Very well written and quite poetic. It takes you to the far reaches of your mind and makes you wonder about your own friendships. I'd definitely read this again. It was very well written.

I haven't read a book with ballet as the primary premise so when I saw this come up on NetGalley I had to request. Surprise of all surprises...I was approved. I'm glad I was.

This is definitely a book that's outside my normal realm of reading and that's saying a lot because I read most anything. I LOVED to hate all three of the main characters, but then I also adored them. It's a twisted type of reader-to-character relatioship. I suspect that was the author's intention. I have heard that ballet is a dangerous form of art to immerse your livelihood in, and if it is anything like this book..I can see why.

This isn't just about the dynamics of friendship in a harsh world where only one can be the "star". This is also about how women are treated and pushed aside....looked at but not really SEEN. Where youth is worshipped and women in their 30s are ancient. It's also about how the heart and love we have for each other can overcome even the most unthinkable obstacles.

This isn't a fast-paced, grab you by the throat type of read. It is, however, a well written descent into a world most of us could only imagine.

I sincerely appreciate NetGalley and the author for making this E-ARC available. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

This book is solid, character driven, well researched, realistic approach to the ballerinas’ disciplined, competitive, excruciating lifestyle!

I was expecting to read a thriller after seeing the blurb about defining the novel as Black swan meets Luckiest Girl Alive but this is closer to women’s fiction, drama, historical fiction genres.

I have a little hard time to get into the story because of the slow paced story telling. But luckily second half the author wrapped up the story and fasten the pacing to help me get through the entire premise. The conclusion is also better.

We’re introduced three ballerina friends Delphine ( narrator of the story), Margaux, Lindsey met at young age when they perform at Paris Opera Ballet. We witness the rivalry,anxiety attacks, high tension, excruciating demands of their profession they have to deal for finding their place at the entertainment industry.

They’re both passionate about being rising star, defeating their opponents, feeling the growing pressure on their shoulders and unfortunately nothing they can add in their life to replace with their passions for performance.

The big secret the girls keep and tragedy they face will change their entire life.

The realistic approach of how things work at the back stage of entertainment industry, how the system work between ballet companies were informative.

The second half of the book was more riveting and interesting, the pace picks up, capturing your entire attention. So you shouldn’t skip reading and become patient about progression. It’s truly worth your time and energy. You easily root for characters.

It’s a novel about performing arts, passion, friendship, betrayal, secrets, ambitions, dues.

I was expecting to read a chilling thriller so I got a little disappointed about the genre but overall it was solid, engaging, well written novel presents us a thought provoking perspective of ballerinas’ lives.

So many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

In this novel, three ballerinas who met as young dancers at the Paris Opera Ballet find themselves trying to plan their futures as they age out of the profession. However, each of them find it difficult to think of anything other than their passion for dance. Each of them have unfulfilled hopes of becoming a star of the ballet as well as an underlying resentment of the expected portrayal of a ballerina. These feelings culminate in a tragedy that will live with them for the rest of their lives.

This is a novel of friendship, ambition, artistic expression, betrayal, and secrets. In addition, it exposes the real world that exists behind the scenes of world renowned ballet companies and their dancers.

Thank you to Net Galley, author Rachel Kapelke-Dale, and St. Martin’s Press for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this interesting novel.

Black Swan is one of my all-time favorite movies, so when I read that The Ballerinas was being compared to that movie I knew I had to read it.
This stunning novel paints a dark portrait of the extremely competitive world of ballet. The Ballerinas follow 3 women that are apart of the Paris Opera ballet company from childhood friends to adult frienemies. The story rotates from past to present, with a ferocious intensity.

I loved the depth all of these characters had and how I felt like I personally knew them. Unlike the movie Black Swan, this book is a more realistic approach to the lives ballerinas live and what they go through. We also meet male dancers in the story and how they do not succumb to the same pressures as female dancers do.

The only issue I had with this book is the timelines were a bit too confusing at times. It wasn’t clear if I was reading about the past or present. I also wouldn’t necessarily call this book a thriller, but a story about the complexity of female relationships when they are in extreme situations.

I would recommend this book to fans of ballet and those who enjoy female-driven stories. Rachel Kapelke-Dale is definitely a very talented author and will be one to look out for in the future. Many thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s press, and Rachel Kapelke-Dale for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you for letting me read an ARC of this book!
I haven't read any ballet books before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The book always had an ominous vibe to it throughout the entire novel that made me a little uneasy. The anticipation and build up of trying to figure out what happened had me flying through the book! It was interesting that it had past and present timelines in alternate chapters. I’ve never listened to the songs scattered throughout the novel so it was nice to take a pause from the book to listen to the titles referenced. I had fun reading this and am looking forward to more by this author!

The Ballerinas is an engaging, captivating novel that takes you right into the heart of the professional ballet world.

Back with the Paris Ballet as a choreographer, former dancer Delphine has been living in St. Petersburg in a relationship that is not exactly what she thought it was. Told across present and past timelines, Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay strive for stardom in the ballet. I felt every aching muscle, every injury, every heartache as the girls competed for positions and supported each other. There is a bit of a mystery surrounding Lindsay and an injury which takes a very long time to actually be revealed, and actually ends up being rather anticlimactic by that point,

I was intrigued by the relationships each had offstage as well.

Rachel Kapelke-Dale is an author to watch; thoroughly enjoyed The Ballerinas; thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. I'm a musician, not a dancer, so I love any book where I can get lost in a story about ballerinas. This is the author's first novel and I'll definitely read more by her in the future!

THE BALLERINAS
BY RACHEL KAPELKE-DALE

This book was about three best friends who were at one time ballerina's in Paris for the Paris Opera Ballet. The book is mostly narrated by Delphine, who at the very beginning describes herself as one of the best dancers on the planet. She says that she has danced in sixty-four performances of Swan Lake, the Nutcracker forty-three times and performed twenty-six La Sylphides. Delphine's mother was a ballerina, as well. Her best friend's name is Margaux and the book starts out in September of 1985 when they are thirteen year's old. From there the book jumps all over the place in time alternating with the year 2018, when the girl's are thirty-six year's old.

Delphine has become a choreographer. She wants to do a production about the Romanov family which she titled Tsarina. The woman in charge of the ballet doesn't approve of it. This book was a one sitting read and was interesting but I don't want to say two much for fear of giving spoilers. I had been looking forward to reading this novel. I think it was well written and had a lot of philosophical truths about human nature. I was a bit disappointed in that the synopsis description and the actual narrative weren't completely what I was expecting. The synopsis sounded more in depth than what I read. It said that this novel was a cross between SWAN LAKE and I didn't think it turned out to be an accurate description. I think that is the reason why I was so disappointed in this novel even though it was likable, it just didn't live up to the expectations I was promised when I requested it.

It does have some issues between Jock and Delphine. Delphine does a very immoral couple of incidents to her other best friend and her husband and gets away with it. So don't go into this thinking you are getting SWAN LAKE because if you do I can assure that you will be sorely disappointed if not to my extent but to some degree. I have revised and tweaked my review on this one because in all honesty, while this one did disappoint me I liked it but just not as quite as much as I thought I would. I would say this was no higher than a 3.5 star read that is why I am not rounding it up to four whole stars. I hope that you will read this novel if you think this might still appeal to you based on my disclosure that the only reminder of SWAN LAKE is the sore and deformed feet that Ballerinas experience from jamming their feet into ballet shoes that are just too small. Weight issues are briefly mentioned and it is implicitly only mentioned along with how tall you are measured in centimetres in a way of telling not show me sort of writing.

Publication Date: December 7, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin;s for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheBallerinas #StMartin's #NetGalley #RachelKapelke-Dale

I love ballet and always have - I used to dance as a little girl, but I didn’t live anywhere near where I could’ve committed to it properly.

To read Delphine’s story was interesting and painful - I loved the parts describing the ballet life in detail.

I think you cannot go wrong with this book, as long as you’re interested in ballet!

I knew I like this because I liked the movie Black swan and loved the book tiny pretty things and also the show! It was a well written book and it kept me reading it way past my bedtime, the only thing I would say is it was more of a dark fiction book rather than a mystery or thriller at least in my opinion. Either way it doesn't make it any less good!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I appreciate the chance to read this book as it had a lot more depth and detail than I first expected, I appreciated the slow (in a good way) unfolding of Delphine's story, blended with past memories and present day issues that reunited her with her past. Though the story is placed within a rather dark and complex world of ballet in France (and a bit in Russia), it is also very much a story of reconciling past relationships, perhaps past mistakes, and the messiness of long term friendships that must grow and change in adulthood if they are to persist. I find the emphasis on a general fascination with ballerinas to ring true and Rachel Kalpelke-Dale handles a balance of balancing this cultural fascination with ballerinas with the darker side of how ballerinas are treated and how the cultural fascination seems to lead to an intense drive, and passion, to persist in a career that is demanding and draining.

The present day focus on Delphine returning to her former ballet company and her childhood friends Margaux and Lindsay offers a chance to think about the negative impact that an insular, often self focused and competitive career, has on friendship. It is clear that Delphine is returning because of problems in her marriage and her related professional life in Russia but she returns to realize she is disconnected from her friends, that they are having problems themselves and that something she and Margaux did to/against Lindsay remains unresolved. As the book progresses we see Delphine's insular world for the problematic control it has had on her adult life as she seems selfish or at least lacking in awareness of others' needs, and she is forced, through a variety of events and growing self-awareness, to see how her behaviors and lack of awareness have been hurtful and unhealthy. What is interesting in this growth is to see how this is present in others, that Delphine's mindset has been, at least through her recollections, beeb emphasized and enhanced by a life in the insular world of ballet, her childhood, and having then left her friends to join a different company and to pursue risky relationship in that company that seemed to lack connection to a non-ballet world.

The Ballerinas is also, to me, a story of misogyny within ballet and possibly within French culture and how early and persistent experiences with this misogyny throughout child and adolescent ballet training and early careers in the company seem to have unconsciously influenced personal relationships and experiences. I almost wish the author had given the main characters, Delphine along with Margaux and Lindsay, a chance to see these patterns and examine with the reader how they had impacted their personal and professional lives. Delphine has moments of awareness and as the story is from her perspective we see how themes on patriarchal control are manifest in her work (Tsarina) and in her relationships and how she slowly, and then more quickly, becomes aware of how problematic this is in her life and in her friends' lives. It is subtle but I also think the reader is guided to make these connections on their own, which is more effective than heavy handed messaging. For me this was the most interesting and powerful, and unique, part of the novel. Other books I have read about the complexity of adolescent friendships and adult transitions that are reflected in this book offer similar insights (which is not a bad thing, I love books with these themes), but the deep and persistent examination of mistreatment of women in ballet stood out.

I recommend this book because it is challenging and offers some interesting themes worthy of reflection and discussion. The author did not hesitate to question the public and personal fascination with ballet and being a ballerina, and to offer dark and at times unlikable characters to take the reader on a journey to understand these characters and how their world was harmful but perhaps also offering them a way forward and out as the bigger world starts to awaken to the MeToo movement and it's place within ballet.

In some respect I found this book to be heartbreaking. To want something so badly, and not achieving what you worked so hard for. And for those that do achieve that greatness, they are so full of themselves, they make others around them feel less than.
You have to really love to dance to put your body through so much pain, blood and tears. To watch the male ballet dancers and the prima ballerina tell a story is captivating.
These 3 young women have been friends for many years. This is their hopes, and dreams., the men and women in their lives. Their story. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to give an honest opinion. I would like to give this book a 4 out 5.

This book is interesting and although a lot compared it to black swan I didn’t really see that this much. This truly brings attention to what ballerinas go through for all they are. This is a great read!

After watching Tiny Pretty Things, when I saw this book was an option I HAD to get a copy.

I was immediately sucked into the world of Paris and the world class ballerinas. I loved the dancers, the plot, and how the main character found herself- we will just leave it at that.

This is an excellent read that many will enjoy!

While the description sounded interesting, I have to say I didn't love this book. It was slow at the beginning and never became the 'couldn't put it down' book. Parts of it were engaging and I liked reading about the life of a ballerina, but it just didn't hold my attention.

'The Ballerinas' by Rachel Kapeke-Dale is a captivating story about the dedication it takes to be a ballerina. Rachel Kapeke-Dale captured the struggles of professional ballerinas from strenuous training, to rivalry, to anxiety. Most of all I liked the importance of sisterhood in this story, the boundless strength and courage forgiveness that we get from our friends all through life. Sisterhood is an important concept that all women can relate to whether they are ballerinas or not.
I am giving this book three stars because the first half of 'The Ballerinas' was slow. I almost gave up on the book although I am glad that I pushed on. If you can get through the first half of this book you will like the second half. 'The Ballerinas' was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

As the daughter of a former ballerina, this book was an interesting insight into their lives and dedication. After watching how hard my daughter and her friends worked to receive little praise and then a man walks in, that is mediocre at best, and is lavished with praise it is easy to see how jaded the women become. I enjoyed getting to know these three characters and their stories. I was left wanting a bit more though but overall really enjoyed this book

I’d say this book is more of a mix between Black Swan & Pretty Little Liars. I was immediately captivated and engulfed in the books plot from the first chapter. I’m such a sucker for dual timelines that end up giving us answers the closer we get to the end. However, the ending was a bit lacking for me- which is the only reason it got bumped to 4 stars. I really enjoyed it and will pick up more from this author in the future!

I think it may be true that everyone loves a story about the ballet world, especially when it is set in Paris and has such dark vibes. This was a good read, although I definitely found it to be women’s fiction rather than a mystery or thriller. The cover of this book is simply beautiful.