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...

First thing I have to say is, from the beginning, I did not have high standards for this book. The main thing that got me to grab it off the shelf was the beautiful title page. Look at it! It's GORGEOUS. It's not that the synopsis was shoddy or didn't catch my interest. It's just that the ratings on goodreads didn't seem particularly good. I can see why now. The writing is shoddy, there are unrealistic situations and certain characters *cough*Vanessa*cough* are just plain stupid. Don't get me wrong. I LOVED the plot. There were twists, turns, and I found it quite unpredictable to the end. I found it a really unique idea too. 

 But now on to the bad... Let's talk about the (unrealistic) things I didn't like about the book. 

 THE MALE LEAD - So... Why exactly does nobody question the fact that Zep automatically gets the lead and Justin is the understudy? I mean, there are more guys at the school other than them but they automatically get the parts? What? And nobody's upset by this? 

 INSTA-FRIENDS - Vanessa's first day at a new school. She goes to her dorm room and Woo! 4 new friends! Just like that. Everyone's new but it almost seems like they've known each other for years. Minus actually knowing stuff about each other. 

A STUPID HEROINE - Okay. She's talented. She's pretty. (i think). Good for her. But if you judge someone while completely ignoring all their actions and secrets(which she does a lot), you are most likely going to be wrong. I wanted to kill her myself at some points during the book simply because she couldn't take a clue. 

Basically, there were a lot of things wrong with this book. Despite those, I still found it intriguing and action-packed. I liked it. If it weren't for those unrealities(is that a word?), it could have been a GREAT book. I loved the plot but at the same time, some things just didn't make sense. Overall, I'd rate it 3/5. It wasn't good. But it wasn't terrible either. I read through it in one sitting because of all the suspense and twists. But as fast as I read it, the plot wasn't good enough to account for some of the bad things I listed.