Corpse de Ballet

 

I love attending the ballet so when I saw this book on Kindle I had to get a copy. It is a psychological thriller in a graphic novel format. Corpse de Ballet was published about a month ago in July 7, 2026 and it is magnificent. The book is author Megan Kearney's first solo graphic novel.  

The publisher's summary: 

Arriving at Saint Anselmus in the middle of the year, Rosamund Hammond is ready to practice hard and prove she deserves to be there. But something at this boarding school doesn’t feel right. It turns out that just before Rosamund enrolled, a student disappeared without telling anyone. Was it really a leave of absence―or something more sinister? Together with her new roommate, Rosamund spirals deeper and deeper into an obsession with the truth. As the school prepares for its showcase performance of Coppélia, can she commit to her hard-earned ballet dreams while solving the mystery that’s haunting her―or will she lose herself in the process?

As I stated above this graphic novel is a psychological thriller. However, it is a light psychological thriller. There are no dramatic chapter endings but rather we see the main character Rosamund spiraling downwards throughout the story. Her roommate Eugenie tells her a tale about Eugenie's former roommate Giovanna dying at the school which is not true but Rosamund doesn't know this fact. Rosamund is led to investigate Giovanna's murder.

Each chapter begins with a ballet pose, first position, second position, etc. . . I thought this was a nice touch by the author who, incidentally, is not a dancer. All of the drawings are colored in blue and white, a color scheme I like. It reminded me of Do Admit, a biography of the Mitford sisters. The characters are multidimensional. All of them have secrets in their past they try to cover up. None of these secrets are all that important but to a teenager desiring to be a star ballerina, they are extremely important. The dancers fear anything negative in their past will prevent them from having good careers. 

Our heroine Rosamund began studying at the school just one semester from high school graduation. She feels inferior for several reasons. One, the other students whisper about her being a late scholarship award winner. In Rosamund's mind, she agrees with them. She also has to work harder in order to catch up with the level of the other students. While Rosamund is talented, she needs plenty of instruction. Her roommate, Eugenie, is a bitch who isolates Rosamund by encouraging her to stay away from the other students because, well, they are bitches. Eugenie is a fantastic villain. She has no problems with lying all day and every day. She is Rosamund's best friend until the time comes for the senior showcase performance where future careers are on the line.

Throughout the story we read about the Coppélia ballet story on and off. I thought this was a nice hook for the story. It was an engaging story that I thoroughly enjoyed. 5 out of 5 stars.

Tender

Tender was published on March 12, 2024. It is a psychological thriller in comic format and is the author's debut graphic novel. 

The publisher's summary:

Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect family. She carefully performs her own roles (gal pal, bestie, girlfriend, wife, and expectant mother) and manipulates those around her to try and get the results she wants. Her desire to control the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing. When things don't go her way, she exerts dominance over the one thing she does have total control over: her body; until that "betrays" her. After suffering a horrible loss, Carolanne spirals into a literal, all-consuming delusion causing her body to produce symptoms of a hysterical pregnancy ― as a result of her slicing off bits of her own flesh and eating them.

Chicago cartoonist and educator Beth Hetland’s graphic novel debut is a brilliant psychological thriller that tears down the wall of a genre ― body horror ― so often identified with male creators. Heady and visceral, Tender uses horrific tropes to confront women’s societal expectations of self-sacrifice despite those traditional roles often coming at the expense of female sexuality and empowerment.

I won't lie. After finishing the book I had to read the summary above in order to figure out what I just read. The story alternates between time periods as you would see with any psychological thriller. However, I was not expecting it and was confused as to what happened in Carolanne's life. A re-read helped me understand.

The horror aspect of the book is from Carolanne's self mutilation. We only have illustrations to know she was doing this to herself. Some of the illustrations were so jarring that I couldn't look at them. It's only apparent that Carolanne was trying to have a perfect life from these drawings and that the pressure she put on herself had to come out somewhere. We read about her striving for the perfect relationship, perfect wedding and perfect motherhood. Unfortunately none of that actually happened.

The ending was unexpected. I am still thinking about it a week after reading the novel and have a sinking feeling in my stomach. The author deserves accolades for writing the usual date, wedding, baby story from the horror genre. It works.

Not recommended for kids. The drawings have nudity and self-mutilation. 5 out of 5 stars.