The Ingenue wasn't quite what I expected, but I loved the book it turned out to be. It starts with a woman returning home after the death of her mother, and it seemed like it would continue to deal with issues of grief and abandoned potential, and grappling with family and personal legacies. Instead, it continues to hold space for those issues, but takes an interesting turn towards the way we view our own stories, and how that can changes as we revisit people, places, and memories. I've seen this described as a "me too" novel, and while that's not wrong, I think its a more nuanced and personal take on that idea. Plus the handling the mother daughter relationship was interesting and developed beautifully across the novel.

Mega bonus points for the Milwaukee content, and the delightful inclusion of my very favorite book store - past and present - in the story and acknowledgements!

This book is perfect described as the marriage of My Dark Vanessa and The Queens Gambit. Although I think I preferred Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas a bit more, this was a well-executed dark story with themes of predatory grooming. I would advise that sensitive readers pass on this, but for those who can handle dark, disturbing themes, this was definitely a worthwhile read. My favorite aspect was her use of the fairy tales of feminists--some made me smile, which I needed in light of the heavy content of this book.

I really enjoyed The Ingenue. I took my time and read it slowly, even though it sucked me in almost right away. The pacing of the story was excellent. And it has all of the makings of a great one... a death, secrets, trauma, a fight over an inheritance... I have been recommending this book to people who have similar tastes. I've told them that they need to be sure not to miss it when it comes out!

“Wait a minute,” she said. “I don’t have to smile and be nice to strange men.”
“But I’m not a man,” the Wolf growled.
Little Red Riding Hood: “well, you’re male, anyhow. In my book that’s pretty much the same.”
And then she karate-chopped him in the neck and went on her way.

“Because it’s a lie! When bad shit happens, it doesn’t automatically make you stronger. You don’t come out of it with superpowers. You might just come out-broken..”

After her mothers death, Saskia, once a child piano prodigy, returns home, only to find out that the beloved house that has always stayed in the family, was left to Patrick in her will. Patrick, Saskia’s past lover that broke her heart into pieces. Saskia is determined to keep her secrets, but also keep her house.

I loved The Ballerinas so much so I was stoked to start this one. Both these quotes just jumped out as something I needed to write down! This one was a little bit of a slow burn, but it didn’t feel like it was moving too slow for me at all. I can’t even really pinpoint what I loved so much in this book, but I just really adored it. The goodreads synopsis compares this so a mix between My Dark Vanessa and The Queen’s Gambnit, and I feel like that is so dang accurate.

Saskia is a former piano prodigy who returns home after her mother had passed. In her mother’s will, Saskia discovers that her mother’s estate, the Elf House was given to a man from her past. Saskia has history with this man and she needs to figure what to do with all this information. She has to deal with the past, secrets and desires. She needs to to decide on which path to continue on for her future. A captivating coming to age story with interesting characters with complicated relationships.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC, I received a copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Kapelke-Dale effortlessly brought me into the world of a young jet-setting piano prodigy. I really enjoyed following Saskia's journey throughout the decades. The Fairy Tales for Young Feminists excerpts at the opening of each chapter were inspired. Very well done.

I really enjoyed The Ballerinas by this author and was so excited to be approved for this one and let me tell you Rachel Kapelke-Dale did not disappoint. I absolutely loved the format of this book. Each chapter starts with a part from Saskia’s mother’s book “Fairy Tales for Little Feminists“. We then get a few paragraphs from Saskia’s teenage years, then each chapter ends with Saskia dealing with her father and her mother’s estate following the death of her mom.

What can I say other than wow? This book was so intriguing, sucked me in right away, and kept me engaged throughout. I loved how angst-filled teenaged Saskia was and how well the author had that come across, I felt it viscerally. The #metoo theme was brilliantly put front and center and the character development was masterful. I so enjoyed learning about Saskia when she was a piano prodigy and how she came to be in the situation she found herself in. When we finally solve the mystery of why Patrick is receiving the house, her mother’s love jumped from the page. The writing and the plot were both poetic and the ending was surprising and satisfyingly perfect. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next.

I have mixed feelings about this book. After reading the first book, BALLERINAS, I was excited to see what the author would write next. Saskia is a very complicated character, and the dual timelines in the story let the reader in on what her childhood was like, but it also took away from the action of the present. She was a child prodigy who lost the magic of the music as she got older, and it all can be attributed to Patrick who took advantage of her innocence. I did love the snippets from the fairytales at the beginning of each chapter. Those were well done. As far as the ending, I must say I was surprised and taken aback by it. No spoilers here, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

I voluntarily read the advanced reader copy and all opinions are my own.

Pub date: 12/6/22
Genre: coming of age, books about women
In one sentence: Saskia was a piano prodigy from a wealthy family, but she returns home after her mother's death to a shocking finding: her mother has left their family estate to Saskia's first boyfriend Patrick.

This book has many trigger warnings, including sexual assault and abuse. It deals with some of the same themes as MY DARK VANESSA and WHEN WE WERE BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL. If you can handle the dark subject matter, this is a book worth reading.

Each chapter opens with a short fairytale from Saskia's mother's book - Fairy Tales for Little Feminists, which puts a girl power spins on the tales we're all familiar with (side note - I would totally buy this book if it were released). Then each chapter has content from both Saskia's childhood and the present day, and we see how Saskia's past as a piano prodigy has informed where she is today. Saskia had a lot to reckon with, including her relationship with the much older Patrick. It was hard to read at times due to the dark subject, but I enjoyed seeing her taking control of her destiny and healing from her trauma. I think this would be a good book club discussion book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Saskia, former piano prodigy, no longer plays. She seems to have paused emotionally in her life. When she returns home for her mother’s funeral, she and her father receive a shocking revelation. Her mother has left their family home to Patrick, a colleague and the man who ruined her daughter’s life. Both father and daughter set out to challenge the will. Through Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s flashbacks we piece together Saskia’s story. Emotionally damaged, she seems incapable of making a decision. So many questions arise. Is her mother, writer of feminist versions of traditional tales, sending her a message? Will she ever be satisfied? Does she know what she wants? Her actions are prolonged; this, unfortunately affects the storyline’s movement I had difficulty maintaining interest.

Saskia Kreis always counted herself special because of three things: the piano, the Elf House (her ancestral home), and being loved by Patrick, but as she matured, only the house remained, in her life, peripherally at that. After years of estrangement, she returns to the once grand Milwaukee lakefront home upon the sudden death of her mother, Evelyn, comforted by the thought of her anticipated inheritance of Elf House; however, her plans are uprooted when she learns that Evie, surprisingly, has left the house to her coworker Patrick, unaware of what Saskia still considers a clandestine relationship with him. When Saskia and her father begin legal proceedings challenging Evelyn’s will, she realizes that Patrick had a pattern of liaisons with teenage girls, not just her. Now she must decide whether to unmask him for his wrongdoing as she doubts anyone will believe her account.
The author weaves in snippets of Saskia’s teenage memories with wonderful excerpts from her mother’s retellings of fairy tales (all from a snarky, feminist point of view—I would love more of these!). The tension builds, culminating in a surprise ending. Thanks to #NetGalley for the arc! Highly recommended

This is a unique read that will keep floating around in your head for a long time after your finished reading it. The story takes place in a familiar area to me so that was fun. The story winds around and leaves you wondering at times but then pulls together. A child prodigy who walked away from her talent and battles emotional turmoil after the death of her mom. She stumbles onto an awareness That someone she was under the spell of for years is a predator and now aware must find a way to deal with her feelings and find a way to bring him down without losing her mansion home. How she handles it could be seriously wrong. It's a good read a bit extreme and emotional. You should read it. Thank you NetGalley and Rachel Kapelke-Dale and St Martins Press for this advanced reader copy. This is my personal opinion.

This book was a mixed bag for me. It started off really slow and one of the major premises of the book, trying to save the house didn't reasonate with me, why did she care about it so much. Other themes were more interesting, autonomy, her relationship with her mother, complicated as it was, being special and then not being special. Powerful men manipulating/using young girls and revenge. So the book became more interesting, And the resolution, how not to give up more of herself to get what was fair and right was an interesting ethical dilemna to contemplate

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Saskia is returning to her families home after her moms passing. She learns that someone close to her inherited tge property which causes memories from her past to come to the surface. I enjoyed the different characters in this book.

This book was hard to get into, hard for me to follow. Lots of timelines, lots of mystery too early in the book. I loved the mystery set up in the beginning, but then was just unable to keep up.

Similar to Rachel Kapelke-Dale's prior book, The Ballerinas, the reader is taken on a journey of how a young exceptional artistic talent can be both molded and tainted by toxic relationships. Here we have Saskia Kreis, a piano prodigy who has performed on the world stage since she was barely ten years old, who comes home after her mother's unexpected death to revisit her past, present and altered future in the form of not inheriting the family mansion "the Elf House." Saskia rebels against her parents, both creative talents in their own right, as she falls for one of her mother's colleagues, in a twisted relationship that is dark, power-driven, toxic and a #MeToo example for the ages.

The story takes many twisty turns, told in two timelines -Saskia's present and her adolescent years. I loved the feminist fairy tale element authored by Saskia's mom and part of Saskia's legacy, and how at one level this complex story could be viewed as a feminist fairy tale as well. That being said, the ending felt a little bit out of left field based on how Saskia as a character is portrayed - not sure the reader can believe that she would do THAT at the end. It is also a dark tale, interwoven with a young woman's growth after confronting the truth about her very naive past choices - which weren't really choices given her age - and won't be for everyone. Good potential book club read for those that want to engage in a lively debrief and discussion. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book took me a second to get into, but once I did... I was hooked!

Saskia Kreis was a child piano prodigy. When she was 18 she moved to NYC and stopped playing piano. When her mother passes away, she has to head home. Her mother's will and being home bring up old memories of why she left in the first place (and the reasons are dark!) The novel flashes back and forth between the present and the past, and both timelines were equally wonderful.

This is my second Rachel Kapelke-Dale novel and she is now an auto read author for me!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the galley.

From the author of The Ballerinas, comes The Ingenue.

When I think of the word ingenue, I think of someone young and naive. That is what you should be thinking when you read this. How young and naive.

Saskia Kreis was once a piano prodigy. Now she is coming back to her family home, Elf House because her mother is dead. She and her father will need to work together to clear up the past and make way for a different future.

The house has always been passed down through the mother’s line and Saskia expects the place will now be hers. But to her surprise, her mother has left it to the most unlikely of people! The man who stole her innocence. The man who ruined her life by taking advantage of her innocence.

How they go about fixing things was brilliant! During the first third of the book, I was not sure of the story, but the last two-thirds made up for the slow start. And that ending. Perfect.

Exploring the relationships between mothers and daughters. About things not said, left too late to say.

NetGalley/December 6th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press

The author’s previous novel, The Ballerinas, was a little heavier than the popcorn fiction I usually enjoy, but I loved it so much that I had to check out The Ingenue. Kapelke-Dale really gets into the character’s mind and builds a story that’s both deep and engrossing. At the heart of the novel is a Xanadu-style dilapidated mansion called the Elf House, that’s belonged to Saskia’s family for generations, since it was built. It is now in disrepair. Saskia’s Mom just died, leaving the house to the man who fundamentally changed Saskia. Now she must figure out what to do with her life, whether to fight for her legacy, as well as the relationship with her mom and, really, who she is. Elf House is described in such a way that would not be out of place in a Gothic novel. She also gets the psychology of a very complicated life and makes it relatable. Even if Saskia is a flawed and conceited character, I still sympathized with her. Half my family are professional musicians, and I know the sacrifices it requires so I understood why Saskia had given up her career as a pianist, but I still wanted to know more. Funnily enough, the reason is the same why my Mom quit piano, so it was realistic and relatable to me personally. The part I wasn’t sure about was the feminist angle. I like my fiction evasive and the #metoo movement is very serious. In the end, I ended up enjoying even that part (well, enjoying is not the right word but I was very invested in the outcome). I’m glad I picked up this novel, Kapelke-Dale is a very talented writer and I’m looking forward to where she goes next.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#St. Martin's Press!

Guided by the adult incarnation of a former child prodigy, this novel leads you into haunted mansions--both of the physical and the mental variety. Framed by feminist fairytales, this novel faces the trauma young women face at the hands of their predators, and of how to take the power back. This novel is also an exploration of memory and how who we are in the present allows us to see our past with authority and clarity. Armed with this new clarity, we can forge a better future with this new information.

*Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review*