Watch Her Fall: An utterly gripping and twisty edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller from the bestselling author

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Twisty and brilliant and completely absorbing - not only a masterclass of a thriller but also sneakily profound about identity, ambition and greed - Bridget Collins

To say much more would be straying in the field of spoilers, and I can't do that. I can say, however, that this is an outstandingly acute look at human nature, with propulsive writing that is moody, and chilling, and at times terrifying. The writing here is simply superb, an immersive, descriptive joy to read that sets you in a place like no other. It is part mystery, part character study, all drama, an extremely complex and intelligent tale that subtly dances in the mind much like a ballet itself.

Hobbies

A reader doesn’t have to know much about ballet to like the book. It’s a mystery/thriller at the core. However, if you’re drawn to reading about passion - an inner calling, then this may appeal to you the way it did me. When life is unliveable, the mind comes to the rescue. It whispers stories so convincing that they become not just a refuge from reality but a new reality.'

Watch Her Fall is a psychological thriller about a ballerina who is the star of an elite ballet company. Having scored the dual role of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, she is under great pressure to dance to perfection. Not only is she battling her controlling father, who is also the company's artistic director, but she is also battling the other ballerinas who would kill for her role.Swan Lake is about to open at the London Russian Ballet Theatre run by Nikolai Kirilov who tyrannically instils rigorous Russian technique into the dancers in his company. Taking the lead role of Odette and Odile is Nikolai’s daughter Ava Kirilova. The storyline cleverly mirrors the ballet in the evolving twists and turns in this well written thriller. The Acts and Interludes are told from several perspectives and these different narratives work well taking the storytelling into unexpected directions delivering a sequence of surprises. The themes of dark and light, greed and pride, ambition and failure create a fascinating stage for this novel. The author holds the threads of the famous Odette and Odile from Swan Lake and swashes a theatrical paintbrush over their world. 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.

Welcome to London Russian Ballet Theater with its perfectionist, strict director, founder of Nikolai Kirilov, such an ambitious, dedicated soul who performed nearly 60 years and he’s still directing the phenomenal Swan Lake, even though he’s dealing with his health issues, walking with a cane. Overall, this is certainly not your run of the mill psychological thriller. Kelly certainly knows how to weave a dark, mesmerizing, edge of your seat tale of suspense! Erin Kelly’s Watch Her Fall is set within the cutthroat, elitist world of professional ballet, yet the bulk of the novel actually takes place away from the stage. The tours and performances offer glamour and distinction, but what happens when all that disappears; when someone who’s tenaciously trained their whole life for one thing has it cruelly ripped away from them? What kind of psychological effect would that have on a person? In the case of this story, the mental strain on the dancers goes way beyond the pain they experience physically. It leads to a stunner of a twist that’s so unexpected that it will change the whole way you view the plot and its damaged characters. Even though a small fragment of the book does talk about the competitive and hard world of ballet, 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.

Multibuys

The book does play with the double identity of Swan Lake and our main characters. However the story was more based on a really slow paced exploration of characters than anything else. I did not find this book thrilling, intense or engaging. For a book advertised as a thriller it had no tension and no real mystery that you would expect of such a book. The tone grows darker and even more intense as the ‘Swans’ behave more like Vultures as they plot to get the upper hand- ready to effortlessly step into Ana’s position. But it seems as though someone has decided to take the competition to a whole new, and deadly level… 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!

Ana will play the dual role of Odette and Odile in Swan Lake- but the pressure is intense. Her own father runs the London Russian Ballet Company and is nearly tyrannical with his control over Ana and her techniques. Meanwhile, it would appear she has some severe and ruthless competition. It’s Ava’s desire to be the best that sees company dancer, Juliet, take a career ending fall. Ava’s guilt, over the incident, is assuaged by allowing the youngster to recuperate in her minimalist yet palatial home as she embarks on the world tour of Swan Lake. Although I think the book starts a little slowly it builds into something that is hard to put down. I love the premise and the fascination of the ballet company, the impending performance of Swan Lake with all the accompanying obsessions, envy of those in the key roles and greedy jostling for the limelight. The characterisation is excellent, you more than sense Ava’s imperious haughtiness in her prima ballerina position and also her paranoia as she gets older with eyes on those younger talents in the ranks and Nikolai's cold hearted egotism and drive for perfection. The characters emotions and feelings are well conveyed too. There are jarring off notes throughout with elements of challenging defiance which sets off ripples of unease and some fear. The story has multiple elements to it such as manipulation, deception, sabotage, some intrigue and so many dark secrets that have to stay buried. I love the fact the story is based around Swan Lake which lends itself to so much potential in a plot and includes moments of dramatic irony which are excellent and I love the ultimate twist at the end which I did not see coming! A dancer dies twice - once when they stop dancing and this first death is the more painful.” Martha Graham.Most ambitious and captivating book to date . . . so thrilling and unexpected that it made my head spin’ LISA JEWELL