3.5⭐️
I received a copy of this book in a goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed this book and thought it was powerful in many ways despite not always being well executed. It had a lot of moments where my mind would drift but the overall concept was a good one on a challenging subject. There are many layers to this book and a lot of troubled and unhealthy relationships, all centered around Saskia, a once pianist prodigy turned standardized test question writer just trying to make ends meet... but what went wrong?
This novel explores mother- daughter relationships, father-daughter relationships, childhood friend relationships and how they change over the years into adulthood, and most in depth, the relationship of an abuser with his victim from the victim pov.
Things felt a little scattered at times, but there were a lot of good elements here. Worth a read and highly thought provoking.
Sidenote: The main character happens to also be a runner (a New Balance trainers reference!!) who also listens to Van Morrison. Bonus points just for these 2 things, lol.

Former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis learns of her mother's passing and the harsh news that the family estate, the Elf House, has been bequeathed to her former lover in The Ingenue by Rachel Kapelke-Dale. It's hard to take due to the nature of her past relationship with this man Patrick who took her youth and altered her future.

Since Saskia left home and gave up piano, she has been a little lost in her adult life and felt that inheriting the crumbling mansion may have grounded her. In the book, she searches for reasons why her mother made this decision and how she can somehow change fate and regain what is rightfully hers.

The book is expertly written with just enough detail about the house that it practically plays another character in this dark fairy tale. The house feels oppressive and carries a lot of unhappy tales from the family, including Saskia's story. There are even two towers located in the home that make it sound like a castle. Each chapter starts with a short passage from her mother's feminist fairy tale book series that ties in so well to the book. You almost want the book series to be real, so you can read it.

A truly complex character, Saskia will frustrate you, depress you, and sometimes anger you. You feel for her and how her childhood as a prodigy and her relationship with Patrick formed her future self. She is damaged, and some of the experiences she goes through could trigger some readers. There are dark passages, and how she handles things will give you pause and shock you.

This reads like a redemption tale in itself, and you wonder if Saskia will ever find happiness or justice. Throughout the book, you're not sure how it will play out. Will she get her ancestral home back? Will she get her happily ever after? I don't know if the author meant for this to read like its own fairy tale, but it does if you read between the lines. And remember that the original fairy tales meant for children come with dark endings or disturbing situations like Cinderella's stepmother dancing to her death.

Although this is not a liability, the ending is patently unrealistic. You have to just go with it and realize that it's fiction. I was very surprised and did not see the ending coming at all. I could not imagine how this book was going to end, but the author takes it to nearly fairy tale lengths, and I really loved how she incorporated that into the plot. As soon as I knew that I was almost near the end of this book, I had to quickly reserve her other novel, The Ballerinas, at the library.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! It was a pleasure!

3/5