Review: dancergirl by Carol M. Tanzman - Juhina

Title: dancergirl (Wihi series #1)

Author: Carol M. Tanzman 

Publication date: November 29, 2011

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: NetGalley

Pages: 248

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: 

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

The beginning of dancergirl was a bit slow and confusing, especially with her best friend Jacy and the characters not being introduced clearly to us. However the story finally took off, with Ali's dancergirl videos and the emerging of a peeping tom/stalker.
Alicia, Ali, who is our female protagonist is a contemporary dancer. The dancergirl videos started because one of her classmates "Charlie" videotaped her while she dances. The videos went viral; enters the stalker. I wasn't that happy with Ali's personality. She was persuaded too easily and she never confronted Jacy about his withdrawn behavior towards her. Especially towards the end, some of her decisions got me screaming "NO!! DON'T DO IT!"

However I loved the unpredictable-ness of who the stalker might be. One time it was this person, the other it was that person. Each with their own motives and then a tight alibi that removes them from the suspect list. Ali and her friends had to turn on their investigative intuitions and start playing detective to figure out who is the stalker. The identity of the stalker was honestly a shock to me. I didn't, in the least bit, expect it and im so happy for that!

The writing was simple, easy, nothing too complicated that takes you outside of the story while you're trying to figure out what the author meant by it. yes the beginning was a bit confusing, but 50 pages in, and i was hooked. This is a great contemporary, light thriller book. It's a nice change from the usual contemporary romance novels. I would definitely recommend it to any reader looking for a bit of a thrill in their books.