A dark fantasy set in the world of ballet
There are a lot of characters in this but they are well developed
I felt that the world building lacked some detail

I initially requested this because it gave me Black Swan (the movie) vibes. Initially it might seem similar, but as you continue to read, it really is something else entirely. Without spoiling, I've really never read a book like it! The plot and world is captivating. Sasha is a well written protagonist, and the writing style really wove a really vivid story. I loved the legend aspect of the story, and there was an entertaining darkness throughout the entire read.

I really wanted to like this, but this was mostly meh. Sasha was boring, annoying and just...not the heroine i had hoped for.

Sasha is a very relatable character. At the beginning of the novel she struggles with things many people struggle with but are afraid to admit: bullying, jealousy, and realizing a dream. The beginning of this novel is a bit confusing as the story switches between Sasha's dream world and her real life. The story of both sides of Sasha was intriguing enough that I kept going, but the writing style and font especially when Sasha is struggling to determine what is real might be difficult for some readers to follow.

This was definitely an interesting book. I loved the uncertainty, the fear of descending into madness, the desperation to cling to life. It had a strong start but after a while my enthusiasm for this story petered out.

I think the progression of the plot was quite jumpy and abrupt - there were a few times that I thought that the characters would reveal a large plot point only to have the conversation or chapter end without a revelation.

Overall, this was a interesting book, but I needed the plot to have flown a lot more smother than it had.

I didn't enjoy this; the story jumped around too much.
There wasn't any room for the main character to grow on me before the scenes/situations changed.
There was a lot of stop and start with conversations, or jumping into scenes with no background on how/why the MC was there.
Thanks to NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for my DRC.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so well written! I really enjoyed the characters!

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

This beautiful book of ballet fantasy and a nightmarish feel is a delicious wicked dark web of grit that you don't typically get with Young Adult books, as I have come to find. The storytelling was engaging and kept me reading this entire book in a sitting. I am thankful for this wonderfully brilliant debut novel and for having the opportunity to read it early! I will definitely be recommending this book to the older Young Adults! 4/5 stars!

The Russian Sasha Nikolayeva is a talented ballerina, plagued by nightmares that seem so real it's like she's living them. Just as she lands a famous role in The Swan Lake, Sasha's nightmares become more common and she starts hallucinating. One day, she's fully sucked into her nightmare, a new fantasy world where she's a thrall without her memory. Can Sasha remember who she was and come back to reality?

Okay, I'll admit, I hadn't read the complete blurb before I started the book. I read 'ballet's crown princess' and 'neurological symptoms', and I requested a copy. I didn't know what I was getting into when I started reading. It felt like I was reading a contemporary novel, with some random dream passages in between. As the story progressed and the dreams came more often, I started noticing a coherence in the dreams, and suddenly Sasha was in her parallel dream world.

I have never ever read a book with this layout. The subtle changes in the layout of The Chalice and the Crown (I'm not going to spoil what those changes are!), had real impact on me. The story shows how friends help each other, while still being independent. It's sad but hopeful and filled with important choices that define Sasha's future. Sasha grew as a person and her priorities changed. I already respected Sasha at the start of the book, but even more when I finished it.

The Chalice and the Crown is a beautiful dark fantasy that contains racism, pain and sadness, but also friendship, love and hope. It sends a message of finding the good in the bad. It contains morally grey characters and a surprising bittersweet ending. As I'm writing this review, I don't even know why I gave this book only 3 stars. I'm going to give it 4 stars, because the author created something incredibly dark, despite being beautiful. It's not a long book, so I highly recommend you read it.

With thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial

The chalice and the Crown is a book that deals with the thin line between magic and insanity and a dark fantasy that I enjoyed. I'm sure that it will be a hit with YA readers.

Finally got around to reading this and loved every page, I really enjoyed the plot and writing style

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Chalice and the Crown started off on an interesting note. In it, you will meet Sasha. She is a Russian ballerina who is dealing with the usual things in life: stress, nightmares, and her grandmother is dying. Her dream is to be in the performance of Swan Lake but her spot in the show comes at a price.

Ever since she started practicing for the show, her nightmares started and increased. She sometimes even jumps into a hallucination or two while being awake. Honestly, I would've freaked out after the first one but somehow Sasha just keeps on going. Mostly because she doesn't want the world to know about it. She doesn't want to end up like her mother.

This book dove into all kinds of darkness and I loved it all. There's just something about dark books in October that makes me smile. I mean, so much happens in this book and Kassandra did an excellent job diving into those hard topics: racism, mental illness, cruelty - animal and human alike. I mean I almost choked on my wine when I got to some parts but I kept turning the page because this book was completely addicting.

In the end, I definitely enjoyed and loved this book. I look forward to the next one by this author.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really liked the story overall. I'd be interested in reading more from the author.

This had SO MUCH to work with. The entire premise is spectacular, but the execution missed the mark.

The female MC is oddly annoying to me and I just can not vibe with her. This entire idea of either a fantasy world or being crazy, not knowing the truth from a dream, it’s all the foundation for a wonderful book. It just doesn’t feel like it was sorted right. I am not sure how to explain it exactly. I have never written anything that had the potential to be so utterly twisted in the best ways, so I don’t have something else to truly compare it to. I think this needs to just be revised and it would be phenomenal.

DNF at 32%

It was tough getting through the chapters. The feature of the book - the two worlds in which Sasha exists - made it very hard to connect with the MC and made the story feel disjointed for me.

I really enjoyed this book! It was vastly different than any other story I've read and the characters came alive. I felt the struggle that Sasha felt. Her pain, her joy, her love. The author created a wonderful world and cast of characters. There were a few moments of confusion on my part, but I believe it was intentional due to the main characters confusion.

I appreciate Netgalley, the author, and the publishers of The Chalice and the Crown for giving me the pleasure of reviewing this book!

I thought that this was a fun fantasy book to read. I loved the dance aspect of it for some reason, even though I'm not a dancer. My only problem is that I was not that invested in the story. I kept on being distracted during the reading of this book. I was very confused while reading the book, especially in the beginning. But the second half of the book was good.

Sasha Nikolayeva is a young, talented ballerina who has just landed her most prestigious role. It should be time of rejoicing and pride but the nightmares that have always plagued her take a hold of her. She sinks into them and it’s feared that she is suffering from the same mental ailments that took her mothers life when she was in her prime.

Her mind and body deteriorate as the nightmare’s she falls into take her to live in the City of Roses. A city in which she has no voice and is a thrall (a slave). The thralls are not considered human, they are treated like dolls and pets. Any instance of them being aware could result in punishment and death.
Her dance brings her out of her mentally entrapped state but it could cost her life if anyone of power was to find out. She builds a secret relationship with a few trusted individuals who can potentially help her find a way out and back into her world.

Sasha will have to choose between returning to her beloved grandmother and others she finds dear or stay in the City of Roses and fight.

This book is dark, gritty and leaves you wondering if Sasha can balance the line between magic, insanity and reality. I didn’t expect to be pulled into this book so quickly and found myself devouring it. I am not one who normally enjoys magical aspects but the writing, storyline and the authors ability to make words and scenes alive mesmerized me.

Be prepared for unanswered questions but I assume that is because this will become a series and not because the writer is done telling Shasha’s story.

★★★‪‬ / 5

This book was interesting to say the least, at first I kept getting really confused by the plot/how it was written, I think the plot itself was interesting but I just wasn’t *that* interested in the book, sascha had some interesting development throughout the book and i really enjoyed sandra and it was a shame when we saw less of her, i kinda wanted more from the book i’m not gonna lie, other than that it was a decent read even though I was left a bit disappointed by the ending.

ARC from NetGalley

The first half of this book dragged. The blips we find ourselves in between coherency are quite confusing at first. I found myself skimming over them because of that. They weren't bringing much to the table. The latter half of the book, where we are completely immersed in the other world, I found much more engaging. That said, Sasha is a character who is easy to dislike. She really has no redeeming qualities. I found myself reading because I was interested to see how things ended, and I had hope for the romance and the dancing.

When there is a book that circles so tightly around a particular strength, I expect it to be highlighted. I wanted Sasha to dance and to win hearts and to feel that creative magic as she pulled her audience in, but we never get that. Her romance has potential, but then it just... is, and it's completely underwhelming. So much is underwhelming. Kassandra Flamouri is a decent writer. I had no complaints in that regard, but this book could have been so much more than it was.