I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I've started and stopped this one a few times and I just don't think it's for me. Fully believe this could be someone else's fave book and it has a lot of potential! *graciously bows out*

They meet at the Paris School Of Ballet as young girls. Delphine is the 'nice' one, a girl whose mother was a ballet star. Margaux is her best friend and they are the two best dancers. Lindsay is an American and comes when she is twelve. She quickly becomes friends with the others and they become a trio for life. Only other dancers can understand their lives; the daily hours of practice, the quest for perfection, the competition to rise in the field they have chosen.

The story picks back up when the trio is thirty-six, almost at the end of a dancer's career. Delphine is just returning to Paris after thirteen years in St. Petersburg. She followed a man there and became a choreographer. When she broke away from him, she returned to the Paris Ballet and is working to establish herself in her career. Margaux has come out as gay, is married and is a secret alcoholic. Lindsay married a journalist and is still fighting to make her mark. She dances fearlessly but has never been popular with those in power at the Ballet.

The friendship of the three women picks back up but has to adjust. They realize that a grown friendship has to be different than that of girls. In their case, each is struggling to come to terms with what comes next in their lives and fighting to throw off the expectations of men. They have come to see that their live have been dominated by men and what they want, what they find appealing, what they are willing to let women have. Can their friendship adjust to a more mature footing?

Rachel Kapelke-Dale grew up in the world of intensive ballet training so she knows the inside story of what these women go through to become the best in the world at what they do. But more importantly than one field of endeavor, the book explores the world of female friendships and how they change as we grow and how the best of them sustain those involved. She also talks about how women's dreams and goals are often constrained by the men around them and the struggle to live free of others' expectations. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

As someone who grew up as a competitive dancer with their fair share of dance related trauma, I found that this book hit really close to home and because of that felt even more dramatic and real than maybe readers without dance experience. I think the characters were messy, they were flawed, but the author did an amazing job of encapsulating not only being center stage but in the center of controversy. Overall I enjoyed this book, but do wish the pacing was a little more spread out.

Love the narration of this book. Loved everything about the story. I recommended it to my girlfriends and family members. The plot line from beginning to end held my interest. I think you should check it out.

I was hesitant to pick up this book and I was correct in thinking it probably wasn't for me. Nobody is likable in this story other than one old lady who Delphine ignores unless she needs something from her. To have reached the heights they have reached, maybe narcissism is a necessity, but it's not enjoyable to read about selfish Delphine, who only remembers her obligations when she needs to do so for her own benefit. All the men in this story are made out to be misogynist buffoons, charming and suave until their true colors are revealed to the women. The writing is good but the subject matter is not for me.

This was an outstanding book all about the world of professional ballerinas. This book had twists and turns throughout that kept me engaged and wanting to continue reading. The characters were vividly described and I was invested in the outcome. Highly recommend.

I loved the setting of this book and the suspense of it. It reminded me a little bit of Nova Ren Suma's The Walls Around Us, which also dealt with ballerinas who were not so sweet. Loved all of the Paris details.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free eARC copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to read this book. It had been tagged as a mystery/thriller, which is what I was expecting.

I had to keep reading the synopsis of this book until I was well past 1/4 of the way through-- this book was nothing I was expecting, and not in a good way.

I think had I not expected a mystery/thriller, I'd have liked it better. But I had in my head what it was going to be, and ultimately my brain just couldn't appreciate the story before me.

This book was an interesting exploration of female friendships, forged through the world of dance. The description of the the ballet world and all it entailed, both good and bad, were fascinating and from what I gleaned from other books, right on target.
Yet, the plot and character development just didn't live up to my expectations. Interesting but disappointing.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy the ballet and reading fictional books about it also. Ballerinas are fierce magical creatures. Delphine, Lindsay, and Margaux have a friendship that has made it though the test of time or so they think. This is the story of how they fix it. It's the ups and down in life and how you handle them. Also how you fit your friends into that picture. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. in exchange for my honest review.

This book blew me away! I was unable to but it down. Perfect, dazzlingly, very well written. The details the author described throughout the book was so amazing. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. 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.

I could really appreciate this book and the story, however this just didn’t live up to my expectations. I struggled with it so much; the characters and pacing just didn’t connect with me and this felt like a poorly written thriller. Such a bummer as the premise was interesting.

I was really excited for this one. I love ballet and i knew the world was competitive and a hard life. I don’t like when every male character is made out to be a villain. I just felt like this was too pushy with certain views. This wasn’t my fav and i had a hard time getting into it.

The message of pro-choice in this book is a little heavy-handed and PSA-ish. As a dancer, I really did appreciate the theme of men and women's bodies and see the tie-in, and appreciate the expose on men in the dance world, which I have seen firsthand. The nonsequential storytelling was great, but the payoff of learning what happened to Lindsay felt disappointing after all the buildup. It did take me a while to get through.

So this isn’t a cozy (not even close) but the event that precipitates the action in the book is the return of the prodigal daughter to Paris and the place she grew up (not her mother’s apartment or even her neighbor-who-is-like-a-mother) but the Paris Opera Ballet. Delphine left for St. Petersburg 13 years ago and is returning to choreograph a new ballet for the POB’s anniversary season hoping to begin the next phase of her career.

Near the beginning of the book she riffs on the phrase “Paris is always a good idea” because, well, maybe it isn’t, maybe there are things from the past that she doesn’t want to face. But she hopes to reconnect with her two best friends, Margaux and Lindsey.

As another author once said, you can’t go home again. Things change, people change, and maybe the secret from the past you thought was so awful isn’t the worst thing that could happen to someone.

I studied ballet for over 10 years and can't say no to a ballet book. Earlier this year I read The Turn Out by Megan Abbot and was disappointed. There wasn’t much ballet in it, and the story itself was styled as a thriller with a twisty plot and I guess it was but I just didn’t like it very much.

Is there a twist here? YES, a gut wrenching one but this is not a thriller. Kapelke-Dale gives instead what it means to be a female dancer, a female dancer whose only friends are other dancers, who strives and wants only one thing, to be a star but lives in a world where men have the power and even the men who appear to be nice might be something else altogether. There is also a lot here about how growing up in a place that twists and manipulates your body (and let’s be honest, sometimes your mind) might not be growing up at all. And yes, lots and lots of dancing.

In some ways, this reminded me of Megan Collins’ The Winter Sister (which I also did not think of as a traditional thriller). Highly recommend, and the audio performance by Ell Potter serves to enrich and elevate the book. Thank you Netgalley and McMillan Audio for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book. It was unlike anything I've read before. I was a dance mom for several years. My daughter was part of a dance company. Not at the level of the women in this book, but the cutthroat atmosphere was very similar. I watched my daughter audition against friends, which leads to damaged friendships, so this story felt very authentic. Glimpsing the professional ballet world through the eyes of a ballerina was interesting.

This is the story of three dancers, Delphine, Lindsey and Margot, who are also best friends. The story is told from Delphine's prospective, but all were main characters. Delphine felt real to me. I could relate to her. Essentially she was just a woman who made a series of mistakes in her life and was finally having to face them.

The plot was very complex with many moving parts. It was one of the first books I have read where the sex scene actually furthered the plot and wasn't just thrown in for smut. Very well written. The audio was great as well. My only complaint is her voice for Lindsey. She sounded like a child. However the narrator was fantastic. She did multiple accents (French, American English, French and British) and she did them well. Her male voices were great, which is rare. All in all this is a great book. I would definitely recommend it.

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I love reading books set in the dance world but every male character in this book was written like an evil caricature and it was very off putting.

this is just book ok, good character. well researched. but for me its just ok, not good good not bed

This was such a fun, twisty book that was so hard to put down! I really enjoyed the back and forth between the present day and the girl's past. It was interesting to see them then and now. Overall, this was a great book and I really enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook as well. I would definitely recommend that you check this book out!