Now, I got a bundle of books so this is a two-for-one book review special!
I read... Codename Dancer and Pointe of No Return by Amanda Brice
Format: E-book
Pub. Date: April 14th, 2011 and May 12th, 2012
Summary:
Codename Dancer
Aspiring ballerina Dani Spevak is thrilled when hit TV show Teen Celebrity Dance Off comes to the campus of her performing arts boarding school. She trades the barre for the ballroom and gets set to cha-cha-cha to stardom with Hollywood wonderboy Nick Galliano.
At first their partnership is awkward, because Dani is in awe of her longtime teen idol crush. But soon their chemistry is heating up the dance floor and the attraction moves into real life.
Her excitement is short-lived, because someone wants her off the show. Bombs, poisoning, arson… Will Dani’s 15 minutes of fame be over before she reaches age 15? Dani and her friends are suddenly at the center of some serious sabotage. And if she doesn’t find out who is behind it, her next pirouette could be her last.
It’s like Nancy Drew in toe shoes in this light-hearted tween mystery, a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® Award for Best Young Adult Romance.
Pointe of No Return
When her nemesis Hadley mysteriously disappears, Dani is assigned to dance her role in The Nutcracker. But something doesn’t feel right, so Dani decides to investigate, even if it means she won’t get to perform. Will she find Hadley before the curtain rises?
My review: 3 out of 5 ballet shoes!
My recommendation: Anyone who likes MG books that involves ballet and mysteries.
My review:
My copy was provided by Netgalley.
Codename Dancer
Dani is a freshman at a performing arts high school and she's in love with ballet. She loves ballet so much she will risk not doing her homework and forgetting to eat for her love. When a TV show wants to do a show about dancers, Dani is thrilled for a chance to dance on live TV. Someone is sabotaging that dancers and Dani has to find out who did it before she's targeted next.
I found this book to be predictable. I could easily tell who the person is that committed the crimes. It was all suspicious and I was right. That kinda took the fun out of the mystery, but I still enjoyed the twists and turns.
At times, I found this book to be ridiculous and juvenile. This book is supposed to be a YA book, but I found it to read more like a MG novel, especially with how Dani spoke and acted. I mean, most YA books don't have whole sentences is all caps about how excited she is and such. T
he characters were a bit ridiculous too. Dani was risking her life and involving her friends when she could have just called the police or talked to a teacher. I mean, they might not have believed her, but they could've tried to help her. The police did absolutely nothing and it was up to a young girl to stop someone who could've killed Dani and others. There was really nothing special about the characters and I felt as if some of them were just there for a filler.
This book does deal with eating disorders and while it seemed to just appear all of a sudden, the author explained about them and talked about getting help for them rather well.
This book was a short, quick read that will keep you entertained even if you do get annoyed a bit with the juvenile speech.
Pointe of No Return
Dani is back with a whole new mystery to solve! Her dancer nemesis has gone missing and while it has changed Dani from being understudy to performing the lead role in The Nutcracker, Dani has to find out who kidnapped Hadley before Hadley gets hurt.
Once again, the police did nothing to help find Hadley. This issue was greater in this book than the first one because someone has actually been kidnapped. Hadley could be dead or in the hands of a creepy pervert, but the police did nothing. A fourteen year old girl had to help Hadley and it makes you doubt if the police even exist in the book. It seemed as if no one even cared that a promising dancer has suddenly disappeared. The teachers didn't care, the parents didn't care. Did no one even notice that this girl is gone? I think not.
This book was predictable like the first book and Dani continuously gets thrown into dangerous situations where she could've been killed. Does the police help? Of course not! This book is very light when the situation could have turned very dark.
It's a very lighthearted book that is perfect for a younger audience, but it wasn't very satisfying for an older reader. Dani annoyed me at times with how she acted and how stupid she could be at times, but she was set up quite a few times.
The book was a quick, fast-paced book with an easily resolved conflict that, while being cute, wasn't that mysterious.
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