Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper

The Bolshoi Saga #2

by Elizabeth Kiem

The Bolshoi Lana

Lana Dukovskaya is an up and coming talent at the Bolshoi Ballet, where her mother, Marina, also danced until her career came to a mysterious end. On the eve of an international tour, Lana’s best friend and chief rival is brutally attacked, making Lana both the substitute soloist and the prime suspect.

Once in New York, Lana meets Georgi Levshik, a powerful Russian émigré who claims to know the truth about her mother’s past. Lana is wary, torn between curiosity and distrust. But when another young dancer is struck down just hours before her debut, Lana knows she is in danger. On the run, Lana puts her trust in Levshik’s alluring bodyguard, Roma. Together they must uncover the truth about a blood feud involving three generations of Dukovskaya dancers.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Elizabeth Kiem is the author of The Bolshoi Saga published by Soho Teen.

She has loved Moscow, New York and Alaska, and she currently lives in London, where she pursues projects that nurture passionate reading and brave writing.

Twenty-five years after leaving the barre, she still has dreams on pointe. In waking hours, she sticks to salsa.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

May Contain Spoilers
While the first book Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy was set in Russia/America in the early 1980's this one is present day Russia/America. We get to follow Lana who is a third generation, ballerina at the Bolshoi. Yet no one including Lana, knows much about her grandmother who was the chosen one and set things into motion for her daughter, and now granddaughter.

"My mother, Marina Dukovoskaya, is a cipher. A riddle. A mystery she refuses to help me solve."

Lana Viktorovna Dukovskaya is a young woman who speaks her mind (still a dangerous thing to be doing), she questions when things shouldn't be questioned and she isn't afraid to take risks.

"I can't help it. It's hard for me to bite my tongue. Maybe it's because my mother can. And does. My mother's the champ of keeping quiet."

While she is her mother's daughter, she is also left with a lot of unknowns in her life. She doesn't have a father or any family besides Marina who seems to be there, but not there all at the same time. Marina has kept many secrets from Lana, secrets that turn out to have major consequences once Lana is in America.

"Marina, still limp and pliant as a puppet, is now pulling the strings. I feel her direction, feel her repel me and encourage me. She is muting my outrage, cooling my heat, lowering me to earth. She is offering me an alternative. Maybe it is a disguise. Maybe it is a mask. Certainly it is easier to wear than a crown of a martyred maiden."

Lana starts to learn things about her mother's past once she meets Uncle Georgi (yes I too was surprised to see him still alive), and his young worker Roma.

"Is he a criminal?"
"You know the answer. He's a business man. An old soviet. An ex-Sovok. A self-made American. A philanthropist. You know exactly what he is. A rich man with rich tastes and many resources. He breaks the rules that hurt the fewest. He plays the games that benefit most."

She gets to know things about her family that were kept hidden from her in Russia. She learns why her mother is the way she is and even finally gets an answer to a question she had never gotten an answer to. She is learning all of this while someone in the ballet company is trying to make her look guilty for multiple things that could make her vanish if convicted forever!

"You played your part flawlessly, Lana Dukovskaya. You were a perfect Chosen One. You fought me, you ran from me, and now you will keep my secret. Now you will pay for the sins of your elders. I have been waiting for this moment, Lana, since before you were born."

While I liked Marina's story, I loved Lana's. Lana is so much like Marina at times it is truly amazing, but she is also different with the fact that she is tired of the new status quo that is in Russian Ballet and because of that she is unpredictable. The people in charge see her as a threat, and are willing to risk everything to try, and take her down.
"You don't have the experience."
"Spit on experience. I have a huge stake in this and it's time for you to make room."

Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper really does build off of the groundwork placed in the first book. We get answers to things that were glossed over in the first one, and learned what happened after everything went down. Characters from the first one are back in this one as well with a few new added in for Lana.
Kiem's writing is so easy to read (even the Russian). You really feel like you are right there with Lana while everything is happening, and while a lot does happen in a very short amount of time it works! It has to go at breakneck speed so we can really feel the pressure that Lana and the others are under in order to stop the person in the company. People's lives are literally depending on it and the possibility of more people getting hurt is very real.

"It's the only thing I need to hear. The only thing. I am strong. I am innocent. I'm like my mother."

The closure we do find at the end of this book is nice, we also get a surprise ending that I was not expecting to have happened. I'm really hoping in the final book, we get to learn more about Uncle Georgi and how exactly he came to be so close to the family. I can't wait to read the final book now and see how this all concludes!


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[Bethel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Lana's story, third generation Bolshoi dancer. She did not know how her trip to NY would end, but the adventure is scarey, beautiful and the story unfolds. For myself, as a reader, the sad part is that she ends up in a Russia that to this day has not changed much. A great history fiction triology.

[alissa ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with a fantastic storyline and amazing characters. Lana was such a strong, believable character and Roma and Georgi were great too. I loved this book and it's now one of my favorites! :)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's the deal, in brief, on this book: Lana is a dancer for Russia's Bolshoi company. She finds herself embroiled in the company politics (which sometimes relate to Russia's own) and her family's mysteries when she's sent to New York to dance a solo. Many descriptions of pictures and exclamations like "we are Russian after all" ensue.

This book was fine - I like ballet and learned some interesting things about Russian culture. I'd wondered why characters in the Americans used two names in casual conversation, and this book answered that question. Thanks! I also liked Lana. She worked hard, wanted to do the right thing, to learn about her family, and was genuinely talented. However, this book just didn't grab me (as evidenced by the fact that it took me weeks to read a very slim volume), and some of the prose felt a bit like a chore, including all the descriptions of photos. I also didn't feel that the small romance Lana has was fleshed out enough. As with any ballet book, I want more dancing and slightly less of our main character running around Manhattan.

Even with its flaws, I liked this book, though I don't think I will be picking up the first volume in the series.

Full disclosure, I won this book through Goodreads Firstreads.

[Meghan Emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win an advanced reader copy of this novel. I unfortunately had not read the first book, and only realized it was a sequel after reading the back. I resolve to try reading it anyway, and I can honestly say you don't have to have read the first one to understand this one. This novel starts off in a very unique writing style that was difficult to get used to, but that I eventually came to like. It is written in first person, present tense. Details of ballet are interspersed with the rather self centered and angry inner thoughts of a young Russian woman. Occasional Russian terms are littered throughout the book, with the English translation either in the back, or written right next to it. The book is actually pretty good, with enough intrigue to keep me interested. Once I got past the initial set up of the book I couldn't stop reading. I would recommend this book.

[Nancy Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. I enjoyed it so much that I loaned it to my granddaughter with the stipulation that it must be returned as soon as she finishes it!
Hider, Seeker... is unlike other novels that I usually read. First, it centers around a ballerina, second, it contains a lot of background on the Bolshoi Ballet Company, and third, it introduces a bit of history of the late Soviet Union. That being said, I could not put the book down!
Kiem gave a preface that included names readers might not be familiar with (I really appreciated that), and she also included a glossary of Russian words we may not know. When I pointed that out to my granddaughter, she responded that that factor always "makes me feel like I'm really learning."
A mixture of intrigue, back biting and love for family will keep the reader enthralled

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I missed something by not reading the first book, but this book was not for me at all. I feel like the title is weird, first of all. I didn't like the style of how it was written. I just didn't like it at all.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It had great pacing and compelling characters. The plot centers around the highly competitive world of ballet. I'm still not sure why the Anya character was so vengeful, but it doesn't really matter.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is admittedly one of my 'guilty pleasure' series. The writing isn't necessarily what one would call spectacular, nor is there a particular amount of depth...BUT, the characters are colorful and fun, and something about the mystique of the Russian ballet just sorta sucks me in.

[beatricks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pro: Good writing, and I love the Danse Sacrale business
Con: the most aggravatingly unearned and uninteresting romance inserted within an incredibly convoluted plot that boils down to scheming jealous backstabbing and goofy police stings. why

[Andrei Muchnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first book in the series. Present-day Moscow descriptions are spot on. Go, Kiem!

[Susan Forsgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was less at the beginning and more tie in's at the end.
I had to make up my own ending to b satisfied.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read set in the Bolshoi Ballet.

[Heather Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely like sequels. This one was different. I really enjoyed it. Set after the cold war there are still unanswered questions. The 20 year gap in the story helped keep a fast pace. There are a few too many F words for my taste. But that is the only thing I didn't like.