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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
“The Ballerinas” was such an interesting reading experience for me
I always have a fear of reading a book on a topic I know nothing about and ballet is one of those areas for me but this book is for anyone. There were technical terms I couldn’t appreciate but it was a tale of female friendships, love, coming of age, and grief which is something we can all relate to in various amounts. I was very engaged from beginning to end and enjoyed the chapters going forward and backwards in time which really helped you invest in the characters.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book for my honest review.
Told in alternating chapters set in the early 00's and 2018/2019, The Ballerinas tells the story of dancers Delphine, Lindsay and Margaux growing up in the world famous Paris Opera Ballet School.
I enjoyed the drama of this book and the genuinely gasped at the climatic event towards the end. These characters are hard to like and the neat bow this novel ended in didn't sit well with me.
Overall a good 3 star read for me.
Since receiving this ARC this book has been published and is available to read now!
Told in alternating chapters set in the early 00's and 2018/2019, The Ballerinas tells the story of dancers Delphine, Lindsay and Margaux growing up in the world famous Paris Opera Ballet School.
I enjoyed the drama of this book and the genuinely gasped at the climatic event towards the end. These characters are hard to like and the neat bow this novel ended in didn't sit well with me.
Overall a good 3 star read for me.
Since receiving this ARC this book has been published and is available to read now!
In high school I began "toe classes," as we affectionally called the painful and grueling sessions where we learned to dance with ballet toe shoes. It was then that I learned that behind all the exterior beauty and elegance of ballet, lies a tough and determined dancer. When you get your first toe shoes you are taught to slam them against a door jam to loosen the toe box, and in a similar vein this novel exposes the gritty side of the Paris Opera Ballet. It centers on the friendship of three aspiring ballerinas. In alternating timelines, we follow the dancers as they move up the rungs of the ballet corps, and current day 2018 when one of them returns from over a decade spent in Russia to choreograph a new ballet. There is a thriller element (although not very suspenseful) which moves the plot along, as well as romances, but essentially this is a story about women and the choices they make, or are not allowed to make. This is a debut novel and not exactly elegantly written, with too many topics crammed in where one or two would have been better if explored more deeply, but the story was compelling enough to make me finish it within a few days.
2.5 rounded down
I thought this book was good but it felt really slow and dragged out. I think the themes were really on point(e) and the writing itself had so many soul wrenching quotes. That being said if the book wasn’t so dragged on I would give it 4 stars. The emphasis on what it is like to be a women was highlighted even further by having the characters be ballerinas, which feels like the epitome of femininity. There were a few plot twists I didn’t expect and a few that felt more of a let down, but at its core I don’t feel that this book is truly a thriller or mystery, rather a commentary on women in society and how men and society treat women and young girls. It’s a book I think would be really good to annotate just for those quotes that felt like the author put into words what it is like to be a woman in the 21st century. I appreciated how three dimensional the three women of the book are, they are real people, real women. Not my favourite read ever by definitely a powerful critique of femininity, society, and what it means to be a women.
I thought this book was good but it felt really slow and dragged out. I think the themes were really on point(e) and the writing itself had so many soul wrenching quotes. That being said if the book wasn’t so dragged on I would give it 4 stars. The emphasis on what it is like to be a women was highlighted even further by having the characters be ballerinas, which feels like the epitome of femininity. There were a few plot twists I didn’t expect and a few that felt more of a let down, but at its core I don’t feel that this book is truly a thriller or mystery, rather a commentary on women in society and how men and society treat women and young girls. It’s a book I think would be really good to annotate just for those quotes that felt like the author put into words what it is like to be a woman in the 21st century. I appreciated how three dimensional the three women of the book are, they are real people, real women. Not my favourite read ever by definitely a powerful critique of femininity, society, and what it means to be a women.
Beautiful and messy story. Made me feel and understand the characters’ experiences about being a woman in a world that doesn’t see you as a person.
It was an interesting read, especially if you were a dancer. There are a lot of plot twists that keep you guessing. My only complaint was that it was very anti-male. It portrayed all of the men in the book as manipulative, self-centered, and seeing women as objects. The dance world does bring out the worst in people, however, even the men on the outside of dance were poorly represented.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Feminism meets Ballet
Professional ballet dancers are probably the most hardcore people you will ever meet. They dedicate their whole lives - often starting at 6yo - to classes and never stop. Their quest for perfection in movement, form, technique & interpretation is never fulfilled: they're only as good as their last performance.
Long hours, gruelling conditioning, punishing schedules and strict diets create a super species of women in particular. Constantly examined by civilians for the eating disorders and mental frailties supposedly created by life on the razors edge of professional dance, they are also held up as ideals. The most feminine, graceful, beautiful women, the princess in the fairytale, worthy of symphonies and operas. United in a sisterhood of cygnets and flowers, they must blend in as one but also stand out as unforgettable when the role demands it.
Self-control, dedication, steely determination and an almost superhuman ability to dance through discomfort is what makes a ballerina, yet she can never conquer time.
To live is to age and to age is to die. And dancers have a very finite lifespan career wise.
It must be so frustrating to do all you can to be the best you can be but ultimately fail due to time & gravity. And so often it's that awareness that is always at the heart of ballet books - both fiction, biography & memoir.
THE BALLERINAS is the first novel I've read, that balances that with true feminist thought about the industry, and how it sits alongside growing from a girl to a woman.
Borrowing from recent events at NYCB, & Marinsky; plus the #MeToo & #TimesUp movements, this novel succinctly paints a picture of an industry shaped by the patriarchal male gaze attempting to revamp its image while protecting reputations and minimising harm to the old gods.
Rarely do you see an explanation of being a woman in modern society so well explained. It makes sense I suppose that a dancer - someone whose whole life is about their body and how it relates to other bodies - is the one to express frustration at women being dependent on men not to harm us because they're usually bigger, stronger, more at ease with aggression and better resourced.
I enjoyed this a lot - it rings true on a number of levels: aging, sex, love, beauty, children, competition between women, abortion, motherhood....
I can't wait to read what this author writes next.
Professional ballet dancers are probably the most hardcore people you will ever meet. They dedicate their whole lives - often starting at 6yo - to classes and never stop. Their quest for perfection in movement, form, technique & interpretation is never fulfilled: they're only as good as their last performance.
Long hours, gruelling conditioning, punishing schedules and strict diets create a super species of women in particular. Constantly examined by civilians for the eating disorders and mental frailties supposedly created by life on the razors edge of professional dance, they are also held up as ideals. The most feminine, graceful, beautiful women, the princess in the fairytale, worthy of symphonies and operas. United in a sisterhood of cygnets and flowers, they must blend in as one but also stand out as unforgettable when the role demands it.
Self-control, dedication, steely determination and an almost superhuman ability to dance through discomfort is what makes a ballerina, yet she can never conquer time.
To live is to age and to age is to die. And dancers have a very finite lifespan career wise.
It must be so frustrating to do all you can to be the best you can be but ultimately fail due to time & gravity. And so often it's that awareness that is always at the heart of ballet books - both fiction, biography & memoir.
THE BALLERINAS is the first novel I've read, that balances that with true feminist thought about the industry, and how it sits alongside growing from a girl to a woman.
Borrowing from recent events at NYCB, & Marinsky; plus the #MeToo & #TimesUp movements, this novel succinctly paints a picture of an industry shaped by the patriarchal male gaze attempting to revamp its image while protecting reputations and minimising harm to the old gods.
Rarely do you see an explanation of being a woman in modern society so well explained. It makes sense I suppose that a dancer - someone whose whole life is about their body and how it relates to other bodies - is the one to express frustration at women being dependent on men not to harm us because they're usually bigger, stronger, more at ease with aggression and better resourced.
I enjoyed this a lot - it rings true on a number of levels: aging, sex, love, beauty, children, competition between women, abortion, motherhood....
I can't wait to read what this author writes next.