The image of the ballerina that is imbedded in us from little girlhood is one of pretty ladies dancing to beautiful music dressed in yards and yards of lovely tulle. That sugarplum fantasy is unspoiled by visions of sweaty tights and ravaged feet that is the reality in the backstage of the ballet world and in this very interesting story of that world. It is also a book about long time female friendships through good times and bad with a generous dose of feminism that is valuable in plotting a women’s course in those times. I enjoyed The Ballerinas very much! Thank you St. Martin’s for allowing me this early read.

I loved this story about 3 ballerina friends and their life from preteen to finally becoming an adult as told by Delphine. The sometimes dark journey of the ballerina world where they would do anything to get ahead, even if it meant hurting the friends they love physically or emotionally. Everyone wants to be at the top, to be the star, but the struggles along the way are great. This took a huge toll on their lives, limbs and decisions. And yet they come back to each other as its family. Well written as the story takes you back and forth from then and now. Highly recommend reading.

I mainly requested this because i have a niece and nephew who do dance--including ballet. The book does center about ballet and the ballet world, but we also see friendships and those dynamics. An enjoyable read! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

This story follows three ballerinas, Delphine, Lindsay, and Margaux, friends since their teens, as they work their way up the ranks in the Paris Opera Ballet. The story is told in two timelines, present day and their early years. Their friendship has been tested by betrayals and competition, and there is a secret that if revealed could change everything. Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg and is now returning to her former home as a choreographer, with a plan to begin her new career with a bang. It ends with a twist that will leave you stunned.

This book was not meant for me. I don’t know what I was expecting but boredom was not it.

Everyone was just so flat. I felt stupid for not understanding terms and references because there was no explanation given for them. If I know ballet or any kind of stage performance maybe this would have worked out for me.

I really enjoyed this book! It was so well written, I would not be surprised at all if the author was a ballerina herself, as it was quite detailed. I really felt like I was going through everything with Delphine!

I wouldn't say this was a Thriller though, it should really be classified as a dark women's fiction.

The first thing that irked me was the cover - I love the cover, but I have *never* seen any ballet dancers wear bicycle shorts under their leotards or tutus. The dancer on the left of the cover... just no.

By about halfway through I was getting really tired of the intentional vagueness of "what they did to Lindsay".

Other than that, a good read. I really felt almost a part of the ballet world of Paris!

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

I tore through this book. I really enjoyed being immersed in the rarefied air of professional ballet. Plot grabbed my attention from the start and was well paced, and I liked how the dual timeline storytelling converged. I found the characters interesting, although I think the development of Delphine and Lindsay was far stronger than Margaux, and that felt like a miss to me. I saw another reviewer described this as a cross between Center Stage and Black Swan, and I think that’s an apt description. This would make a great vacation read!

Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. There is a dual timeline, going back and forth between the past and present, but the past was written from the perspective of the present, meaning that the reader is not fully immersed in the past. I found myself getting confused about which storyline I was reading, because details from the present were included in the past narrative. This also made the past storyline seem insubstantial.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to review this interesting look into the world of ballet.

Margaux, Lindsay, and Delphine are 3 childhood ballet school friends. The story is told from their childhood perspectives and their adult perspective s in present time. Delphine comes as a choreographer for a ballet that her friends are involved in.. We get to know each of the girls as individuals, their loves, and their flaws as the ballet comes together.

I was happy to read this because it was way out of my usual book choices and I was glad I challenged myself. This really showed the power of female friendships. My only issue was I didn't really root for any of the female characters. They were so flawed.

I find stories about the ballet world absolutely fascinating and I enjoyed reading The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelle-Dale very much. Add in friendship, secrets, and tragedy and I raced through the pages!

While this book definitely had some suspenseful elements, I don't know that I would necessarily market this as a thriller. I did love the going back and forth between time periods, and the characters all seemed very realistic and well-written; they definitely weren't one-dimensional, and were flawed (in a good way - I love a flawed character; to me, that makes them more realistic and relatable). That said, it was incredibly slow moving. I wasn't particularly motivated to pick it up due to the pace, and it took me a while to finish it for that reason. I definitely would classify this as a mystery/drama rather than a thriller/suspense.

This beautifully-written novel tells the story of three women, friends since their girlhood as students of the Paris Opera Ballet training school.. Their lives intertwine from youth through their mid-thirties as they progress from the training school to the ballet company, their existence always bound and defined by the demands of the ballet world. The story is told from the viewpoint of Delphine, whose mother was a famous ballerina with the POB. It alternates between two timelines, the dancers' past years and their more recent ones, until the two converge as the story builds to its climax. The claustrophobic world of the classical ballet is authentically invoked as the physical, mental, and emotional lives of the ballerinas play out over the years in a world populated mostly by women but dominated and controlled by men. The novel explores the obsessions, betrayals, secrets, and ties of friendship among them as the story builds to its explosive climax. This is a gorgeous book that stays with the reader for a long time after finishing it.

I'm trying to recall what exactly drew me to request the ARC, 'The Ballerinas' because it was not at all what I had expected. The set up of the chapters are present and past. We meet Delphine who returns to Paris after a 13 year absence from her former life as a performer in a prestigious Ballet Troupe, now as a choreographer. She is now in her 30's and romanticizes her relationship from the past with 2 other women and doesn't understand why they aren't the best of friends again despite the fact that she chose to be absent from anything important in their lives over the years. She is self-absorbed, and a horrible friend. Everything is about her. Her other 2 friends are no better. Every tragedy happens to her, never mind that the real friend who is struggling with addiction and infertility is the one who needed to be fleshed out more, was the one flat and flailing in the background as though Delphine's problem of never being number 1 in her career, or relationships was the most important story to focus on. The pace of the story was excruciatingly slow, and I was not vested in any of the characters, they were horrid. In the end, a woman got away with murder just by acting demurely and the fake friendships continued. Thank you #NetGalley and #St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pardon my language here but, I’m sorry, what the fuck was that? The pacing is incredibly slow, the narration of past and present is confusing at best, and the characters are mind-numbingly boring. Delphine is whiny and self-loathing, as if communicating with her friends her true feelings would actually kill her. Lindsey is selfish and childish, vindictive without consequences. And Margaux was so flat that it felt like even the author sometimes forgot the character existed in the book.

What was the twist in this book? That men are terrible? I’m missing how this was supposed to be a surprise to any female reader. I was lost as to what the plot exactly was, in this book. This was a disappointing read. There is no suspense, no thrills, and honestly, not a single twist.

Full review August 20th, 2021.

A good, but for me not great read. I really enjoyed the parts of the story from when the girls were young and trying to make it up the ranks of the ballet company. Their friendship was sweet, while at the same time competitive and stressful and provided a great background into the world of ballerinas.

Where it didn't come through however, was as the story progressed, I disliked the adult versions of each of the girls and in the end, did not feel any empathy for any of them.

Overall a good look into the life of ballerinas and the story of friendship highs and lows.

I could not put this book down. I loved the quick pace and storyline of all of the characters. This is a book that combines my love for dance, suspense, and Paris. I felt like I was watching a movie blend of Center Stage and Black Swan.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

First, thank you to the publishers at St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this e-ARC of The Ballerinas. My review has been posted to Goodreads and Instagram as of May 19, 2021.

The Ballerinas is about a trio of girls who grow up together attending POB, the Paris Opera Ballet school, where ballet is their entire life. Switching between past and present in each chapter, we see the main character, Delphine, get older (but not necessarily “grow up”) with her best friends, Margaux and Lindsay. Together, they constantly conquer the competition and continue to rise through the ranks in their school.

Around the ages of 22 though, two soloist spots open up with 3 best friends vying for them. This is the secret that Delphine is harboring. What she did to her best friend just to continue climbing that ladder to success.

While this story revolves around Delphine and her friends, it is also about hating men, which in one context, I could agree with it, but not in the second, final context. The protagonist felt bitter, extremely so, and was very selfish with her words, time, and actions. It all felt very, ME ME ME. Even her friends didn’t really matter much to her, and when she finally realizes that she’s been pushing them away, she wants them back, for her own selfish reasons. Delphine is someone who cannot be alone with herself.

The book was slow moving at first, but speeds up around the second half. While I enjoyed reading about Paris and Russia, it was difficult for me, as an American who has never traveled to the UK and such, to imagine all of the sights and sounds mentioned in The Ballerinas. The French words were also difficult, because it’s not a language I know. It did add to the story though, and made it feel more realistic.

The overall storyline was not what I had expected. The secret Delphine is hiding isn’t all that terrible. The most shocking part of the book is a scandal that breaks out among POB due to something I never saw coming. And finally, the ending, which I just couldn’t stand. In the first few sentences, we learn that Delphine has murdered someone, and it’s anyone’s guess who that ends up being. I felt it was completely unfair who was murdered and that it was unjust. I agree with other readers that Delphine did not get what she deserved in the end. The ending felt too clean for me, and therefore unrealistic.

3 stars

TW - abortion, murder, and sexual content.

⭐⭐⭐..4 Stars!
When I was very young I took dance lessons which included tap, jazz and ballet.
Don’t laugh ~ but I honestly can remember Margaret O’Brien in the movie “Unfinished Dance”!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y1MTfU9H2Y&list=PLuznTzCTalYrAAfrlB48crDsT_Pzjw47U
(Hmmm hoping there is someone who likes vintage “Old” movies and I am not the only one!)

Aww I so wanted to be a ballerina!
Needless to say this novel got my attention.
BTW: Although I never got to be a ballerina ~ but I still love to dance ~

Story alternates between two time lines. One is when three ballerinas Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsey were age thirteen and met and performed at the Paris Opera Ballet. They become close friends. Story includes the back stage drama, the rivalry, and the demands of the profession.
The other time line is when the girls are adults. Delphine left the profession fourteen years ago and moved to St. Petersburg. Now at age 36, she has returned to Paris to choreograph a ballet.

There is a bit of mystery and I did like this story!

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley.
This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for professional review purposes only.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 7, 2021