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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Many people, including myself, are fascinated with the world of ballet and the dancers who form this world, which is why I was so excited to read this book. I loved the premise; however, I agree with other reviewers that none of the characters seemed to have any redeeming qualities. I also felt that some of the plot points were thin which was somewhat disappointing. I truly struggle to understand how a person can shove someone in a room with such force that they break through a window, go through the casing, and fall to their death. With that said, there were some redeeming qualities of the book, including friendships formed when parents seem to look at their offspring in light of a potential career vs as a child and women who begin to recognize and fight back against those who use them for their own gain.
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was I promised a mystery? Yeah there was no such thing
I had such high hopes for this but oh well
I had such high hopes for this but oh well
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love stories about ballet and this one had a Parisian setting (love!) and ballet, so definitely had to read.
Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsey were raised in the Paris Opera Ballet. Friends, and rivals, all three pushing to earn a spot as a premier ballerina. When Delphine left 14 years ago, she left with a devastating secret. Now she's returned, with the hope of fixing things between the three, but finds she can't just pick up where she left off, and before she can fix anything, they all must face some hard truths.
A slow burn, but this story was unputdownable for me.
Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsey were raised in the Paris Opera Ballet. Friends, and rivals, all three pushing to earn a spot as a premier ballerina. When Delphine left 14 years ago, she left with a devastating secret. Now she's returned, with the hope of fixing things between the three, but finds she can't just pick up where she left off, and before she can fix anything, they all must face some hard truths.
A slow burn, but this story was unputdownable for me.
DNFed at 20%. I was not getting into this much at all. There was a lot more ballet than there was drama and intensity and I really need that from a thriller-y book to get started. Not for me!
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
More “Big Little Lies” and less “Black Swan” and “Luckiest Girl Alive” in my opinion. There was a lot of potential here, and I really appreciated the author’s clear knowledge of the ballet world and its issues. I also appreciated the storylines around female friendships, perfectionism, and who has access to our bodies. Unfortunately, it’s unnecessarily long, and in the end it didn’t hold my interest enough for me to care about these characters or what happened to them. I am also confused as to why it’s being marketed as a thriller?
I danced for years, through college actually, and I continue to be fascinated by the art and the drama surrounding it. Everyone knows that dancers befriend fellow dancers, but that there is always a sinister air to it. Dancers want to be the best and Rachel Kapelke-Dale captures that perfectly with the trio of friends in The Ballerinas. Delphine, our unlikeable narrator, is best friends with Lindsay and Margaux, they've lorded over the their fellow dancers since ballet school and now, years later, the trio is back at Paris Opera Ballet. While their roles have changed dramatically, both at POB and with one another, they come together to leave their final mark as they near retirement age.
While it shouldn't be billed a thriller, it is a women's fiction with a sinister edge to it. A bit more suspenseful than it is thrilling, The Ballerinas is a story of the narcissism that feeds ballerinas on their climb to the top. It's incredibly well researched, Kapelke-Dale knows ballet and the music that feeds the stories, she captures the men in the art perfectly, but it is all lost on the characters.
At times meandering and other times so quickly paced that the plot is lost, The Ballerinas is not what I expected at all from a debut St. Martin's Press author. It's a book that's easy to skim, one that doesn't even attempt to make you like its narrator, and one that doesn't feed at all into the story until much later in the novel. If only the entire book had the pacing and intrigue that last 40% had. The Ballerinas is, unfortunately, a slog of a novel. The final 40% is epic and beautiful; a story of empowerment and forgiveness, of learning ones true self. Set to the music of Janis Joplin, the final chapters of the novel made me keep reading, they held my attention, their promise of more was beautiful. Unfortunately, it couldn't save the read for me and I finished The Ballerinas underwhelmed.
ARC provided.
While it shouldn't be billed a thriller, it is a women's fiction with a sinister edge to it. A bit more suspenseful than it is thrilling, The Ballerinas is a story of the narcissism that feeds ballerinas on their climb to the top. It's incredibly well researched, Kapelke-Dale knows ballet and the music that feeds the stories, she captures the men in the art perfectly, but it is all lost on the characters.
At times meandering and other times so quickly paced that the plot is lost, The Ballerinas is not what I expected at all from a debut St. Martin's Press author. It's a book that's easy to skim, one that doesn't even attempt to make you like its narrator, and one that doesn't feed at all into the story until much later in the novel. If only the entire book had the pacing and intrigue that last 40% had. The Ballerinas is, unfortunately, a slog of a novel. The final 40% is epic and beautiful; a story of empowerment and forgiveness, of learning ones true self. Set to the music of Janis Joplin, the final chapters of the novel made me keep reading, they held my attention, their promise of more was beautiful. Unfortunately, it couldn't save the read for me and I finished The Ballerinas underwhelmed.
ARC provided.