Review: One Two Three

Title: One, Two, Three…

Author: Elodie Nowodazkij

Publication date: June 26th 2014

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love.

Last year, Natalya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive.

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career.

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present, and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell.

But when upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself.

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

My Thoughts

The synopsis of the story caught my attention right away, but I am sadly disappointed. Looking through the ratings of this novel in Goodreads, I know that I'm one of the few that is weird. Right from the start, I thought that it was nice that the author used ballet terms to express Natalya's thoughts because Natalya is a ballerina. I thought maybe that was normal. However, as the story progressed, I found the ballet terms annoying because too much of it was used, and for those who know nothing about ballet (like me) may not be able to relate, and have a hard time to read the story. In my case, I love it whenever I'm able to imagine something. In the case of these ballet terms, since I don't know them, no image comes into mind. All I'd figure is that, oh that's a spin. Or somewhere along those lines.

The plot was also repetitive and predictable. Too much hints were dropped that I figured out the secret early, which took away the thrill from my reading experience. I felt that the story just kept on repeating itself over and over again, and it got tiring to read. By the latter half of the book, I just found myself not really reading it fully anymore.

Despite the plot, I loved some of the characters, especially Becca. She was always there for Natalya even though she kept on getting pushed away. She knows when to stay silent and just listen, and when to push Natalya, which I found nice. She knows how to match moods with Natalya, and that's what great about their friendship. I was apprehensive when it came to Tonio at first, but I found myself slowly warming up to him. His relationship with Natalya was from far perfection, but it was what's realistic. I love how he came to make his own decisions without putting Natalya entirely in to the equation. I think it is really important to make life-changing decisions without solely depending on others. Above all else, Karina was the one that I loved the most. Her bubbly energy added life to the serious plot that was filled with problems of the characters.

I'm glad that the characters got their happy ending, but I felt like it was kind of open-ended. I don't know if this leads to a sequel or not. Nevertheless, One, Two, Three is a story about learning to come to terms with one's past and family. This novel may not have been for me, but many others liked it. Other contemporary romance readers might also like this.