Corpse de Ballet, author/illustrator Megan Kearney's first solo YA graphic novel, is a dreamlike, uneasy portrait of the insular world of ballet and one girl's struggle to stand out.
Rosamund Hammond arrives at Saint Anselmus Academy of Dance late in the first semester of her senior year, an "unusual" time for the prestigious school to have "an opening." The whispers start before Rosamund steps foot in a practice room: "Think she's any good?" punctuated by murmurs of "waitlist." While the girls prepare for a performance of the 1870 ballet Coppélia, Rosamund's charismatic roommate, Eugenie, begs Rosamund to help her investigate the disappearance of Eugenie's former roommate. As competitive tensions rise, Rosamund's understanding of the line between reality and performance unravels like so many pink ribbons.
Kearney (Swan Lake: Quest for the Kingdoms) draws fluently from the cultural cachet of ballet, including details such as pointe shoe fit and discourse around eating disorders; even the book's title is a clever play on the ballet term for the ensemble, "ballet corps." Kearney integrates the original plot of Coppélia and its dark journey to the stage into her text, expertly parallelling the themes of envy, manipulation, and sacrifice. She illustrates Rosamund's early days at school in a clean realistic style featuring an atmospheric palette of cool blues and purples. The art loosens with Rosamund's grip on reality--borders between panels degrade and surrealistic images explode past the boundaries of pages. This chilling YA graphic novel is an excellent read for fans of Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, dark academia, or moody mysteries. --Mariel Fechik DesLaurier, librarian, freelance writer, and music reviewer