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A review by guiltlesspleasures
Shadow Dance by Anne Stuart
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I'm going to acknowledge right now that I read Georgette Heyer's The Masqueraders and loved it. I know, Heyer. But anyway, Stuart says in her author's note that Shadow Dance was inspired by The Masqueraders, and you can absolutely see it. We're in Regency England, not Georgian England, but particularly in the beginning, the mannered speech and staging felt so similar.
In Shadow Dance, Juliette has become Julian to get away from a hideous husband. She runs into Philip and his wife Valerie, who are actually half-brothers Phelan and Valerian, on the run to escape murder charges. I mean!
There are two love stories here: Phelan and Juliette, and Valerian and a darling girl named Sophie -- and I might actually love the latter couple more? But they're both great, together and separately. Juliette is never shoved into the Not Like Other Girls box despite the fact that she runs around in breeches all the time and speaks multiple languages due to her childhood with an itinerant father. Valerian is a brilliant character, so game to dress up as a woman who even Juliet thinks is Phelan's "glorious-looking wife." TBH, he even outshone Phelan as a MMC, even though Phelan was a good character himself.
It's not a perfect book, but it is wonderfully bananas in true Anne Stuart style, and I can see myself rereading. 4.5 stars
There is some quite gross homophobia seeded throughout, so you will have to put that to one side.
In Shadow Dance, Juliette has become Julian to get away from a hideous husband. She runs into Philip and his wife Valerie, who are actually half-brothers Phelan and Valerian, on the run to escape murder charges. I mean!
There are two love stories here: Phelan and Juliette, and Valerian and a darling girl named Sophie -- and I might actually love the latter couple more? But they're both great, together and separately. Juliette is never shoved into the Not Like Other Girls box despite the fact that she runs around in breeches all the time and speaks multiple languages due to her childhood with an itinerant father. Valerian is a brilliant character, so game to dress up as a woman who even Juliet thinks is Phelan's "glorious-looking wife." TBH, he even outshone Phelan as a MMC, even though Phelan was a good character himself.
It's not a perfect book, but it is wonderfully bananas in true Anne Stuart style, and I can see myself rereading. 4.5 stars
There is some quite gross homophobia seeded throughout, so you will have to put that to one side.