The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Title: The Ballerinas

Author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Expected publication date:  December 7, 2020

Publishing company: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 302

*This is an adult novel and contains explicit scenes

Introduction

Told in dual timelines, The Ballerinas is a story about three girls-- ballerinas Delphine, Margaux, and Lindsay--and the people they were as students in the fictional Paris Opera Ballet, and the women they have become, without even realizing they were becoming them.

"You start out as potential energy and then you fall."

"You start out as perfect and you become something else."

Cover

This cover is stunning. Every time I look at it I can't help but think about how beautiful it is.

Writing

I loved the writing. It flowed beautifully for me and I could see the scenes that the author was painting vividly in my head. It's been a long time since I felt like I could see a book and all its scenes play like a movie in my mind but from beginning to end, this one unfolded so easily in my mind like a film.

I also want to say that I did not see the plot twists coming, I only just barely realized what was going to happen in the end a few pages before it really happened, so I'd say that the twists thrown in to surprise the reader were very successful.

Dual Timeline

I think the dual timeline between the past and the present was executed perfectly. It was the perfect way to see a great deal of character development in all three of the ballerinas without having to trudge fully through all the events that shaped them, which I sometimes feel bogs down the flow of books. I think the author did a great job of knowing when to switch back to the past/present to keep the reader interested in both of the timelines all the time. Neither of the timelines ever ran dry or felt forced or boring to read. 

Characters

I loved all the characters so much. They were so fleshed out and developed and so deeply flawed in all the right ways. I couldn't get enough of them.

Conclusion

I loved this book so much. The writing, the characters, the plot, it was all phenomenal. It has been a long time since I've been as engrossed in a book as much as I was with this one, and I can confidentially say that this has been my favourite read of 2021. I haven't read any other works of this author but if they're anywhere near as enchanting as this, I'm ready to devour anything that she's ever written.

As the official Goodreads synopsis says, fans Dare Me, Black Swan, and Luckiest Girl Alive will most likely enjoy this book. I also think that if you enjoyed Tiny Pretty Things, this could be the book for you.