Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

9 reviews

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Cursing, Cancer, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Infertility, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

victoriarad's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

If I didn't have the lovely time to kill and space to read this, no way would I have finished it. 
1. It was a little too slow moving for my taste. 
2. The reveal of what they did to Lindsey was a little lame?

Which sounds silly because they basically caused her to get run over by a cab but the logistics of it feel questionable? A shoe lace? Really? I thought the original plan with the pill to be wayyy more interesting and more aligned to that whole ballet culture.

- speaking of, I love the whole ballet culture. I found it utterly fascinating and those elements were my favorite. The way the narrator talked about the constant analysis of bodies, I mean I just find that whole realm of reality to be fascinating. But additionally, I did not care at all about the paragraphs-long explanations about Russian ballets. Now that was just too niche. But it made sense with the character soooo... it's fine I guess.
3. The climax.

WTF. A window? It felt sooooo out of left field - and then with NO repercussions? Look, I'm all for female rage but when it comes out of absolutely nowhere it feels like a strange feminist gimmick. And the 3/4 of the book was not feministy at all. I almost with the thing with Jock (ew what a name) happened closer to the beginning/middle and that rage against the entire male species could grow over time.

4. Honestly Lindsey's situation was the most interesting. Maybe it should've been told from her POV?
5. Trigger warnings... there's just somethings I had to skip because I just can't read about certain topics. 
I didn't hate the book, but I had to muscle my way through it and I felt very unsatisfied at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Abortion

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

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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

rusty_moonshadow's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Infertility, Alcoholism, Car accident, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

arcookson's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infertility, and Miscarriage

mondovertigo's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Moderate: Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Grief, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Sexual violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

lit_with_lauren's review

dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abortion, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Misogyny and Body shaming

Minor: Miscarriage

emmyrandomreport's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Body shaming

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness and Toxic relationship

gondorgirl's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship