I loved reading The Ballerinas and found parts of this book enjoyable. I was drawn in by the cover and premise and the immersive nature of ballet but found myself not really liking the characters.

First I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's press for this ARC. I chose it purely on the cover and the fact that it was a Read Now on NetGalley.
I really enjoyed the entire book. The stories did get a little confusing and crossed but I think that was the point. Their lives were so entwined with being that the ballet community.
I loved the growth of Lindsay and Delphine. Their friend was so solid and I enjoyed how they had each other's backs. I really liked reading how they started and how they ended up. And I always will read a book that drops the line that someone is a murderer in the first paragraph.
Definitely recommend!

Overall: Less of a thriller and more of a drama with some tension from the past.

Pros:
Writing Style. Enjoyable and kept me wondering which what was happening.
Ballerinas. Each woman was distinct and clearly had a point in the story.

Cons:
Genre. From the description it felt this was setting up to be a mystery or thriller about the past, but that was not the case.
Overload. Sometimes this story feels like it’s trying to discuss too much and feels overloaded with topics.

I was excited to read The Ballerinas since I kept on seeing comparisons to Black Swan, which is one of my favorite movies. However, this ended up falling short for me.

My likes:
-The writing
-learning more about the ballet
-the descriptions of St. Petersburg and Paris
-the dual timelines of the female friendships as young girls vs. as adult women

My dislikes:
-Because of the comparisons to Black Swan, I was expecting something darker and gothic. It wasn't either.
-it was touted as a thriller but I didn't find that to be accurate
-very, very slow burn
-ending was anticlimactic
-every conflict gets wrapped in a bow at the end

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘴?"

I've always be fascinated by the lives of ballerinas (I blame repeated viewings of 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦) and this debut novel is a dark and gritty behind-the-curtain look at what life may be like for them as part of the prestigious Paris Opera Ballet.

Told via dual timelines (the 1990s and 2018), this story follows three friends, Delphine, Margaux and Lindsay, as they train at and later dance for the POB. From a young age, the girls endure toxic friendships and subject their bodies to grueling pain all in the name of art, and the cutthroat competition and demand for perfection affect their lives in ways they never could have imagined.

This is a very character-driven, slow burn of a novel. I've been debating about how to classify it (I've seen the thriller description thrown around) and I think dark, literary fiction makes the most sense. There is a bit of a mystery but this is mostly a twisty coming-of-age story that really ramps up in the second half of the novel. If you're not a fan of unlikable characters, be warned 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗦 may not be for you but if you can get past the ballerinas pretty much always behaving badly, this tale of secrets, betrayals and ambition is worth your time.

3.5 stars

Thanks to St. Martins Press & NetGalley for the copy to review.

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a story of three young woman who are striving to be a “principal” with Paris Opera Ballet. Throughout this struggle, Margaux, Lindsay and Delphine remain friends and do cheer for each other. As the competition for a “star“ role increases, things start to unwind for the three ladies. Each one has a personal issue; each one tries to “dance” their way through the issues and two share a shameful secret. After time at POB and wishing to find a different direction within the world of ballet, Delphine leaves for Moscow. When she returns after many years, she assumes that everything will be “the same.” The three best friends together again. She is wrong. Things have changed. Through their experiences (both shared and individually) they are each forced to grow up and learn to live and love outside the world of ballet. There is good character development of the three ladies as well as the lesser characters, who add much to the story. I would recommend this book to a friend.

I had to sit and really think about how to review this one. This is not an easy book to review because there is a lot of potential here, but the pacing and the characters ultimately made me dislike this one. I think this book was also marketed in a way that made me (and others I believe) think this was going to be a thriller. It is not a thriller and so I could not help but be disappointed by that as well. It was just a rough read all around unfortunately.

I think the best comparison for this book might be Big Little Lies? I think that is ultimately what this book was maybe trying to go for, but it just did not quite stick the landing. Again, the characters were particularly hard to empathize with or understand. I did not understand why they were even all friends. This book may have benefited by having multiple viewpoints instead of being told in first person. Also, the pacing of this one is rough. I had to push myself to read through certain portions of it because it did not feel like much was happening other than characters being catty or abusive to each other.

This all said, this book does highlight the toxic mindsets that can exist and has existed in the ballet world. That definitely came across and I wish each character had not grown up with despising themselves and their bodies so much. In that respect you did care for the characters. Like I said, I see the potential in this story even if did not come together for me as a reader. I wanted to like this more than I did, but ultimately this is about a 2 1/2 star read for me. I guess you cannot win them all.

I do appreciate Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

So, I went into this book, under the assumption that it was a thriller. I kept wondering what Delphine had done to Lindsay, since they kept alluding to it and making it seem like it was a huge, terrible thing. When it was finally revealed, I felt deflated. I did enjoy the look at what life at a ballet school is like. Between the dancing and the choreography, it's always something I've wanted to know more of. I feel like the author did a good job with that. I also thought it all wrapped up pretty nicely.

This cover is stunning and pulls you into the story of three ballet dancers. The Ballerinas takes place over time and flits back and forth effortlessly. This has a little of everything, drama love, friendships and twisted secrets