WATCH HER FALL

 

SYNOPSIS

Swan Lake is divided into the black acts and the white acts. The Prince is on stage for most of the ballet, but it's the swans audiences flock to see. In early productions, Odette and Odile were performed by two different dancers. These days, it is usual for the same dancer to play both roles. Because of the faultless ballet technique required to master the steps, and the emotional range needed to perform both the virginal Odette and the dark, seductive Odile, this challenging dual role is one of the most coveted in all ballet. Dancers would kill for the part.

Ava Kirilova has reached the very top of her profession. After years and years of hard graft, pain and sacrifice as part of the London Russian Ballet Company, allowing nothing else to distract her, she is finally the poster girl for Swan Lake. Even Mr K - her father, and the intense, terrifying director of the company - can find no fault. Ava has pushed herself ahead of countless other talented, hardworking girls, and they are all watching her now.

But there is someone who really wants to see Ava fall.

Title: Watch her fall

Author: Erin Kelly

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: April 1, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

"Watch her fall" is partly set in the ruthless world of ballet, and I say partly cause contrary to what the synopsis implies, there's a large portion of the story that has almost nothing to do with it and, honestly, I found that a bit disappointing.

I had never read a book set in this environment so when I first found out about this book and Swan Lake inspiration (I loved Black Swan!) I was over the moon. The first act started great. The underlying tension from the very start as opening night drew near was phenomenal. The respect and feat every member of the company had for Nicky was palpable. I don't know to what extent the day to day of the company is exaggerated, but I found a bit implausible that an adult woman could barely function by herself on the real world (you don't know what data is, really?).

Anyway, the first act set things for what I expected would be a story of ballerina's rivalries, fighting for the role of Odette/Odile, but the second act darted off in a completely unexpected direction, and that's where it went downhill for me.

The story was all over the place, there were different POVs rehashing from another perspective the same scenes we had already read about, what made it a bit repetitive. There was a whole plot line that, imo, was completely expendable and I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more had it centered on the ballet plot line.

Character development was good and some twists and turns toward the end managed to hold my attention, but I missed some last conversation before the last act.

While it kept me entertained till the very end and the writing was good enough for me to want to read more books by this author, I was expecting much more from this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.