Summary from Goodreads:
Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.
As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything--including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he's only just met.
Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?
Review:
I always enjoy Nicola Yoon’s books. I had no idea a new one was coming out until the last minute, so it was a pleasant surprise! And then to learn it involved ballroom dancing…the ultimate treat for me! I love anything with dancing in it. I started reading this book thinking it wouldn’t be too hard to put down, when another book I pre-ordered came in…I was wrong. I was so involved with this book, I had to finish this before getting into anything else.
On the plus side, I read it super quickly so my pre-order book basically sat waiting for half a day….This book had the formula of a bunch of other books I’ve read and loved already. I reminded me a bit of Beastly by Alex Flinn and A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks, but mixed with lots of ballroom dance practice and plenty of family and friendship drama too. It’s also a little similar to Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer, which came out last year. The main character, herself, even comments on the typical romance tropes because she’s read a lot of romances and is familiar with them. So, I think a lot of this intentional. Yoon does give everything a fresher, more diverse spin.
Sometimes too, I just want a fluffy romance, in a trope I’m somewhat familiar with. I want two people who don’t immediately get along, but who have chemistry, to fall in love through dancing. I want the girl who has dismissed love, to not give up. I want her strange (somewhat dark) new super power to teach her a lesson that’s not about how things end, but about enjoying what we have.
The one thing I did not love was the ending. I can’t exactly talk about it without spoiling it, so I won’t. Just know I thought it was unnecessary. I think Evie could have learned what she was meant to, and all the points could have been made without it going that route. I also felt like one element was unresolved. I kind of feel like someone played a massive prank on me at the end. All in all though, I give this an 8/10.
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