Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

In Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor, Zoe and her best friend Olivia are both ballet dancers, and that's what they plan to do with the rest of their lives, until they are both let go from the prestigious ballet school they go to. As they adjust to life outside of competitive dance, Olivia learns devastating news: she has cancer. The novel is told from Zoe's perspective, as she waits to see what happens to Olivia, as she starts to develop feelings for the boy Olivia has a crush on, and as she tries to figure out what she wants out of her own life.

Unfortunately, although this was an easy read, it is a melodramatic one where events are played for maximum intensity even when it doesn't make sense, like Zoe and Olivia both being told they are leaving the dance school at the same time (in the same room) or Olivia's daylong journey from hospital visit to cancer diagnosis. Kantor admits she went for story over medical truth, but when it seems like the illness is just being exploited for tears, it is a bit frustrating.

That said, the characters themselves were what redeemed Maybe One Day and what kept me reading it. Zoe feels like an outsider, especially now that she's no longer a dancer, and I was really rooting for her and wanting her to find her place and something she loved. Olivia is just a genuine good person, so it is impossible not to want good things for her, and exploitation of illness or not, Kantor had me feeling real sadness for the character. I also really liked the element of dance and the idea of finding your place after the thing you love is no longer enough, which is a theme I really appreciate in YA. So overall, there was enough in Maybe One Day to keep me reading, but not enough to make me fall in love with it, and if you are looking for an emotional read it is worth considering.

Release Date: February 18th, 2014 Pages: 384  Format: Egalley
Source: Edelweiss  Publisher: Harper Teen  Buy It: Book Depository