Melissa Kantor

This book was written in a very easy-to-relate, lighthearted way, highly reminiscent of everyone's favorite The Princess Diaries! The metaphors in this were extremely effective, and I'm really not one to say that lightly. When they were used, they were used in such a way so as not to be distractive, but to genuinely contribute to the writing. They don't seem forced in the slightest. The characters frustrated me for a while, and I was unable to see where they were coming from (particularly show more the basketball loving, popularity seeking main character), but soon, I did grow to tolerate them, some more than others. One thing I really loved about this book was that the main romantic interest was not incredibly obvious from the start. He was introduced subtly, although in the end, he seamlessly blends in to the rest of the story. Kantor not only breaks the cliches, she addresses them quite clearly before doing so, written in a very 'in your face' manner. I didn't like the title, and it wasn't actually the length of it that disturbed me--it was the fact that while, yes, she was looking for a prince, for the majority of the book, she was convinced she already had a 'prince' and the focus was more on the stepfamily than anything. Still, I loved it. I didn't agree with everything the characters said or did, but in the end, everything was adorably charming and thoroughly lovable.

Rating: 4.5/5 show less

I know kids drink and do drugs. I know they make wrong choices and have inappropriate hook-ups. It’s just that I don’t want to always read about it in every single YA novel. As for the whole “growing up is difficult” trope, I have been there and done that, and it takes a special story to make me want to experience it again even via print. Maybe One Day is not that story.

Everything about Zoe’s story feels manipulative. Her feelings about the loss of dance are purposefully twisted show more and misleading, while the eventual resolution to those feelings is not at all a surprise. Zoe and Olivia’s closer-than-sisters friendship is the stuff of storytelling, while Olivia’s illness and subsequent fate, again no surprising plot twists, feel like deliberate attempts to generate an emotional response in the reader. Meanwhile, Zoe’s reactions to Olivia’s sickness have all the hallmarks of an old-fashioned after-school special. In other words, there is nothing very original or creative about the story.

Yes, Olivia’s illness is tragic and upsetting. Yes, having your childhood dreams dashed is also a character-building occasion. Yes, it is possible to feel guilty moving on with your life when your best friend’s life seems to be coming to a close. However, do all three things really have to occur to prove to readers just how miserable it is to grow up? Does Ms. Kantor need so much bad to make her point? Did she really need to throw in every clichéd action and attitude into the story?

Perhaps the issue is not necessarily the story itself. Olivia is very sick. Zoe must learn to handle that as well as her disappointment at not being able to dance professionally as well as her guilt about falling in love. It makes sense that Zoe would feel so conflicted and confused with all of that happening at the same time. Yet, all of it is happening at the same time, and all of it feels like the end of the world. Zoe’s feelings about dance vie for her emotions regarding Olivia’s sickness, and they really shouldn’t. In fact, one would think that Olivia’s situation would put everything into a reasonable context for Zoe. It does just the opposite. Her inability to prioritize issues is exhausting, and therein lies the real problem with Maybe One Day. One wants to feel emotion while reading a story, but it should be a natural response and not one forced upon a reader.

Life is messy, a fact Ms. Kantor does decently highlight. Zoe learns this fact all too well. Still, after everything she faces during Maybe One Day, she still ends up with a mostly happily-ever-after ending. Things do not end perfectly, but there is a fairy tale quality to the entire story, and especially within its conclusion, that makes the emotional manipulation more understandable while doing nothing to make it more palatable. If anything, it is easy to excuse Maybe One Day for being escapist fare for teens in order so they can realize how lucky they are not to have to face all of the same challenges Zoe faces. However, adult readers have moved beyond such stereotypes and will find Maybe One Day to be paltry storytelling filled with one too many archetypes. show less

This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.

This book is SO sad, but also beautiful. I’m not typically a fan of sick-kid stories because I hate the way so often disease is trivialized and romanticized, but this one was getting good early reviews so I decided to take a chance, and I’m very glad I did. Maybe One Day is a beautiful story about true friendship and loss and grief, one that I would shove in the hands of all my friends for sure.

Olivia and Zoe have been best friends for show more years. They’ve seen each other through multiple ups and downs, encourage each other, and know each other’s lives so well they could live them. They’ve been ballet dancers together and are inseparable, so the idea that one of them could become so ill and frail is unthinkable, but that’s exactly what happens. Maybe One Day is written in Zoe’s point of view as she has no choice but to look in and see her best friend go from healthy to ill so quickly.

Whenever a cancer or illness story comes up, the first question I ask myself is this: Is the plot predictable? Is it like every other sick kid story out there? Maybe One Day answers that question both ways. In some ways, there’s nothing new when it comes to Maybe One Day. The plot is predictable. However, I liked that Maybe One Day did not romanticize Olivia’s sickness. She doesn’t suddenly get inspired to have some grand plan to complete in a week or two to fulfill the rest of her life. In fact, one of my favorite moments in the book is when Olivia gets really sick, Zoe goes to her hospital room, and Olivia MAKES her talk about future possibilities. It’s a poignant scene because of how brave it is, I think. Olivia basically tells everyone around her to stop acting like her remission is a SURE thing and she NEEDS to talk–really talk, person to person, without everyone trying to shove inspiration down her throat. It’s the scene that is so often missing in books like this.

Despite my glowing praise for Maybe One Day, I actually almost DNF’ed at the beginning. It takes a little while to get situated to Zoe as a narrator. She’s judgmental and stuck up, and treats most people around her as less-than except for Olivia, which I didn’t feel was needed to cement their already strong friendship. There was a certain remark she says about a football player and rape that really angered me and I decided to put the book down if anything like that came up again. Luckily, it didn’t, and the story definitely took a turn for the better. Zoe is a bit haughty at times, but she comes to realize it. While a small part of the book, one thing I really enjoyed was seeing Zoe realize that while she may be Olivia’s best friend, she’s not the only one who cares. The people she always passes off as being dumb–like the cheerleaders–really DO worry about Olivia and show their concern, though not always in the best way.

I know I’ve hinted around it, but by far the best thing about Maybe One Day is just the AMAZING friendship story. I’ve so longed for this kind of story in YA–all too often you see friends who are on the outside of the story, not really getting involved. Maybe One Day was a book that brought me back to some of my favorite high school friendship moments and also made me teary to see this amazing friendship being put through the wringer. No matter what happens, Olivia and Zoe are best friends, period, and it’s something that is missing in so many of these stories. I absolutely loved it as friendship stories are some of my favorites, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a tearjerker friendship story.

Final Impression: Maybe One Day was a beautiful story of friendship and grief, and while it hurt my heart, it was SO well done. I felt like the friendship between Olivia and Zoe was so special and it totally reminded me of my really close high school friendships. This is an emotional story for sure, but it was so worth the teary eyes to read it.

Disclaimer:I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

I wanted to read Maybe One Day because I am drawn to stories about sickness and cancer and always have been since I was a preteen and devoured Lurlene McDaniel. So I was thrilled when my diva at Harper Teen sent me a copy. I am pretty sure there was dancing involved when I got that envelop.
Maybe One Day was above all else, a story about friendship. Zoe and Olivia has that special bond of being friends for years and continuing that relationship in high school. They have inside jokes, show more countless hours spent together and that sisterhood without the rivalry that is so sweet.
This, of course, has an emotional punch. We see both Olivia and Zoe dealing with the illness and the fallout--nausea, hair falling out, strain on their relationship, how Zoe has the wild mood swings as she tries to come to term with the fact that her closest friend has a serious illness and that she could die. Things that teenagers shouldn't have to worry about, but in real life, sometimes come face to face with.
I like that Melissa Kantor wrote layers into the story though. The girls had been dancing together for years, part of what made them so close and had so much in common, and sadly, they were talented, but not enough to continue to study at the prestigious school they were attending.
The romance isn't in your face, but it is there, and I def find myself conflicted at the circumstances on how it developed but part of me was certainly pulling for it because of their chemistry as well as the things they had dealt with together.
I couldn't put this one down, even though emotional, Zoe is snarky and stubborn but loyal and she cares so deeply. I got lost in her voice, and everything she was doing to continue to be Livvie's best friend. She sees and deals with things that I don't know if I could personally but she tries to be strong and she does the best she can, but it is always by Livvie's side.
I loved seeing Zoe interact with the kids. That was priceless, and I loved the give and take, what they each had to offer, even though not perfect and never under the best of circumstances. But it gives the book another unique twist, and shows Zoe something to do for Livvie as well as brings back something she thought she'd never do or love again.
The ending was so sad, but perfect I think for the book and the themes. I always want the HEA, but sometimes the bittersweet is the only way to go because of the odds and where the author is going.

Bottom Line: Emotional tearjerker that is more than a girl with cancer, it is a story of friendship. show less