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Review: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black


Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Justin, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed


My thoughts

Quite honestly I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. There were some elements I really enjoyed while there were others that I wasn't as keen on.

Things I liked
I enjoyed the main character of Vanessa and I liked following her story as she tries to both follow in her sister's footsteps and also find out more about her mysterious disappearance. I enjoyed getting deeper into the mystery and the twists and turns the came with it. The story itself in the whole was good and the dancing side of it was really interesting.

What I was unsure about
I'm not sure the paranormal element really worked all that well with the story. Give me a ballet book, give me a paranormal romance but merging the two together? I'm not entirely sure I'd be fussed about carrying on with the series for that reason alone. I have also read online that this is one of those books commissioned by a company and I'm not how comfortable I feel about that.

Girlies who love their ballet and paranormal romance will love it. Me personally, the jury is still out. 

Comments

Ailsa said…
I can't tell - is this meant to be YA, or is the character older than that?
I also thought the paranormal elements didn't mesh super well. I loved all the dance sequences but it felt too messy.