Dance of Shadows - Yelena Black

Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black
Series: Dance of Shadows #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication Date: February 12, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks Bloomsbury!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

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. (from Goodreads)

I’m extremely fascinated by creative expression of all kinds, and dance is definitely one of the forms I appreciate most. I actually spent many of my formative years doing ballet (and a few years doing jazz/modern dance), which was a win when it came to helping me be (a teensy bit more) graceful and giving me some measure of ability on a dance floor. It was no surprise that when I saw the cover for Dance of Shadows, I requested it right away.

This book is a creative, interesting story that incorporated life in a prestigious ballet academy with hints of the supernatural. It was intertwined together in an organic manner, which definitely helped me enjoy it and not be too put off by the shift from one to the other.

I absolutely loved that this book was set in New York City! I could not think of a more fitting place for a ballet story (except maybe Russia). We not only explore the ballet academy and the Lincoln Center, but we get to see the West Village and Central Park too!

Apart from the setting, the story was just intense. This book had a very creepy, sinister vibe to it, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the pages while I read. Even though I felt really scared sometimes, I found that my fear only fueled my desire to read on and find out what was going on. The strange occurrences, mysterious conversations and suspicious circumstances – everything added up to make me feel uncomfortable but determined to find out if my sleuthing skills were up to par (and they were!).

I feel very 50-50 about Vanessa. She’s incredibly dedicated to her dancing and so loyal to her sister, but I also found her character fairly predictable in terms of what she would do or how she’d react. I particularly took issue with the fact that she seemed to go from being all independent and focusing on her goals to being moony over the boy she liked and lamenting his lack of communication. She wasn’t necessarily an awful character, and I definitely rooted for her as the book progressed, but I couldn’t help being (occasionally) tempted to smack sense into her head.

The villain, on the other hand, was easy to guess early on. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. This is mostly because I wanted to find out the extent of his evil plan, and I didn’t care that I could already place the blame on him – I just wanted more knowledge of what he was up to exactly and why he was doing it.

There are some great secondary characters in this novel in the form of Vanessa’s friends. While they make sporadic appearances, when they do, they prove to be extremely helpful and amusing. I loved how cozy their friendship was; it reminded me of my own dormitory friends in college.

Of course, I can’t write about this book without mentioning the romance. All I have to say about the romance is this – charm is deceptive. I wasn’t necessarily a big fan of Vanessa’s so-called romance in this one, mostly because the guy was too standoffish and uncommunicative for my tastes. There is this other guy I did like a little more, but I found him to be a bit too mysterious and strange. The romance, thankfully, is not what makes this book so appealing, so I don’t feel bad about admitting that I could care less about it.

Dance of Shadows was just as creepy and intriguing as I expected, and I’m certainly hoping there’s more to come from the author about this world. While things were wrapped up nicely in the end, I definitely feel like there could possibly be more to come for Vanessa and her friends – and I can’t wait to find out what’s next.