ALA Booklist

In this sequel to Leaping at Shadows (2013), the spotlight shifts from Madeleine to Kayley, another student at the residential ballet school. Under pressure from her family to excel, Kayley attempts to make up for her lackluster rehearsals by stealing a pair of legendary pointe shoes that are rumored to bring luck. Both her dancing and her fortunes improve, but simultaneously, her friends fall prey to freak accidents and injuries. Though the plot is predictable, the book will find an audience among reluctant readers attracted by the setting and the supernatural edge of the Dario Quincy Academy of Dance series.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

Five teenage girls investigate eerie occurrences at their prestigious-but-creepy ballet academy. Students' family heirlooms disappear and the friends discover teachers performing a ritual with them (Shadows). Kayley steals a pair of pointe shoes said to grant good luck--but as her dancing improves, her friends get inexplicably injured (Luck). Aimed at reluctant readers, these novels are entertaining if not especially original or characterful.

School Library Journal (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

ATWOOD, Megan . Stolen Luck . Bk. 2. ISBN 978-1-4677-0931-6 ; ISBN 978-1-4677-1484-6 ; ISBN 978-1-4677-1628-4 . LC 2012048710. ea vol: 112p. (The Dario Quincy Academy of Dance Series). Darby Creek . Sept. 2013. lib. ed. $27.93; pap. $7.95; ebook $20.95. Gr 6-10 Set in an elite residential ballet school, these stories focus on five students and their friendships, their classes, and the mysteries they encounter in the haunted old building. In the first book, teachers are caught holding cultlike rituals to ward off a curse on the school; in book two, one of the dancers, in a slump, steals a pair of antique pointe shoes from a display case in hopes of improving her luck, but she fears, instead, that she has put a curse on her friends. The plots are a bit far-fetched, but no more so than other popular mystery series such as those by R. L. Stine. The competent writing is suitable to the genre and will appeal to older reluctant readers. Characterization is strong enough to create interest in each of the main characters. The dance terms and ballet-centric subplots give the series special appeal to balletomanes, but they don't so overwhelm the story lines that they will restrict the audience. Maralita L. Freeny, District of Columbia Public Library