Book Review: WATCH HER FALL by Erin Kelly

 

Title: WATCH HER FALL

Author:  Erin Kelly

Read: November 2021

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 all the mind-bending stars!

 

Book Description:

 

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 ... 

 

My musings:

 

Just when I thought that thriller couldn’t surprise me any more – along comes Erin Kelly’s latest book WATCH HER FALL. Set in the world of professional ballet (who knew that behind the beauty of dance hides such brutality?) it seemed very different from any of Kelly’s previous books and I remember thinking: “Is this really a mystery?” Well, eat humble pie you distrusting reader, because once the stage was set, the first unexpected plot development sent me tumbling head over heels over the edge of the stage like a drunken ballerina in a death twirl. Wow, I did not see that coming!

 

Let’s rewind a bit. The book’s background of a famous Russian ballet company performing the famous Swan Lake was fascinating. I never imagined that professional dancers would have an easy life, their toned bodies and graceful moves speaking of years of gruelling workouts and harsh discipline. On top of that, there was the competition among the dancers, each vying for the lead role and the attentions of their ballet master, the infamous Nikolai Kirilov (Mr K). We first hear from the POV of Ava Kirilova, Mr K’s daughter, who is the stars of the show, performing the coveted roles of Odette and Odile. She is also facing one of a dancer’s worst fears: of her career winding down due to the ageing process. Every day she is confronted with fresh, younger dancers who are dreaming of the day they will take over the leading role. HER role. I loved the way Kelly presented Ava, her fears, her strict discipline, her almost slavish affection for her father, who has full control over her. I admit I was totally in the dark as to where this would all lead.

 

For fear of spoilers, I will not give any more away. Let’s just say that the story took a turn I had not expected, and it was around the 80% mark that I knew I had been totally blindsided. And if that wasn’t enough, the surprises just kept coming until the very end, and I still had no idea where Kelly was leading me. It’s been a while since a thriller managed to totally wow and surprise me, and I loved it! There was absolutely nothing predictable in this novel, nor did it follow any of the popular (and often overused) thriller tropes that mark a lot of contemporary novels out there today. I applaud the author for giving us one of a kind, a book that will take you out of your own world into the unknown. It was all so brilliantly carried out!

 

Summary:

 

In summary: to those readers who are a bit jaded with popular thriller tropes and predictable twists, this one is for you! It starts off as a bit of a slow burn as you get into each character’s  mind, which worked well when it came to the moment I knew I had been duped. Loving an immersive character study, especially one that messes with my mind, I was in my element here. Cleverly constructed, multi-layered and intriguing, the book was a stand-out thriller for me and cements Erin Kelly even more firmly on my favourite authors list. Highly recommended to anyone who has been feeling disenchanted with overused thriller tropes.