Ever felt like someone was watching you, but when you turn around, no one’s there? I know I have, as I’m sure everyone has at one time. It’s a creepy feeling. But what if someone actually was watching you? What would you do? Who would turn to?
The videos went viral…
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.
Alicia, aka Ali, is the lead character and POV of this book. What she knows, we know. So when things start turning creepy and her best friend bails on her, you feel just as lost as she does. Set in Brooklyn, the characters move around New York City over the course of Ali’s junior year as you learn about her friends, her habits, her love for dancing, and her increasing state of panic about her stalker.
She really does love dancing. You can feel it when you read about her classes, or when she dances in her room to work through her stress. (Because sometimes, you just have to dance!) I’ve never had that feeling when it comes to dancing because I’m an awkward white girl who still occasionally ‘vogues’. But I always appreciate passion about something, since I’m so passionate about good books. Ali’s passion for dancing is catching. After reading a part concerning her dance class, I wanted to see if I could leap around with any grace whatsoever, which I can’t, but it was inspiring. Man, sometimes I wish I’d stuck with ballet when I was a kid, just for a little while longer.
The stalking part of the story, which becomes the full focus about halfway through, was uber creepy. To think that someone would videotape you in your own bedroom squicked me out. I have the thickest curtains sold covering all the windows in my bedroom for this very reason. The thought of someone watching me change without my permission, or seeing me walk around in my underwear… Just the thought of someone watching me when I didn’t know they were there, it freaks me out. I feel for Ali when she discovers this. I know I’d start becoming paranoid if that happened to me, so Ali questioning everyone in her life after that is completely understandable.
I do want to warn y’all that there’s underage drinking and drug use shown a few times in this book, so if that’s something you don’t want to read about, or you don’t want your child to read about, now you know.
Overall, Dancergirl is a quick read that will leave you looking over your shoulder more than usual and double checking every lock on every window. But it’ll also make you appreciate the friends who would believe you if you told them someone was stalking you.
Dancergirl will be released from Harlequin Teen on November 15th, but if you have a NetGalley account, you can request it on there now.