Thank you so much for the ARC!
I really liked this book! It started out a little slow and I felt like the set up dragged a little, but when the plot thickened, I could not look away. The way everything weaved together was impressive. 4 stars!

Thank you for the advanced readers copy Netgalley, but this one ultimately was not a book worth finishing for me.

I enjoyed this one enough but it wasn’t my favorite. I always enjoy alternating POVs and/or timelines in my reads as well as unique formatting, which this has. It’s a very slow burn, which isn’t really my jam. I did like that it touched on important societal topics of sexual abuse and feminism.

Thank you to SMP, the author, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have read it! What a wonderful book!

I really enjoyed The Ingenue. It was incredibly written, so wonderful that I had to wonder if the author had experience as a piano prodigy.

Because of Dale's writing style, there is a learning curve to understanding and following her stories. It's very mature, detailed and almost poetic, so it just takes some time to follow and appreciate what she is telling you.

Once you get past that, it becomes enthralling and you're entered into her world.

Being inside Saskia's brain is unique; you see her battling with herself, her father, and her mother's wishes. She is trying her best to please everyone but has lost herself in the process. She is trying to find her way after her mother's death and this huge bombshell that has landed in her lap. It's interesting, touching and at times, hard to read because of the sexual assault language.

The novel alternates timelines, which is always a fun way to read, between young and adult Saskia; you're able to see how she became who she is and how she's actively rebelling against it. You see the relationship she has with her parents, her friends, her teacher, and the house she grew up in. It's eye opening and adds a lot of value to the story.

The ending of this book is something I didn't see coming and almost makes me want to classify this as a thriller, though I know it is definitely not one. It was a twisted, wicked and deliciously justified way to close out Saskia's story.

The Ingenue was beautiful, well written and very interesting. If you like fiction that deals with tough topics with a bit of flair, you will really like The Ingenue.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

A really good novel for the #MeToo landscape! Dark, haunting and unflinching look at how an older man's dalliance with a minor has impacted her life for the decades since! Luckily readers will get to relish in Saskia's vengeful desires and find themselves hoping for some devilish revenge!

Description
My Dark Vanessa meets The Queen's Gambit in this new novel of suspense about the bonds of family, the limits of talent, the risks of ambition, and the rewards of revenge.

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?

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. Moving between Saskia's childhood and the present day, this dark, contemporary fairy tale pulses with desire, longing, and uncertainty, as it builds to its spectacular, shocking climax.

The Ingenue by Rachel Kapelke-Dale reads kind of on the slow side and was tedious for me to get through. It feels like this story has been written many times before. Not the best for me.

I thought this book had a surprising edge—I enjoyed the MC’s interpretations of her reality. She’s a different take on a poor little rich girl, since her family’s wealth is tied into an ancestral home, and her identity along with it. I enjoyed the writing and the characters, and raged along with the MC against the villain attempting to take her home. I hated that (semi-spoiler) that her and her mother couldn’t just talk about what happened with the teacher, it seemed like an obvious way to deal with the problem but that’s what doesn’t make a novel.

This book was very different from The Ballerinas (Rachel Kapelke-Dale's previous work) but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While The Ballerinas focused on complex dynamics of female friendships, The Ingenue's main character Saskia Kreis oozed loneliness and isolation including from those female friendships.

When you are deemed exceptional at something at such a young age but then walk away from that career path are you also walking away from part of your identity? Saskia used to be piano prodigy and now returns to her childhood home after her mother's death, filled with conflicting feelings about her mother and about herself and where she is in life. Though Saskia seems singularly focused on the future of her childhood home, it's her past and relationship that changed the course of her life that end up at the forefront of the story.

I found the first part of the story quite slow with many disjointed parts that later did come together. In the end I was the most invested in the cat/mouse aspect of the story that comes in later parts. The story is quite dark and heavy but builds suspense in ultimately intriguing way. I particularly loved the excerpts from mom's work "Fairy Tales for Little Feminists" that were featured throughout the book. I would definitely love to read that book on its own. This will appeal to those readers who like good character development and dramas that tackle heavy topics while adding elements of suspense.

Grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This one felt a lot like My Dark Vanessa, but this one just isn’t that great. An inappropriate relationship, feminism, and taking back what’s yours. This one just misses the mark unfortunately.

I struggled with this one; was a really big fan of Rachel Kapelke-Dale's debut novel, THE BALLERINAS. but simply couldn't connect with the plot or characters in this release. I gave it multiple shots, but ultimate ended up DNF'ing this one- I still cannot wait for her next book though, I think she is a very strong writer.

This ended up being a bit to slow with large amounts of detail at the beginning that bogged me down early on so I didn’t make it all the way through it.

The Ingenue follows Saskia as she returns to her childhood home, the Elf House, upon the death of her mother. This former piano prodigy has mixed feelings about coming back, and things become even more complicated when she finds out the her mother has unexpectedly left the family estate to Patrick, the much older man Saskia was in a ‘relationship’ with as a teenager. As Saskia struggles to contest the will, she must also come to terms with her past. I found the book immensely readable and flew through it. I particularly liked the dual timeline; each chapter begins with a section from Saskia’s childhood before moving on to the present. It gives the reader a full picture of events while still providing suspense for how it will all play out.

I read Kapelke-Dale’s debut novel The Ballerinas in 2021, and while I enjoyed it, I did find some flaws. Unfortunately, these same flaws are magnified in The Ingenue. I took issue with the overly sensational ending, though I will give Kapelke-Dale credit for not leaving a major event until the very last moment this time. The social commentary also felt even more over the top here than in her previous novel. I want to make it clear: I believe that literature absolutely should be exploring the sexism and violence women face. And Kapelke-Dale mostly handles the subject well, just as she did in her previous novel. The relationship between Saskia and Patrick feels realistic and incredibly uncomfortable. However, there are some moments that feel too over the top and border on unbelievable.

My biggest issue with the book was the children’s book series Saskia’s mother wrote: Fairy Tales for Little Feminists. They reimagine classic fairy tales from a feminist standpoint, and each chapter begins with a short excerpt from one of them. As a big fairy tale fan, I thought this would be something I’d love. However, I found them so over the top and cringey. Many of them are also based on the Disney versions of the tales, which was the part that irritated me the most. There is a mention of the Beast being unpleasant and treating Beauty poorly, which simply isn’t in line with any variation of the original fairy tale. And one of the dwarfs in “Snow White” is called Grumpy. To me, using the Disney versions felt like a rather lazy copout.

Overall, The Ingenue is an engaging and enjoyable read, and I would recommend it despite the issues I had.

I loved this book !! I loved the alternating timelines between the present and Saskia growing up!! I also loved the feminist version of all the fairytales tied in to teach a lesson to her within the story. Such a good one.. highly recommend!

This felt like the worst/guilty pleasure teenager tv show you have ever seen and I absolutely DEVOURED it. I enjoyed the multiple POV and the changing timelines that allow you to slowly piece things together as you read. I will say there was ALOT going on at times and that was overwhelming, but overall I LOVED the drama. The biggest story was between the main character and her MUCH older teacher and how they had inappropriate relations. This book definitely covered a lot of really controversial topics and I think the author did a good job of handling it. Overall, I think this was a good thriller, it definitely needed a little bit of fine tuning to execute it properly.

Such an amazing story! I was hooked from the very first page! I couldnt get enough!! I could not put this down for the life of me!

This disturbing story and and constant overbearing abuse of a child is more than I could take. I wanted to like it, but it was too much. Thank you @NetGalley@StMartinsPress@TheIngenue

I had the privilege to read Rachel Kapelke-Dale’s first book, The Ballerinas, as an ARC, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when I was approved for her next book, The Ingenue, I was super excited.

This book follows Saskia, a woman in her 30s, while she goes home to her family estate for her mothers funeral. Through a series of events, she winds up staying and diving deep into her childhood experiences, where a lot of things come to light.

One thing I really liked about this book is it felt like a mystery. I found myself reading and thinking hm what will happen next? And then I’d make theories about what I thought was going on (which wasn’t always right). I also really enjoyed the thread of feminism through it.

One thing I didn’t love was that I felt a bit like the book had a slight air of pretentiousness. Which, wasn’t enough of a turn off, and I think added to the story, but it might bother some.

Overall, a sold 4 star read for me!

Saskia Kreis is no longer the piano prodigy she was as a child. As she returns to her ancestral home—The Elf House—after her mother's passing, she is haunted by this fact. Somewhere along the way, Saskia lost her passion for the piano. Somewhere along the way, she lost touch with her parents, her musician father and her artistic mother, Evelyn, who wrote a series of feminist retellings of fairytales. And somewhere along the way, Saskia lost herself, too. In an upsetting turn of events, a man Saskia had a complicated relationship with in her past stands to inherit The Elf House, and Saskia vows to do everything in her power not to let that happen—even if it means confronting the darkest parts of her past.
I was a fan of Rachel Kapelke-Dale's THE BALLERINAS, and I found the characters in THE INGENUE to be equally compelling and complex. The story is told in in alternating timelines (more present-day vs. Saskia's childhood), which I thought was interesting, although it does mean that certain characters or details are presented without context at first. THE INGENUE is a deep, engaging, and powerful novel about family relationships, talent, and trauma.

*thank you Penguin Randomhouse for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

This story is claimed to be My Dark Vanessa meets The Queen’s Gambit. I haven’t made my way to TQG just yet but MDV was a favorite book of the year last year and I was excited to get another wonderfully woven story like that. I also read The Ballerinas by RKD when it came out and absolutely loved it, so this was highly anticipated from the same author.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t do it for me. The feminism woven into this story is very preachy yelling in your face what to think instead of showing you a story that makes you think. While I was kept intrigued about how this story was going to end because it has a big “wtf??” factor, I also couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the start of every chapter with the quotes from the “fairytales for little feminists.” Why did they make me roll my eyes? they’re for “little feminists” using words like “equal division of labor” … obviously this book is actually written for adults but it was so distracting.

Overall, while the story had a great foundation, the execution didn’t hit it right for me. 3 stars for this one.