Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Ballerinas

This book is very special. I devoured it in an evening which I don’t often do anymore.

I was a ballerina for 14 years and I could have been a career ballerina had my life gone in a different direction, so the first massive appeal of this book was its premise for me. But this is so much more than a nostalgic premise. It is smart and witty and full of modern feminism and complicated women. It is politics and micro-aggressions and commentary on ballet as a whole, on our world as a whole. It is also commentary on being a woman; using ballerinas to explore what it means to be seen as a WHOLE PERSON or for the appearance they are or you want them to portray. I saw myself and many of my mistakes in Delphine and I saw some of my amazing friends who’ve put up with me learning to grow up in Lindsay and Margaux.

This is a debut and the writing is not perfect. Some of the transitions between the past and the present are quite choppy. But I literally couldn’t care less - it accomplished for me everything that I needed it to and more that I didn’t know I was asking for.

I also want to point out that the few male characters in this story are painted in a certain light, but it’s important that they are also fully fleshed out people who all approach their relationships with women very differently, even if the final result kind of feels the same. But that’s just how the world is for women a lot of the time and it would be foolish to say that the painting of all these male characters as horrible towards women is an oversight or lazy. We are ever quick as a society to cater to the male ego and Kalpeke-Dale made the specific choice not to do that. There are very few stories that can say that and I refuse to think that she has been doing what male writers have done to their female characters for eternity; rather than stereotyping the male, she is expanding and revealing the female experience.

I guess what I’m saying is it felt as though this book was written only for me. And that is one in a billion.

Content Warnings

skyejay95's review

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dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

emmyrandomreport's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is more like Big Little Lies set at a ballet company instead of a school. In the end, it lined up with BLL plot points. All the men are horrible there isn't one nice one. All of these men used the C-word like it was going out of fashion.
It would have been better if it focused on more of the relationships between the women and been labeled literary fiction. It showed the complicated relationship between mother and daughter well. A sudden twist and a big bad did not need to exist to make this story shine.

I think people looking for a thriller will be disappointed and those looking for dance fiction a bit disappointed in the end. It is a good debut.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

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