Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

10 reviews

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

bookwormsandcoffeestains's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Death of parent, Addiction, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Abortion, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Grief, Infertility, and Abandonment

Additional TW: revenge porn

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.

---

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

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

---

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

emilypook's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence

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.

---

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

chaosdemonmonster's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed it kinda. Not enough to want to read it again. It just seemed to be a parable and the lessons came out of no where and were not connected well. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Abortion

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

---

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

alisonhp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Grim, but still beautiful and compelling, and very human. I’m not sure a novel about ballerinas would be believable if it weren’t depressing, and the story weaves a narrative that extends beyond dancers to women and the fight to exist in and beyond our bodies. The characters engage in a palpable struggle with aging, and the resilience in their lives and relationships felt unexpectedly uplifting to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship