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.
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