Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

15 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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Murder

jcinf's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was everything I didn’t know I needed. 

• Friendship between women
• The secrets we keep
• The relentless and exhausting pursuit of perfection (one that I’d argue is an experience profoundly belonging to women)
• The feeling of being watched that all women live with

This book ended up healing me in ways I didn’t expect. Here are some of my favorite quotes. Huge spoilers in the last couple: 

We all stuck to our stories. And it is so easy to see someone through only one own lens: the role they play in yours. Stella had been right. I’d only ever seen her as a guru, a mentor, the friendly neighborhood witch. Who was Stella in her own story?

I’ve always thought dying would be a little bit like dissolving into the sun. We leave our little frames behind and see the whole picture for the first time. The entire panorama. I like to feel the sun on my face because I can practice living and practice dying. Both at the same time. 

I watched her, struggling for perfection, this woman who had been struggling for perfection for more than twenty years, and I was fascinated. 

This is why I loved choreographing. This is why it was better than dancing. Instead of trying to contort myself into someone else’s vision, I would take what was already inside me and find the perfect vessel for it. 

Living our lives as though we expect it to be forgotten. As though now is all that matters. It might be easier on the mind to live like that, but it’s harder in the soul. 

You’re bigger than us. And after everything’s said and done, we depend on your goodwill. Not just to make things easier. For survival. If you want, to you can kill us, and we know it.

This wasn’t the movies in our lives didn’t work that way. Someone was always, always watching us and it was too late. It had been too late since I pushed him through the window. It had been too late long before then. Besides, I didn’t want to cover this up. Monstrous and horrible as his body had become, as horrified as I was that I actually killed somebody, I also felt like I was watching the stage at the end of the best dance I’ve ever made. In the darkness, I felt my mother beside me. Smiling. Maybe, after everything, this was her legacy. She spent her life performing for the void but two hands on Daniel‘s chest and I flip the script, made the only ballet that could ever truly be for us and about us at the same time. And achieved what she never could: we had become the spectators for once. We had been the ones to please. And he was the one who failed. His death was my masterpiece. Because that’s all ballet is, in the end. Just bodies moving through time and space.  

 

Absolutely stunning novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Infertility, Grief, Death, Blood, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Sexism

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.

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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

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

hemmr3252's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

thenovelbookshelf's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A compelling novel of three ballerinas, friends from youth and ballet school, and their friendship, competitiveness and relationships throughout their dancing life.
  
This isn't a book about ballerinas, but rather a journey of the hardships dancers go through to be the best they can be and want to be.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Blood, Cancer, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

krys_kilz's review

dark emotional 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

4.5

This book is beautifully written. I finished it in two sittings - even though the story was more of a slow burn, I couldn't put it down. The characters are rich and messy and their relationships are complex and multilayered - the book itself is a very character driven story, which I love. I also liked how the timeline jumped between the past and present.

I am still sitting with the intense symbolism of

Lindsay's dancing career coming to an end because of the dancer statue she, Delphine, and Margaux bought in their youth.

There are so many layers there.

I also thought the book offered a lot of dark and heartbreaking observations about femininity, patriarchal institutions and gendered violence. Though, at times these observations skewed towards cisheteronormativity and white feminism.

Overall, this book is an engaging exploration of friendships - how they change over time, how to make amends, and how we often see people as who we want them to be instead of who they actually are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Cancer

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Miscarriage

skyejay95's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Abortion, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcoholism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Body shaming