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 Phantom's Dance is a contemporary re-telling of Phantom of the Opera. The story was great. I thought Lesa Howard had a beautiful dichotomy in her writing between the young, upbeat, and sweet feel of the teenagers in the story, along with the dark vibe that is the Phantom. Fans of the Phantom of the Opera should not mist Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard. It was really cool to see the Opera and music get substituted with dancing. They so often go hand and hand, but Ballet is an excellent art to see woven into the story of the Phantom. 
 Christine moves to Houston to attend the prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. She is clearly an excellent dancer, but things in her life are holding her back from moving up to join their second company. I will admit that I didn't know very much about the technical side of Ballet, except for a few phrases I have seen thrown around in movies and tv. But Lesa Howard made the world of dance so easily accessible for her readers. I never felt lost or ignorant of the art. And the hard work that these dancer have to go through made me admire Christine so much. She is such a dedicated and hard worker. 
 I really enjoyed Raoul and how he was introduced in the story. He is a football player that, along with his teammates, go to the dance academy to learn some techniques to help with their flexibility and to make them more resilient towards football injuries. I thought that was brilliant. He is such a wonderful guy. Sweet, dependable, and so understanding with Christine. I loved how he was really there for her when she needed him. He was something that she really needed in her life. I liked him a lot more than the Raoul from the movie version of the Phantom that I watched. 
 Phantom's Dance also worked in some step up- esque type dancing, which was another cool and unique add on to the story line. Lesa Howard really knew how to make this book interesting and engaging from start to finish. Phantom's Dance made me smile, creeped me out, and surprised me. It was a solidly good read. Fans of dance and of Phantom of the Opera should check it out! 
 This review was originally posted on Book Briefs