zoetic 's review for:

The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

5.0

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"No tragedy in mundane. Not while we're living it." -Rachel Kapelke-Dale, The Ballerinas

The Ballerinas is NOT a light read!

The Ballerinas is a captivating read, containing dark themes, shocking events, and a strong sense of femininity, wrapped up in a beautiful cover.

Upon completing The Ballerinas, I felt like I did when I completed Great Expectations: "I am positive, that my thoughts in this review, are not as is, but ever growing, due to the sheer complexity of the characters, originality and smooth narrative."

At the very bottom of the review, there will be a spoiler of potential triggering event, for sensitive readers to know beforehand.

How The Story Read:
The writing style is one that is very engaging, and easy to follow. I wanted to know what would happen next. Its not often that I am genuinely surprised by the twists within the story. There was foreshadowing up to the revelations, and I still was completely shocked.

There were some incredibly moving events.

The Ballerinas is told in broken timeline.

I did find a few quotes that I have saved for myself, though a few of them were a paragraph.

Main Character:
I feel the main character Delphine, is one both likeable and annoying. She constantly makes choices that made me question what in the world she was thinking, even though it shows what she was thinking. Delphine constantly makes questionable decision after questionable decision. The Ballerinas honestly felt like a diary of a downward spiral of chaos, that is Delphine's life. (The story is not told in diary format.)

Other Characters:
I really liked the woman mentor. The best friends: Margaux and Lindsay, are detrimental to Delphine's character, and who also have issues of their own.

Themes/Topics:
There is so many topics and themes explored, more than I can honestly mention in just one review. The Ballerinas is NOT a light read, but a dark and intense read.

One of the main themes is that women belong to themselves, their bodies belong to themselves, which is generally paired with the theme of oppression by awful men, misguided leaders, doubt in one's self, ect.

The Ballerinas explored the topic: 'What have I done in my life, Where am I in my life now, What is in the future for me'.

The Ballerinas explores the plethora of different types of relationships one has throughout their lives.

The Ballerinas explores consequences of one's actions, with pertaining towards one's own life and how one's actions affects others too.

The Ballerinas mentions alcoholism, sex, drugs, abortion, history of the Romanov Family, history of Paris in general, feminism, and more!

Who I Would Recommend The Story To:
I feel The Ballerinas is for older readers, not to say a very mature younger could enjoy or understand the story. I feel this way because there are so many topics touched therein that an older reader, particularly one with many life experiences, would be able to truly empathize and sympathize with.

The Ballerinas is told from a 36 year old woman, when in present timeline.

The mouth on these ladies and some of the men; there is quite a bit of profanity and at times vulgarity.

TRIGGERS:
There are some potentially triggering events which include and but not excluded to: things done without consent, abortion, physical altercations, intimacy scene(s), ect.

I would normally rank a book much much lower when certain topics come up within a book, for I just don't want to have those sorts of things in books I'm reading to relax and entertain myself, that also being said, I feel said issues was handled expertly.

Spoiler

There is a character, that is revealed, that they had recorded their private exploits, unbeknownst to those they were partaking activities with, and some of those said 'partners', several were underaged. When this is revealed, there is an intense and physical struggle.

Overall Thoughts:
Overall, I felt The Ballerinas was very well written with engaging storytelling, and I glad I had read it. I also don't think I would ever reread The Ballerinas, due to the darker themes and topics touched therein.