Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

16 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, Sexism, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer

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

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

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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

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.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Cancer, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

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

sfbookgirl's review

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

3.0

Forgive me; I read this book almost two months ago and don’t remember a lot of it except for the fact that it was about ballet students in France who have a lot of friend group drama. The Ballerinas is categorized as a thriller, but it is anything but. There is some mystery as to why the main character, Delphine, gave up her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a very different life in St. Petersburg, but there is little build-up or suspense that kept me wanting to know what Delphine did and what caused her to move to Russia. 

 

While it was not much of a thriller, I enjoyed The Ballerinas for its interpretation of the intense atmosphere found in the ballet world in Paris and in Russia. The drama between Delphine and her friends keeps the story moving forward, but overall, I found the novel to be just OK.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abortion, and Body shaming

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, 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

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

megaden's review

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

From Center Stage and Dance Academy to the darker Black Swan and Flesh and Bone, I’ve always been obsessed with the world of ballet. In The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale, Delphine returns to Paris to choreograph her own ballet after years of living in Russia. There she reconnects with friends from her teen years and the guy who got away. The story takes place during two time periods telling what’s going on now and also following the girls during their last year’s at their prestigious academy. There is plenty of foreshadowing of “something” the girls did in the past and I was a bit let down when the reveal happened, but I do love a twist. 

This book was a lot darker than I was expecting and ended up being about female friendships and how often women are forced to conform to men’s expectations. Every single character in this book was a horrible person and I loved all of them. I’d recommend this book to people who liked Trust Exercise or My Dark Vanessa.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship