
Critic Reviews
Great
Based on 3 reviews on

Named a Best New Book of December 2022 by Buzzfeed - New York Post - PopSugar - PureWow - E! Online - Amazon
A People Best New Book: "A dark tale of revenge."
Praise for The Ingenue:
"Exceptional. This surprising, exhilarating suspense-filled tale of revenge and redemption is hard to put down." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Kapelke-Dale crafts a twisted suspenseful tale of expectations and identity, of love and vengeance, that will leave readers breathless." --Library Journal "Kapelke-Dale questions the idea of the perfect victim and examines institutional biases that protect abusers...The Ingenue bristling with rage, offers a provocative answer. Engaging, dramatic." --StarTribune "Cue echoes of Gone Girl." --Vulture "A captivating, haunting tale." --GMA.com "Enthralling. The Ingenue is a grizzly confrontation of one woman's past, touching on the #MeToo movement." --PopSugar "A gripping thriller about the bonds of family, the limits of talent, the risks of ambition and the rewards of revenge." --PureWow Books "Prepare for an intimate examination of mother-daughter dynamics and the expectations of greatness, all set in a post-#MeToo landscape in Kapelke-Dale's gripping story of a former piano prodigy reconciling her past after the death of her mom." --E! News "Rachel Kapelke-Dale is a hot property for fans of the arts." --Broadway Direct "Kapelke-Dale's absorbing novel delves into the repercussions of sexual abuse, interspersing tantalizing extracts from Evie's feminist fairy-tale retellings and fragments of Saskia's teen years with present events that crescendo to a stunning conclusion. Aptly compared to Kate Elizabeth Russell's much-buzzed-about My Dark Vanessa, The Ingenue is poised to garner similar attention." --Booklist "Rachel Kapelke-Dale is an indisputable virtuoso of artful, propulsive suspense driven by the desires of complex female characters. In The Ingenue, she skillfully remixes classic fairy tale and Gothic themes to create an enthralling exploration of what the world does to ambitious women, and what happens when they take their power back. Saskia's stunning coda will ring in your head long after you turn the final page." --Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn