A review by lilyrooke
Danseur by Ruth Miranda

5.0

Danseur is a heartrending, beautiful contemporary M/M romance read. Following the death of his husband, vulnerable Jai starts to rent their house to actor and dancer DaoShi, whose star is at risk of waning. What follows is a tender, heartbreaking story about a fledgling romance between two individuals struggling with different aspects of themselves and their pasts. Ruth Miranda's handle on emotion in the story is absolute, flowing seamlessly from sweet to steamy, sharp to sensual, leaving the reader carried along on the raw emotional experience of the two MCs. With legacies of an abusive relationship and eating disorder carried between the pair of them, there are times when Jai and DaoShi's story can be difficult to read, but the overarching theme is one of love, support, companionship and friendship, a 'you and me against the world' sort of feeling. The pacing and structure of the novel is on point, the characterisation rich and deep. I want to shelter Jai in my heart, and the ending of the novel left me with such a heavy emotional weight that it took me a while to get myself together enough to write this review! A must-read <3

Re-read in a day because when I'm in a certain mood, there's no other story I want to read than 'Danseur'.