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

Product Information

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. Most ambitious and captivating book to date . . . so thrilling and unexpected that it made my head spin’ LISA JEWELL Swan Lake: the eternal story of doomed love reflects the dark side of each innocent souls and it’s also about appearance can be deceiving! Nothing as it seems! What they didn't understand - what nobody understood - was that the higher you flew, the farther you had to fall.'

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. From the very beginning, I was swept away, utterly wrapped up in these characters’ lives. Nothing or nobody is what or who it seems. With every chapter, it felt as if everything I had read before that was turned completely onto its head. Every time I thought I was close to figuring out what was going, Erin Kelly managed to turn me around again and I swear I thought my head was going to explode. (/amateur dramatics)

Toys

The plot focuses on the ballet, Swan Lake, and Ava Kirilova, its star who has been training her whole life for the much-coveted dual role of Odette and Odile. Since a young age, her father, the Russian ballet master, Nikolai, has been guiding her and molding her to become his masterpiece. As opening night nears and her father's criticism increases, Ava grows more and more paranoid that someone is plotting against her and will cause her father to replace her with one of her understudies. Coincidences begin building up that seem to validate Ava's paranoia. Then an opening night injury and its aftermath changes Ava's life forever.

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. As preparations for the new show get more and more frantic, a new 'second swan' is needed and young Juliet is thrilled to be offered the part. 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.

Christmas Cards & Gift Wrap

Set in the intense, emotional world of ballet, the dancers living in a bubble of professional artistry, a world of complete focus and competition, Ava is about to hit the pinnacle of her career. However there are those in her life who would see her fail.. Like Kelly's previous books, and what I think she really excels at like no other, is writing a slow-burn thriller that is perfectly paced. I expected the novel to unfold slowly then build with dramatic intensity and have climatic twists because I've read and loved Kelly's other books but if you have never read her books, then just be aware that it is a slow-burn, but it's more than worth it! I also loved how unexpected the twist was since I had no idea it was coming; anytime I can't guess what's coming is always a plus for me since it so rarely happens when I read a thriller/suspense/mystery anymore!

However, her controlling father stifles any individual artistic expression in favor of the Russian way - his way. It’s his vision and his company, and he’s masterful with psychological maneuvers to control his dancers. Including Ava. It seems so effortless .. it’s brilliant and you really do not guess what’s coming’ Virgin Radio, Graham Norton That said, we do have to accept some glaring implausibilities: that a young ballerina in a famous London company about to go on international tour doesn't have a phone or understand what data is, doesn't have a bank account and so on. There's a sort of sop to the idea of financial fraud at the end but how is an entire company with a corps of 60 not paying tax or NI if everyone's paid in cash? Ava is one of the ballerinas who trains hard to the point of torture and exhaustion. Her father is right there behind her pushing her forwards and wanting her to be perfect. The pressures of this get too much and she lashes out at other dancers. She’s hardly the most popular dancer in the class.

Creative Play

Excuse me but we’re talking about one of the brilliant authors of Broadchurch ( of course I also enjoyed series: they casted freaking brilliant Tennant and Colman as duo) But this book is something so different, so complex, so enigmatic, so clever than my latest thriller readings. This is something refreshing, thrilling, mind bending, extra intelligent!