Title: Dancergirl
Author: Carol Tanzman
Release Date: November 2011
Published By: Harlequin
Pages: 248
Goodreads Rating: 3.84 stars
Review: Alicia's friend posted a video of her dancing online, and suddenly she's famous on the Internet. But that fame comes with a price. Someone is watching her, taking pictures, and uploading videos of her dancing alone in her bedroom. What once was an activity she lived and breathed for is now sullied, but it's not just dancing she could lose. Alicia might lose her life.
I looked forward to DANCERGIRL because I love a good suspenseful novel, but unfortunately, I never really felt the fear amped too high in this book. I wanted to have my skin crawling and my heart pumping, but instead I felt only interest as I read along. There was never any worry I felt over the characters, which is due in part to the fact that it could be hard to relate to their occasional immaturity and also because Alicia's situation just never came across as incredibly urgent in tone.
The romance also never really worked for me. It felt more like the author felt obligated to bring the girl and her best friend together, when really their relationship would have been better preserved as a friendship. Their feelings for each other felt platonic for so much of the book that when their new-found love was suddenly thrown at the readers, it was sudden and jarring, and not really exciting.
However, this is not to say that the book was all bad or even bad at all. I did enjoy the unique plot and how it kept you guessing all the way to the end. When the culprit was revealed, I was honestly surprised and yet it made so much sense, which is the hallmark of a great ending, especially since I'm normally decent at determining who the villain is.
All in all, DANCERGIRL has an intriguing plot full of originality as well as twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. The book would have been better off without the romance and with some more suspense, but it was still a decent read that I would recommend to people who want dancing novels that are different from the typical hardcore ballerina ones.
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review. This in no way affected my review.
2 comments:
Hm, sounds like we might enjoy this one. Thanks for the comprehensive review! Your comments gave us a good sense of what to expect. Kristan in particular likes dancing stories, so this might be a good twist on it.
Btw, if you want more of a straight-up suspense story, we've been hearing good things about Still Waters by Emma Carlson Berne.
Ooh, I've heard of that! Now I'll definitely need to check it out :)
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