Review: Dance of Shadows

I'm sorry. I typically have good things to say about the books I read, but I can't say that I was impressed with this book at all.

This book is about a girl named Vanessa, who, after the disappearance of her sister Margaret, enrolls at the New York Ballet Academy (the location of Margaret's disappearance), to try and find her sister. There, she notices freaky events that seems to coincide with the strange disappearance of her sister. After a while, she becomes aware of the strange cult that she is involved in, and decides to do the heroic thing be trying to stop the shenanigans.

First of all, this theme has reoccurred way too often in way too many books. About half of young adult books today involve some sort of weird cult or demon activity or supernatural haunting (the other half is sci-fi/dystopia/utopia). They all go like this: the main character gets dumped into a new and unfamiliar setting, immediately senses something strange that no one else seems to notice, except of course for the one hot guy or girl that eventually becomes their love interest. The two team up, somehow overpower whatever freaky being(s) is bothering them, and skip off into the sunset, regardless of how many books it takes to fulfill this plot. It gets old pretty quickly.

Secondly, the main character wasn't relatable at all. Vanessa is supposedly an attractive girl (who somehow manages to grab the attention of the hottest guy in school with doing anything), and when she danced, "she seemed to float with an ethereal lightness, her feet tiptoeing across the stage as she transformed herself into a white swan, a sleeping princess, or a Sugar Plum Fairy, her shock of red hair flashing beneath the lights like electricity" (Black 10). Vanessa is immediately cast as the lead role of The Firebird, a particularly challenging ballet, only weeks after she first joins the academy. Vanessa is described as a perfect dancer, and dances with very little effort. The parts that she transformed into, in the quotes above, are all lead parts that the best dancers dance. Please. The girl is fifteen years old. This isn't a heroine that many people can relate to, and are more likely to feel skeptical and isolated rather than sympathetic, which brings me to my next point.

I may be biased about this, but it is my belief that if you are going to write a book about ballet, or any activity for that matter, it is in everyone's best interest that you put some research into it. It benefits the people because the dancers can relate, and everyone else can learn something new. It benefits the author because you sound more credible, and less like a pretentious idiot. Like I had previously stated, most girls do not have flawless technique and land all of the lead parts while a freshman in high school. And also, there is more to ballet terminology than "spreading her arms by her sides" and "lofting herself onto her toes".

However, I have to admit that the writing craft is very good. Had the author chosen a different main character and done some research, the story might have been more successful and engaging. However, every person's opinion is different, and I guess you would have to make an opinion for yourself.