Review: Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

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Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary: 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 ...

Characters: I don't know if its just me, but I love these modern books with eccentric male friend characters. They're just characters (drum rimshot). Not that any of Vanessa's friends were particularly memorable because they were laugh out loud funny, but I like seeing the social progress in literature these days.
Like I said, the characters weren't special, but they certainly had intriguing motives that piques my interests in reading the sequel. Definitely by the end of the book, the characters have developed to the point where they have potential to be loved by readers.

Plot: Until the very, very, not kidding about this, end the plot revolves around Vanessa getting inured with her new school and the trials of coping with her sister's absence. I thought that was dragging on. I wanted the action and more romance. Zep and Vanessa weren't pictured enough together, so their feelings didn't seem believable enough to to have significance. I didn't become attached to these characters at all.

Overall: This book disappointed me, but I have hope that the sequel could save the series.

Would I recommend this to a friend? I'll get back to you on this.  If the sequel's good, yes.  If it stink, non!

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