This was a beautifully written, heartbreaking story about sisterhood, ambition, and betrayal, It's set in Russia during the Soviet-era.

The twin sisters are orphans, and are driven by their love of dance, but when only one can leave Russia to pursue her dreams, things get messy.

Gorgeous historical detail, high drama, and a lot of emotional tension. Perfect if you love stories about complicated women in impossible circumstances. I really enjoyed it!

I got completely lost in Maya & Natasha. The world of Cold War Soviet ballet is intense, and this book drops you right in the middle of it. Twin sisters, abandoned at birth by their ballerina mother, are raised to follow in her footsteps at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Their dream is to dance for the Kirov, but a new law changes everything—only one of them can go. That moment shatters everything between them, setting off a story of ambition, betrayal, and survival as they each take drastically different paths.

I’ve always been fascinated by ballet, and this book captures its beauty and brutality so well. The training, the politics, the sacrifices—it’s all so vivid that I could almost feel the sore muscles and blisters myself. And layering that with Cold War tension made every choice feel even heavier.

I also listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it, but the ebook version made it easier to sit with certain moments and fully take in the story.

This one’s for anyone who loves historical fiction, stories about complicated sisterhood, or just getting completely absorbed in a different world. Absolutely loved it.

Thanks to Mariner and NetGalley for the ARC!

Everyone knows it is difficult enough to become a professional ballerina with a top company, but imagine having your chances dashed simply by being who you were born. In Elyse Durham’s historical fiction debut, twin sisters dancing in Cold War era Soviet Union learn that only one of them can be accepted into the elite Kirov ballet company. The reason why? The Kirov plans to travel abroad to America, and it is feared that family members traveling out of the country together may choose to defect together.

This certainly sets the tone for the dark and serious eponymously titled novel Maya & Natasha. While the Soviet Union may be at war with the United States, sisters Maya and Natasha are at war with each other. Raised at the Vaganova Ballet Academy after their mother, also a dancer, committed suicide soon after they were born, the sisters’ love for ballet comes only second to their love for each other.

But as they enter their last year at the Vaganova, tensions grow between the twins, especially after they learn that only one of them has a chance at making the Kirov. Natasha, the fiery and more compelling dancer, is thought to be a shoo-in, but Maya has spirit and is not giving up the fight yet. However, when she learns a surprising secret about her sister, and discovers that her odds of ever besting her are low, Maya makes a desperate choice that changes the course of their lives forever.

Maya & Natasha is a stark ballet story steeped in the bleak and ominous vibes of the Soviet Union regime. There is no doubting the setting of this story, as it screams “Soviet Union,” and communicates just how oppressed and controlled the people of the country were. While American ballerinas may dance for themselves, their Soviet Union counterparts must dance for their country with little autonomy in their own lives.

While Maya & Natasha is incredibly informative to read, especially as an American, it isn’t the most engaging or compelling story. Author Elyse Durham has said that she loved exploring the omniscience third person style of writing because it allows her to get into the heads of multiple characters, but I personally dislike it for the level of disconnect it puts between the characters and the reader. Furthermore, while ballet is threaded throughout this novel, it is only the first part of the book that really focuses on Maya & Natasha as young dancers, with the rest of the book detailing their lives as adults. While parts two and three of the book provided a lot of information about the state of the Soviet Union, it wasn’t told in the most interesting way.

In all, Maya & Natasha is a mixed bag of a novel. The book has a gripping first third, which describes the rivalry between warring sisters, who despite the competitiveness between them, desperately love each other; yet the latter parts of the book falter. 3.5 stars.

I found this book to be interesting, and I don't think it was just because I took ballet growing up. I did enjoy knowing what ballet steps the author was describing, though! An interesting story of sisters and families, how they try to move apart and stay together.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Elyse Durham, and Mariner Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Oof, what a gut punch of a read. I am going to start my review with a disclaimer that I read City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim only a couple of months ago, and it is also about the Russian Ballet world, so my opinion might be a bit influenced by reading two novels of similar subject matter so close together. That book is not light by any means, but my biggest take away from Maya and Natasha was that I was not expecting it to be so dark! Durham is a great writer of setting and characters, and I did feel transported to the world of the Vaganova amidst the Cold War. The book is dreary and tense and depressing, even among the brightness of ballerinas and young women growing and crafting their selves and their art. Maya and Natasha are both unlikeable in different ways at different points in the novel, making it hard to know whose side I was on. I did also enjoy the inclusion of the film making of War and Peace in the second half of the novel, and I learned lots of how the Minister of Arts worked there at that time. I think if I knew how serious Maya and Natasha was as a whole, I might have been more prepared, but because of the subject matter and the repetition of feelings or events in the novel, it took me a bit to get through and left me wanting a little more.

They are twin sisters and at age 16, the are studying at the Vaganova Academy in Leningrad to become ballerinas at the Kirov or Bolshoi ballet. Stalin is out and and Krushchev is in. The self exists for the state.
Each has her own style of performing and have been at the school since they were eight. They have worked hard, and are talented and competitive. They live in a time of repression, denial and too much oversight and control by the Moscow government controllers.
Jealously, the desire for fame and the perks that go with it, and notoriety combine to show the gritty side of ballet dancing and what it takes to claw one's way to the top.
Will their relationship survive the manipulation of mother Russia and their own motives? Will the quest for a better life and their own manipulation and plotting destroy them or make them?
The characters do what they have to do to protect themselves personally and professionally, They go in and out of their bonds of being sisters. How much can they forgive ?
I loved this book and carried it around with me. What happens when your biggest competition is your own twin sister?
Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an Advance Reader copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

maya & natasha is a heartbreaking story of ballet and sisterly bonds and betrayals set against the backdrop of cold war-era russia. twins maya and natasha have spent their lives training to follow in their late mother’s footsteps and join the kirov ballet upon graduation from the vaganova ballet academy, but a new law introduced during their final year bans family members from traveling abroad together. the kirov can only accept one of them, and their relationship begins to fracture as they vie for that place. when one sister betrays the other, both of their lives are forever altered.

in a word, this was excellent. though the first few chapters are a little slow, it doesn’t read like a debut at all. i’m not particularly familiar with ballet or this period of history (outside of what i learned in my history classes [not much]), but durham’s writing is immersive and effectively communicates the tensions of the time without info dumping. she shifts effortlessly between natasha and maya as their lives diverge and converge only to diverge again, and the interspersed glimpses of other characters’ perspectives—some of them real historical figures—only add to the story.

if you’re at all interested in the cutthroat world of ballet, complicated family dynamics, or the use of the arts as a tool of politics, i would absolutely recommend picking up maya & natasha.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers.

Maya & Natasha is a work of historical fiction, with real historical figures sprinkled throughout the narrative. Maya & Natasha are twins, born during the siege of Leningrad. Their mother, a young ballerina, chooses to end her life rather than care for her daughters. They are raised by their godmother to be talented ballerinas. But this talent does not shield them from heartbreak, sisterly rivalry and the ups and downs of life in Soviet Russia. This beautifully written story will appeal to fans of Kristin Hannah.

Beautifully written, but I found it difficult to invest in the story and the characters.

I should start by saying I’m not sure I would truly class this as a ballet novel, and had there been more ballet to it, I think it would have been more enjoyable.

This is part tragic family saga and mostly a caution about life under an oppressive soviet government. It’s well rendered in both regards, but not exactly a fun read.

But most of my struggle with this book was with the titular protagonists, neither of whom is especially likable and both of whom are less intriguing than they needed to be in order to properly invest in their story.

I liked Durham’s thoughtful commentary and the writing is lovely, but I think this book is more for those who enjoy a tragic family saga than those who enjoy a ballet novel. Obviously a novel can be both of those things and many others have done it quite well, but this one just leaned too much in the wrong direction for me in terms of balancing its narrative content.

An amazing historical novel set during the Cold War era that is well-crafted and paced. This story of twin sisters is beautifully written and the themes explored will keep your attention. Maya & Natasha is an elegant story that is thoroughly researched and brimming with historical detail. This tale of ballet, sisterhood, love and loss is not to be missed. I highly recommend this spellbinding debut, I could not put it down!

I really enjoyed this ballet read, though it did take about 25% to get into the story. We follow Russian twins born in the 1940's to a ballet dancer, as Leningrad is falling. The girls end in ballet schools, with their eyes on being professional ballerinas. When it's announced that the coveted institute, Kirov, will only take one person from a family, a tragedy occurs, which sets off a chain reaction through their lives. The story includes elements of the Cold War, visiting America as a Russian, Soviet movie making, and the author included several real people as characters in this story. I was all in, even as neither sister is very likable. Love learning about history with a story. Well done!

DNF. This was a little too depressing for me. I just kept anticipating the worst and thinking of all these awful scenarios that would separate these sisters. Thank you, NetGalley.

I’m a simple girl. I see the word ‘ballet’ attached to a historical fiction book and I immediately need to read it. My parents wouldn’t let me do ballet growing up (or as they like to say “you grew up in a town of 300 people with no dance studio, honey”), but the deep interest in ballet has genuinely never left me. When I saw Maya & Natasha as I was scrolling through possible ARCs to request, the gorgeous cover immediately caught my attention and I didn’t think twice before sending my request for it.

The beginning, admittedly, was a little slow for me. I’m not sure if I was just starting it to close to my bedtime (I’m in my 30s and I have a toddler. I’m a sleepy girl), but I really struggled to make it through the first few chapters. That being said, the second I got invested…I was fully and completely invested. As the girls got older, their relationship became so complicated and dark. The betrayal that each experienced at the hands of the other was so frustrating and heartbreaking to witness.

Maya & Natasha each go on different artistic journeys that were honestly pretty exhausting to think about. I thought the jumps between characters were interesting and not at all hard to follow, and I liked the different perspectives we got throughout the book. The world that Maya & Natasha grew up in was rigid, overwhelming, and intense, and the way it shaped them into who they became was hard to deny. I hated the jealously that was such a large part of their lives, but…I supposed we wouldn’t have had this book without it. (I’m very good at reviews. Shhh.)

I desperately wanted another chapter or two at the end, but overall I really loved this read. Elyse Durham wrote a captivating and intriguing story, and I really enjoyed her writing style. I would not hesitate to read her next book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Mariner Books, and Elyse Durham for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5

This book perfectly captures the complexities of the twin relationship dynamic and I loved the ending. This really felt like a love letter to ballet and the sacrifices that are made in pursuit of art. I usually don't pick up historical fiction but i really enjoyed this one. The only thing that kept it from being a 4 star is that is did start losing a bit of steam in the third act.

I could not stop reading. I needed to find out the fats of Maya and Natasha. I think this book would really shine for folks familiar with ballet and the history of ballet. For fans of Kristin Hannah!

This book really grew on me. It has a slow start, but once it got going, it captured my attention and didn't let go. Maya and Natasha are twin sisters, born to a ballerina in Russian's premier ballet company during the siege of Leningrad. After their mother dies, the twins become students at Russia's most prestigious ballet academy. As Maya and Natasha near graduation, they learn that due to new Soviet restrictions, only one of them can be admitted to Russia's premier ballet company. We follow them leading to and in the aftermath of that announcement.

This book explores a complicated, codependent sibling relationship where they both are at once imminently likable and pretty horrible people. It asks questions about what you would do in impossible circumstances with impossible decisions, and it takes place during an extremely volatile time in our history - the cold war leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. I loved learning about the ballet world, and the author described Maya and Natasha's inscrutable bond so well. The pace definitely picks up as you go, and the plot is fascinating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

As beautiful as a ballet itself, this stunning debut novel brings the art of dance to life. This dramatic historical fiction tale of twin sisters and the world of ballet is a story of love, hate, jealousy, unrequited love, and deceit. Is forgiveness possible after a life altering betrayal, or is it out of reach? Does attaining your life's dream lead to happiness?

I loved the interplay between Maya & Natasha, as well as the inclusion of real-life historical events. This author does a beautiful job of seamlessly intertwining fact with fiction. I was entranced by this fascinating novel and didn't want it to end. These unforgettable characters and this captivating story will linger in my head for some time to come.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for a digital ARC of this exceptional debut novel. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I was captivated from the start. The characters are rich and well developed and imperfect in a way that makes them human. I feel like it was a great example of how trauma is ongoing, and impacts people differently. The ending wasn’t neat, which worked because life isn’t neat, and I have been thinking about it ever since. If you love historical fiction, especially Soviet stories set in the Cold War era, this book is spectacular.

Maya and Natasha are twins, born in incredibly harsh circumstances, and raised their whole lives to be top ballerinas who represent Russia. When they reach the point in their training where performing around the world in Russia’s top ballet school is in sight, they receive the news that, due to a new law, only one family member may join and go abroad. This leads to hard choices, deception, and betrayal.

ARC gifted by NetGalley
Thank you for this copy of Maya & Natasha. This is my first 5⭐ read in quite some time. This will absolutely be in my top of 2025 if not the top book!

Maya & Natasha is a historical fiction novel set in Soviet Russia spanning from 1941 to the late 1960's. Russia is famous for producing some of the best ballet in the world, and we are dropped into the intensely dark and fascinating world of ballet with the birth of twins Maya & Natasha. They enter the world with a weight on each of them that intensifies as they grow up and the cold war heats up. The story really is about the sister relationship that unfolds over the years. "They were bound together, an inevitable push and pill. Wherever Natasha moved, Maya followed".

The writing and craft of this debut is top notch. Not only is there good pacing, but the story continued to be fresh. I highlighted so many great quotes that I know I need to pick up a hard copy of this book.

If you love the arts, ballet, and sister relationships you will enjoy this. Other themes of jealousy, revenge, regret, and redemption are explored. Questions of what it is to love your country and your past, how to embrace family, and how to love the arts are asked. I found this book to be wholly satisfying and engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the eARC.

This is such a beautiful work of historical fiction that weaves in the complicated relationship between siblings, specifically sisters. I really found myself gravitating back to this story to learn the end result for Maya and Natasha. Really well done.