An Unlikely Pair by Traci Hunter Abramson - ADVISABLE

An Unlikely Pair by Traci Hunter Abramson, 304 pages. Covenant Communications, 2021. $17.

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Amaliya is a dancer, like her mother; in fact, she would be dancing professionally right now if Amaliya’s parents had allowed her to accept the offered position before finishing high school. Tyler dreams of skating in the Olympics, but he can’t go without a partner, and his sister no longer shares that dream. While Amaliya and Tyler feel right when they meet each other on the ice, all logic says winning is too far out of their reach.

When I saw that Abramson wrote a book about figure skaters, my brain didn’t know how to reconcile the information presented. Amaliya and Tyler’s story is extremely different from everything else I’ve read by her. While the story is less intense life-on-the-line-wise, it is still as intense emotionally. Amaliya and Tyler focus on growth, and they find dreams where they didn’t think to look before their struggles. I loved watching the story unfold because I, as the characters, could feel the devastation of all the pieces falling apart even as I, as the reader, could see that all the pieces were really falling into place. The pressure built throughout the book and held me until the last word -- and didn’t even really let me go, instead leaving me ready for more.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen