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Thursday, January 19, 2012

|Review| Dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman

Title: Dancergirl
Author: Carol M. Tanzman
Published: November 15th 2011 by Harlequin
Series: WiHi series #1
Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
Goodreads summary:
Ever feel like someone's watching you? Me, too. But lately it's been happening in my room.
When I'm alone.
A friend posted a video of me dancing online, and now I'm no longer Alicia Ruffino. I'm dancergirl. And suddenly it's like me against the world—everyone's got opinions.
My admirers want more, the haters hate, my best friend Jacy—even he's acting weird. And some stalker isn't content to just watch anymore.
Ali. Dancergirl. Whatever you know me as, however you've seen me online, I've trained my whole life to be the best dancer I can be. But if someone watching has their way, I could lose way more than just my love of dancing. I could lose my life.  
Racquel's thoughts:
My aunt said a very true thing once. She pointed out how when she watches CSI or any crime show/movie she knows who the bad guy is five minutes into the movie/show. But, the anime/cartoon Detective Conan (which is better known as Case Closed. It was dubbed in Arabic in Saudi Arabia- Detective Conan is the Arabic translation) is unlike the high end movies/TV Shows because Case Closed/Detective Conan keeps you guessing until the last 30 seconds of an episode on who he bad guy is. This is how Dancergirl is.

Dancergirl is about Alicia, or Ali who is on the road of becoming a professional dancer. What started out as Charlie, a peer from school videotaping her dancing (with her knowledge) so he can make story-like videos to put on the internet and get countless hits turns into something scary when Ali starts getting stalked.

I hate dramatic irony in books, it's nothing but annoying but Dancergirl is a real mysterious read that made my head spin in 6 different directions. Every time a new character was introduced I was like THAT'S THE STALKER! I changed my mind a hundred times, I suspected everyone BUT the actual stalker and I didn't find out who it is until it was revealed by the author. I loved that! Usually I can figure out who the bad guy is and predict the plot of books very early into the book but Carol M. Tanzman did a terrific job with making everything remain a true mystery.

I was just vacationing in New York a few weeks ago so I liked the portrayal of Brooklyn- where the book is set, it was done very nicely and it conveyed how the city and borough really is. I also liked the characters, sure some of them did stupid, selfish things but that's how real teenagers in the real world act! Their actions and experiences are similar to what people at my school do and I loved that!

Even though in the case of this book, since the mystery was so engrossing, I didn't care too much about it but I do believe the romance could have been slightly better. Also I loved Luke and I was not pleased with how he was handled at the end, I wanted much more of him! Another thing is after the action went down, things were wrapped up a bit too abruptly but I did enjoy the epilogue  and overall the book was a fantastic read that I could not put down. I'm now eagerly awaiting for the companion novel, Circle of Silence, I hope it's just as thrilling as Dancergirl!

Rating: 4 hearts~ a mystery that was actually mysterious! Unputdownable!
Quotes are directly taken from an ARC copy, they may have been subjected to change.
First: 
You know the feeling you get when you're on the subway."
Favorite: 
Is that sarcasm, along with ketchup, that she's squirting over her hamburger?
Teaser: 
"But I want your autograph, too." Sonya makes a show of searching through her backpack. "I'm sure I have an unused tampon." 
 *thank you Harlequin teen for providing a copy for me to review*

 

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