Fly To Fiction: Mini Review: One, Two, Three by Elodie Nowodazkij (ARC)

One Two Three by Elodie Nowodazkij
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: June 26th, 2014

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,seventeen-year-old Natalya Pushkaya 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. Keeping him an arabesque away proves to be a challenge for Natalya and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell.

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?

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from NetGalley. This did not impact my review in any way, nor am I being compensated for this.

I have to admit that it's been a while since I've read this book, as in I read this in July or August, and it's now February. As you can probably guess, this means that I've forgotten most of this book. Because of this, I'm grateful that I took notes. I've decided to just type out my notes and label this a mini-review. I hope this doesn't work out too terribly! (The notes in the brackets are notes I'm adding now.)

Yay for ballet!
Rehab with mom felt a bit too easy and/or unrealistic. [I wouldn't know, as I don't have the experience but compared to other books, this is my take on the situation.]
Some of the dialog felt awkward, forced, and/or unrealistic
Though I love Tonia and Nata's relationship, it was SO obvious and felt way too rushed
Love Karina-so cute!
LOVE Nata and Becca's friendship--one of the stronger/strongest aspects of the book
Becca's relationship with James seems really sudden, but it's cute and it works
The Spanish mix-in felt really awkward, but that might just be me
Iffy about Nata's parents' friendship with Derek and Mina
I enjoyed the inclusion of Russian culture, but sometimes it felt weird

For example, Nata says thank you in Russian to Becca and says she does that when she's emotional, yet she barely knows Russian

Holy plot twist! Well done with the Yuri point but the one about Tonio and Camillo's bet wasn't really addressed much or handled well [I don't know if you can guess, but I have no idea what this is about, so I hope it isn't spoiler-y]
I love how Natalya comes to see that ballet isn't all that matters and that some other aspects of her life are more important
Ending felt really abrupt and a bit too open-ended for my taste, as too much was left unresolved [It seems this may be the first in a series?]
The book is about change, friendship, trust, and forgiveness.