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hailey_alexis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer
toadtornado's review
dark
fast-paced
2.0
2 stars for:
•An extremely unlikeable main character who faces no true consequences for her actions.
•The last half of the book is nothing but a girlboss power trip fantasy.
•author repeats things mentioned in earlier chapters like it’s some big revelation when the MC has know canonically since chapter 5. Sloppy writing.
Daniel’s death made me cackle because of how stupid it was
Good things about the book:
•how she describes music and ballet is beautiful
•has that fun trashy book quality that keeps you interested just because it’s bad
•An extremely unlikeable main character who faces no true consequences for her actions.
•The last half of the book is nothing but a girlboss power trip fantasy.
•author repeats things mentioned in earlier chapters like it’s some big revelation when the MC has know canonically since chapter 5. Sloppy writing.
Good things about the book:
•how she describes music and ballet is beautiful
•has that fun trashy book quality that keeps you interested just because it’s bad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Cancer, Blood, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Car accident, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Abortion, and Pedophilia
temeade's review
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
OMG! This book was amazing! The beginning was a little slow at the start however, there are little sprinkles of things that made me think, "wait what?" that appeared as though they were not going to be brought up again. I loved the details and the alternating timeline of telling the story. Kapelke-Dale kept my curiosity on it's toes through the many twists and turns of Delphine's life choices. Several times my mouth fell agape as I was shocked that not everyone is who they seem to be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Cursing, Cancer, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Infertility, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Vomit
miacorkum's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Death, Sexual content, Cancer, and Sexual assault
samanthaannecompton's review
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
as someone who’s done ballet since she could walk, i loved this book. it encapsulates the ballet experience, as well as the female friendship dynamic, very well. i found a lot of the characters insufferable at times but by the end of the book i grew (more or less) fond of them. however, it did dip into some very slow paced portions that i had to force myself to get through. i’m glad i did because i enjoyed the book as a whole. i identify a lot with the main character (yes, i know that’s a bad thing) so i found the end of the book very confronting, which wasn’t enjoyable (because i prefer being coddled) but i truly enjoyed the character development in the last few chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Murder
readrienne's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Death of parent
Moderate: Eating disorder, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Abortion
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
frantically's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The ballet aspect of this book — the techniques, the industry, the trauma the ballerinas face was researched with obvious love and diligence and was really the highlight of the book. The supposed feministic message (if it can be called that?) was like trying to swim through musky water and it wasn't a fun experience. The ending was just a tad too ridiculous and perfect for my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, and Pedophilia
Minor: Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, and Medical content
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Ballerinas is a story of complicated female friendship. Delphine, Margaux and Lindsay met as young dance students at the highly competitive Paris Opera Ballet. Now they are in their mid-30s, and after more than a decade away, Delphine is returning as a choreographer and hopes to resume the closeness the three once shared. But given that two of them are hiding a major secret involving the other, and that times have changed, will that even be possible?
There was real depth and breadth to the storytelling which I enjoyed. The exploration of sexism and misogyny in the world of ballet felt spot on; the me too storyline all too plausible. The book also took an in-depth look at some issues specific to the world of ballet, particularly the constant critiquing of women’s bodies - what they look like and what they can do, the fetishisation of the image of the graceful and elegant perfect ballerina vs the hard physical reality of the job, as well as issues relating to the fact that choreographers and ballet masters are mainly men.This is not a book in which the male characters came off well. They all seemed to want to control women’s bodies and or limit their career opportunities. The female characters aren’t wholly likeable, either. All three were flawed, made questionable decisions, and let ambition get the better off the them at times. Delphine was particularly self-absorbed and lacking in awareness of the possible needs of others.
I thought the then and now storylines worked effectively to explore the friendship between the three, how it began and the challenges it faced. Specifically, the very insular pressure-cooker nature of ballet made it hard to make and maintain friendships outside the company, and yet ballet is intensely competitive and cut-throat. Is it possible to maintain a friendship when you are competing against your friends, vying for plum roles and key promotions?
I thought some of the social messaging was overly heavy handed and had mixed feelings about the ending, but overall enjoyed the time I spent with this book.
There was real depth and breadth to the storytelling which I enjoyed. The exploration of sexism and misogyny in the world of ballet felt spot on; the me too storyline all too plausible. The book also took an in-depth look at some issues specific to the world of ballet, particularly the constant critiquing of women’s bodies - what they look like and what they can do, the fetishisation of the image of the graceful and elegant perfect ballerina vs the hard physical reality of the job, as well as issues relating to the fact that choreographers and ballet masters are mainly men.This is not a book in which the male characters came off well. They all seemed to want to control women’s bodies and or limit their career opportunities. The female characters aren’t wholly likeable, either. All three were flawed, made questionable decisions, and let ambition get the better off the them at times. Delphine was particularly self-absorbed and lacking in awareness of the possible needs of others.
I thought the then and now storylines worked effectively to explore the friendship between the three, how it began and the challenges it faced. Specifically, the very insular pressure-cooker nature of ballet made it hard to make and maintain friendships outside the company, and yet ballet is intensely competitive and cut-throat. Is it possible to maintain a friendship when you are competing against your friends, vying for plum roles and key promotions?
I thought some of the social messaging was overly heavy handed and had mixed feelings about the ending, but overall enjoyed the time I spent with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Cancer, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
jillgoober's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book centers around ballerinas in the Paris Opera Ballet throughout their lives - from age 13 to 36. It mainly focuses on Delphine, our narrator, and her two friends Margaux and Lindsay. With a combination of present day scenes and flashbacks, we learn about the harsh world of professional ballet and how it takes its toll on them. This book is very character-driven and focuses on their development as opposed to plot development.
I enjoyed reading this book overall mostly due to the drama behind the curtain, so to speak: who's cheating on who, so and so was injured, she will get cut from the company next season, etc. I found the structure to be a little boring sometimes mostly because I wasn't sure where this story was going. Every time some big secret was vaguely brought up, I thought we would have to wait until the end to hear the details but it was always revealed much sooner. However, I certainly did not see the end coming.
Like I said before, I loved reading about the drama behind the scenes of the ballet company as well as the focus on the competitive aspects and how, at some point, you might age out before achieving star status. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy character-driven stories where the characters are flawed, make many mistakes, and are still working on it by the end.
I enjoyed reading this book overall mostly due to the drama behind the curtain, so to speak: who's cheating on who, so and so was injured, she will get cut from the company next season, etc. I found the structure to be a little boring sometimes mostly because I wasn't sure where this story was going. Every time some big secret was vaguely brought up, I thought we would have to wait until the end to hear the details but it was always revealed much sooner. However, I certainly did not see the end coming.
Like I said before, I loved reading about the drama behind the scenes of the ballet company as well as the focus on the competitive aspects and how, at some point, you might age out before achieving star status. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy character-driven stories where the characters are flawed, make many mistakes, and are still working on it by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
beth_s98's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Murder, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment