The Ballerinas
Books | Fiction / Women
3.6
(174)
Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School. "Enthralling...irresistible." ––New York Times "A standing ovation to this debut." ––E! News Thirteen years ago, Delphine Léger abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now thirty-six years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever. Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with a magnetic cast of characters you won't soon forget.
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More Details:
Author
Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Pages
304
Publisher
St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published Date
2021-12-07
ISBN
1250274249 9781250274243
Community ReviewsSee all
"Would not recommend. I though it was pretty slow, the characters aren't likeable, the only "thriller" part was a little bit at the end, graphic sexual content, and some other stuff that just wasn't cool. "
Mia Corkum
"Finished September 19th. Liked but didn’t love this book. A decent story, good writing. But somehow it feels like it could have been “more”. "
Nikki Nienhaus
"I've wanted to read this book for a long time and I'm so glad I did. It was really good I loved it! "
Hannah Carson
"As a dancer myself, I find this book incredibly relatable. I love how raw the characters are. They're messy and sometimes unlikable, but it helps the book feel more real. I was drawn in right away and the book is consistently engaging. It's a little jarring moving from past the present, but it didn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment. I also love the focus on women and feminist themes. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. "
Cheyanne
"“But he just sat there with his half-hooded glare, and it was all too clear that my castles in the air had been entirely made of sand. And the tide was coming in.” 😮💨😮💨😮💨 That rush of reality is all to familiar to me 👏"
Maribel
"Too slow paced, took a long time for it to get interesting "
M
Miya
"I wanted to like this one and was hopeful for this with the comparison to Black Swan and alluding to this being a mystery, suspense, and/or thriller type of story, but there was little to none of any of those types of story here. This was a story about the world of ballet, about the weird and obsessive perspective of ballerinas with these 3 ballerinas who meet and become friends in the 90s when they're attending ballet school together. There are two timelines and it goes back and forth between the timelines with the 3 friends and what goes on in their lives.<br/>They each go through things and try to deal with their experiences while living their dreams or trying to achieve their goals with dance despite their age, health, or circumstances. I wasn't impressed with the event that did happen at the end of the book that was the only part that could have been considered suspense or otherwise with the one murder. <br/>It was somewhat interesting, but not enough to keep my attention and keep me wanting to read it to see what happened. I read it but had a hard time pushing through to the end to finish it. This book just wasn't for me. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me have the chance to read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own."
Annette W
"I am currently reading this book. I love mystery and the best part it's a dance book! I am a dancer and I love that this mixes all my favorite things into one book!"
Natalie Dantas
"I found the book to be quite slow in the beginning. The mid to end sections then wrapped up very quickly and it was hard to follow/understand the speed in which everything seemed to be resolved. Seemed like a strange ending to the book. "
J
JT
