I was intrigued and enthralled by Saskia, the piano prodigy, and her personality which led her into sabotaging her musical career at a young age for a highly questionable and secret relationship. Her mother's successful reinvention of traditional fairy tales for a living features prominently in the novel. This connection to Saskia's life years later was a brilliant part of the plot, as well as the Elf House, a mansion that has been in their family for generations.

I found this a well planned and plotted novel, with well developed characters, and a suspenseful story that certainly rewrites any fairy tale life that Saskia had imagined for herself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you like preachy books in the Me Too era? Do you want to read yet another book about a privileged white girl being abused by an older, powerful man? Do you like books that just exist and don’t have any real concrete messaging to them?

Pre-reading:
More emotional trauma books, please.

Thick of it:
Weird opener for this kind of book. Dunno if I like it.

This book is giving me Verity vibes.

Luthier is a brand new word.

I agree; right over kind any day.

I would find out.

It’s giving Gone Girl with the parents’ books.

I do not like this book. I am bored. The not knowing is not teasing or playful or building tension. I’ve just become annoyed by it.

The “feminist” story chapter openers are insufferable.

He is way too old for her.

She’s 13, you pedo.

Baby Scorpio or Sag? (Astrotrash me up, baby.)

That’s not love if they are underage.

This is some infuriating, token Me Too shit. It’s all of us. It’s every single one. Burn it all

Just say you’re jealous and have a tiny penis, Patrick.

It took 50% way through for this book to get interesting. That’s unacceptable.

A Scorpio.

Comparing it to 9/11 is really not cool. It feels cheap.

What the fuck, Sheila?

I mean, she literally has photos, and his admission of guilt like the man would go away for statutory and child pornography and dissemination because he literally gave it to a museum so…

Which also I just don’t understand how he even gave it to a museum?

The Elf House is such a dumb name. It makes me cringe every time it’s mentioned.

Why do all the villains in this book eat rare meat? There’s nothing wrong with rare meat.

Also, you’re gonna talk business eating a fajita wrap? What are you doing? Who wants to eat with their hands in front of their abuser?

What editor read fajita in this scene and let her keep it?

HA extra Scorpio.

Don’t leave him with the photos though? You need those. What if he destroys them?

No, sorry there’s no way in hell an insurance company is buying that it was an electrical fire in the middle of a house’s ownership being disputed. Especially with a man who went missing. Are you fucking stupid.

Two stars. So much I would edit in this book

Post-reading:
Whenever I read these woke, post Me Too era books, I always think to myself am I in the wrong? Am I part of the problem for not liking it? And then it’s like no, because truly who is the audience for these books? When you write a moralistic book, you have to be held to a higher standard than a simple work of fiction. If you’re going to impart any type of message, that message better be fucking airtight and gone over with a fine tooth comb to make sure it’s actually the message you want to portray. I don’t think this book does that, and I think that failing is enough to make it bad. Who needs the Me Too books? Because it’s not the women. The women already know it’s fucked. So either you do the work to correct men, which this book doesn’t do, or you do it to empower other women and make them feel not alone, but this book fails in that regard too because what’s the fucking message? No one will come forward with you, you’re above the law, and you can just murder your way out of problems? You know provided you’re a rich white lady with family support behind you who’s conventionally attractive and college educated and talented. And then this book is filled with the girl boss woke jargon-a comedian, Iliza Schlesinger, just articulated it perfectly by calling it the infantilization of feminism. That’s insulting.

The beginning of this book is incredibly slow and borders on irrelevant. You have to get halfway through the book before it gets going. The romance added to this book is misplaced and completely dropped as a plot point. The ending makes no sense and feels like morbid wish fulfillment.

Truly, I still cannot get over the author and the editor allowing her to eat a fajita during that scene.

Who should read this:
People obsessed with Me Too books

Do I want to reread this:
No.

Similar books:
* My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell-inappropriate relationship with a teacher
* Verity by Colleen Hoover-inappropriate/criminal relationships and finishing someone else’s novel
* Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn-revenge thriller
* Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison-revenge wish fulfillment

I love Kapelke-Dale's books: they are so dark. Saskia is a child piano prodigy. But as an adult, she no longer plays piano. What caused the shift? Do our first romantic relationships necessarily affect the rest of our lives? What about the mother-daughter relationship? If you no longer feel special, how do you know who you are? All of these themes are explored as we switch between Saskia's teenage years and the present as she tries to determine why her mother did what she did, and how Saskia would like to deal with it. This is a dark read - Saskia's first romantic relationship was with a much older man.

"When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother's unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother's will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia shares a complicated history with, she is forced to reexamine her own past--and the romantic relationship that changed the course of her life--for answers. Can she find a way to claim her heritage while keeping her secrets buried, or will the fallout from digging too deep destroy her?"

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

I was immediately drawn to this book by its artsy, gothic cover. The story itself didn't start rocking my world until the 50% mark. It was building, expanding, getting crazier- and then ended with a big bang!

For a synopsis, Saskia was a child prodigy pianist, the only child of Mike (a cellist) and Evie (sculptress, artist, and children's book author). Her mother is an heiress to the gothic heap of a mansion they live in nicknamed "Elf House". Like most inherited mansions, it is in constant need of upkeep like cleaning, cliff erosion, back taxes and other continual structural/necessary improvements. Saskia is now in her thirties, living in NYC, and forced to return to Elf House following the death of her mother. The simmering mystery in the story involves the character of Patrick, an art/photography teacher who crossed the line with Saskia when she was 14 and he was 37. This very much reminded me of the book "My Dark Vanessa", and the details of their relationship are teased intermittently throughout the book.

The writing itself was skillful, forthright and free-flowing. I was intrigued by the bohemian- yet sometimes forceful parenting style of Saskia's mother, in contrast with her father's more laid back/ resigning approach. There was also the knowing result of Patrick's early "mark" on Saskia which continued to resonate into her adult life. In the aftermath of Saskia's mother's death, there is a struggle involving the property, financial issues, dealing with her past relationships and what to do with the rest of her life. It was a slow build at the beginning, but really took off to an unexpected finale. This was a fascinating psychological study of relationships which is why I found it so interesting.

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

An emotional journey of supposed wasted potential, reliving trauma, and coming to terms with the past to move on in the present.

Saskia was a piano prodigy who began playing at the age of 3. Born into a wealthy family in an estate passed down from generation to generation. Living in NYC she gets a call that her mother passed away, and when she returns home she finds her mother had been keeping secrets. In the will it seems she has given away her estate to a colleague she had at the university where she taught. Saskia has her own past with Patrick and begins investigating why her mother would choose to give away their house. As she looks into the string of strange circumstances she is forced to confront her own past traumas at the hands of Patrick, and what her mother was doing to protect her.

This book really hit the spot for me. I love when a characters flaws are at the forefront of a story. When women confront their past traumas and find a way to let it empower them instead of hinder their future. Saskia felt so real and complex to me. She wasn't always making the best decisions but I could understand her. The other characters kind of were not as complex and fully fleshed out as I would have liked but still it was a very solid read.

We meet Saskia – who’s name is exotic as her looks and her talent to this Bostonian – when she returns to her childhood home upon her mothers, unanticipated passing.
Each chapter is prefaced by a charming snippet from Saskia’s late mother’s feminist “Princess” book series.
Woven into the story is a little architecture, a little music, a little study of art, some history, some classic literature, making you feel like you’re rubbing elbows with an erudite crowd, while being entertained thoroughly by the story itself.
The story of Saskia’s family - riches to almost rags with some sordid turns- rounds out its history with flashbacks of Saskia’s childhood and adolescence which helps her to piece together the confusing state of her mother’s will and proposed disposition of the estate. The story deals with some heavy material obliquely (at first); I am always grateful when this happens “informally” through fiction as I feel it can provide support and agency to the reader who may need that.
The book was engaging but ended somewhat abruptly; perhaps that was the intention to keep the reader thinking…

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

*TW for this novel: grooming, sexual abuse, child pornography, and drug use*

Rachel Kapelke-Dale's new book this year is "The Ingenue". Similar to their last novel, "The Ballerinas", this one follows a young pianist. Our "ingenue" is Saskia Kreis who grew up in her family's historic home, the Elf House, with her musician father and writer mother. Her father plays in a symphony and her mother writes inverted modern feminist fairy tales. Saskia leaves Milwaukee to attend college and she returns two years later for her mother's funeral. When she returns, Saskia gets a one-two punch of shocking news; the first, her mother had a rare disease that led to her death and the second is that her beloved Elf House has been left to an acquaintance of her mother's, a Patrick Kinter. What we come to learn is that Saskia knows him...and she knows him well.

I gotta say that I really enjoyed this book. I love Kapelke-Dale's writing and right from the start, I loved and sympathized with Saskia. The story is told in two timelines, Saski's childhood/teen years and present. In order to get Elf House, Saskia does hire a lawyer to file an affidavit into the probate of the will (literally did not know that was a thing until this book) and in the process, we learn about what happened between Saskia and Patrick. Hint: It has to do with the TW at the top of this review.

All of that said, Saskia is just such a fantastic character. Like I said, I immediately adored her and wanted her to succeed. The way she reacts to Patrick being left the Elf House was kind of remarkable and all the choices she makes after, while hard and resulting in her reliving/remembering some upsetting news, it was really empowering to read. If you enjoyed Kapelke-Dale's previous offering, "The Ballerinas", you'll definitely enjoy this one!

Note: This one was so good that I found myself picking up my reader during my breaks in-between grad coursework and lesson planning.

Honestly I could never get fully into this book. I didn’t care for the characters, or the story. It just wasn’t for me.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this title. I read the author's debut book and liked it a lot.

In Ingenue, we have a piano prodigy all grown up, Saskia Kreis. She grew up in her family's huge, old, historical home called The Elf House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Saskia's father is also a gifted musician in the symphony and her mother is a writer and artist. She inverted fairy tales into modern, feminist heroines. Keeping the Elf House in the family is very important to Saskia, even though she has spent the past 2 years in NYC and stayed away from Milwaukee. She has returned home after her mom died of a rare disease I won't attempt to spell right now. She finds out all at once that her mom had this disease, and she had no idea. Then the second bomb- her mom has left the Elf House to someone other than her or her father, an acquaintance of her mother at the university where her mom was a professor. Who is Patrick Kinter?

We find out Saskia knows Patrick too well, and her perspective shifts as she discovers things about him but mostly about herself. We learn through progressive flashbacks to Saskia's childhood and current day, mostly January 2020. There is no mention at all of the pandemic to come. Saskia hires a lawyer to file an affidavit into the probate of the will. We learn a lot about her and Patrick who is 23 years older than her. How she covered what was happening with a fake high school age appropriate boyfriend. TW for grooming, sexual abuse, gaslighting and drugging, child porn.

What Saskia does when that switch flips is a lot more remarkable than what happened. Her fierceness and anger, her determination. While its very impossible to understand how it happened or how her parents were clueless, it's what Saskia does as an adult, clearly affected by her dating unavailable men, that makes this book hard to put down and unpredictable. I'm still torn on the ending, but it was something I'll think about for a long time. 4.5/5☆ out 12/6/22

Saskia grows up as a piano prodigy. She leaves Milwaukee to study at Juilliard but ends up in engineering school instead. She returns home when her mom dies. Expecting to inherit her ancestral home, the crumbling Elf House mansion, she and her dad are shocking that the heir is someone with an unusual history with Saskia. Told in dual timelines, Kapelke-Dale explains Saskia’s teenage years as well as her present-day issues. There are some major triggers here. I enjoyed this but found it a bit predictable though there were some dramatic twists. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for me.

I've never felt so much sympathy for a main character so quickly. When Saskia comes home for her mother's funeral, she is wounded (in more ways than one). She hasn't spoken to her mother in any real way in a very long time and there is just so much left unsaid between them.

Because I felt to much sympathy for Saskia, each revelation felt like a sucker punch to the gut. There were times I wound up crying and just as angry as Saskia felt by the things she learned. By the things Saskia already knew that we learned.

Emotional, powerful, But not for the faint-of-heart. This just might rip you to shreads when you read it. But I like my books with some punch to them.

At first I found The Ingenue really hard to get into, and I found that anytime it was told in the timeline of the early nineties to 2001 I wasn’t overly interested, however the present timeline had me fascinated.

I needed to know why Saskia’s mother left the family home (which had been in the family for generations) to Patrick. The answers were shocking, especially after reading about the complicated relationship between mother and daughter.

Seeing Saskia see her relationship with Patrick now for what it really was then, was really interesting, especially post #MeToo.

All in all, this kept me hooked for the most part, and like Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s first book, The Ballerinas - The Ingenue kept me guessing until the very last page.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for sending me an advanced digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for review.

“The Ingenue” by @rachelkapelkedale is one of my favorites of 2022 🤩🎹🎼

I loved “The Ballerinas” by Kapelke-Dale, which came out in 2021, but I didn’t know the author had another book out this year until @stmartinspress pitched me an eARC of it in exchange for an honest review. It’s out 12/6.

I loved “The Ingenue” even more than “The Ballerinas.” They are both character-driven suspense novels — slow burns filled with unlikable characters. (Don’t say you weren’t warned 🙃) Kapelke-Dale’s writing is gorgeous in both books, but I was swept off my feet by “The Ingenue.” Swipe ➡️ for a passage.

If you like Megan Abbott’s pitch-black novels about high-achieving, Type A women, you will definitely enjoy Kapelke-Dale’s work.

“The Ingenue” is Saskia Kreis, who’s returned home to her storied family estate in Milwaukee after her mother’s death. Saskia was a piano prodigy as a child but has been working as a computer coder after dropping out of Julliard. The family home, she learns in Milwaukee, has not been left to her but to Patrick, a man with whom she shares a very dark, complicated past. (Lots of potentially triggering scenes, so please Google this book if that’s a concern for you.) The book alternates between present day and Saskia’s childhood.

From the publisher: “Set against a post #MeToo landscape, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's ‘The Ingenue’ delves into mother-daughter relationships, the expectations of talent, the stories we tell ourselves, and what happens when the things that once made you special are taken from you.”

I absolutely loved The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale. I was super excited to see her coming out with another book.

WHAT A LETDOWN! The Ingenue was far too many pages (not sure how many because I read an eBook) of whining and nonsense. What were we even working toward in the end?! There were so many assumptions made that were displaced. The dual timelines didn't quite work.

It felt like a waste of time reading it, and that is what was most frustrating.

Saskia is a former child piano prodigy who returns to her childhood home, a mansion called The Elf House, following the death of her mother. Anticipating that the house has been left to her, she discovers that her mother drew up a will shortly before she died leaving the house to her colleague, Patrick who was Saskia’s first love. As Saskia tries to discover her mother’s motives, she is determined to prove that Patrick not only took advantage of her but also abused other young women.
I see that most of the reviews of this book are positive so my review is not popular but I found nothing to like about this book. The feminist fairy tales rewritten by Saskia’s mother were creative but redundant and the backstories as well as present storyline were slow-moving and boring. Saskia was so indecisive and unlikable and the other characters were poorly developed. I get that Saskia’s past could impact her inability to take appropriate actions but her character could have been so much stronger especially since the author had turned her from ingénue to boxer. The whole book just fell flat for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the Advanced Reader Copy.

For every girl who grew up wanting to be a princess and realized she was, is, and always will be enough as herself.

I loved the dark, lyrical style of The Ballerinas, but this book absolutely blew me away. Saskia is a perfectly flawed MC who is so relatable to the struggles women experience every day - striving to be perfect, to make their family proud, to find and be loved. The summary for this book masterfully compares it as My Dark Vanessa meets The Queen’s Gambit, and that is spot-on marketing. While this is a “me too” story, I think there is something for everyone, even if Saskia’s exact experiences are not your own. The pacing is excellent, the writing lyrical, the setting of the Elf House atmospheric. The inclusion of Grimm’s and other fairytales as feminist retellings was a major highlight of this book. I can’t recommend reading this enough!

Please note, this book explores some heavy themes including death, familial relationships, and sexual grooming.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very dark and very hard book to read. It took me a while to get through because the heavy content. Saskia Kreis is a former piano prodigy who comes back home to deal with her mother's death. She realizes her mother has left their family home to someone else. The man her mother left their family estate to is someone who Saski shares a very complex past with. She is forced to face her past in this twisted and dark story.

I really liked the beginning and middle parts of this but not so much the end. Without giving anything away, there was a part where Saskia makes a major decision that took the plot in a completely different direction than what I was expecting and it just did not work for me. This book has such a strong storyline and impactful message and I felt like it had huge potential for a justice-serving and satisfying conclusion but the end just fell flat. Still, this was an overall worthwhile read with the heartfelt and sensitive exploration of some very intense issues.

Billed as a "...novel of suspense about the bonds of family the limits of talent, the risks of ambition, and the rewards of revenge." {Well, sort of.] "When former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis returns home to Milwaukee after her mother's unexpected death, she expects to inherit the family estate, the Elf House. But with the discovery that her mother's will bequeathed the Elf House to a man that Saskia shares a complicated history with...Can she find a way to claim her heritage while keeping her secrets buried, or will the fallout from digging too deep destroy her?"

This novel had me on a rollercoaster ride. Took me a while to get reeled in, climbed uphill [but enjoyed], and then ultimately came crashing down. Still...

It had so much, then not enough--very uneven. Me too, child pornography, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family, love, trust/mistrust, obsession, influencers, legalese/lawsuit, and more. DARK. At three-quarters through the book it derailed for me and became somewhat unbelievable.

The Ingenue, fyi is a boat.

The italicized introductions to chapters -- Fairy Tales for Little Feminists -- were written by Saskia's mother--Evie-- and were her source of income. Some quite clever, others not so much [to me].

Swings from chronological past to chronological present -- though not hard to track/follow.
Certainly original and writing was ok so I'm giving it 3 stars. Decide for yourself if you want to read it.

The Ingenue is sneakily strong novel, it moves along at a pace that allows the reader to be involved in Saskia's processing of her childhood, her talent, and her own self awareness of who she is. A stunning conclusion in a book filled with strong writing, atmospheric writing, and with an effective progression of pace, understandable chaos, and necessary insight into women's (and girls') lives.
I am grateful to St. Martin's for the chance to read and review this work from Rachel Kapelke-Dale. Thank you!