Look up the word “nerd” and you’ll find Lily Bailey’s picture. She’s got one goal: first stop valedictorian, next stop Harvard. Until a stint in the hospital from too much stress lands her in the last place a klutz like her ever expected to be: salsa dance lessons.
Look up the word “popular” and you’ll find Stone Torres’s picture. His life seems perfect—star of the football team, small-town hero, lots of friends. But his family is struggling to make ends meet, so if pitching in at his mom's dance studio helps, he’ll do it. When Lily’s dad offers Stone extra cash to volunteer as Lily’s permanent dance partner, he can’t refuse. But with each dip and turn, each moment her hand is in his, his side job starts to feel all too real. Lily shows Stone he's more than his impressive football stats, and he introduces her to a world outside of studying. But with the lines blurred, can their relationship survive the secret he's been hiding? The synopsis of this one leaves out a lot of important elements, but also sort of does it justice. Either way, Eyes on Me is a sweet romance for fans of Sarah Dessen and Kasie West. The good: I liked Lily. She was confident in her under-confidence, if that makes sense? She owned who she was, but through the course of the book we saw her grow and consider other facets of her personality. Seeing female friendships is one of my favorite parts of YA lit, so Lily, Sydney, and Angéla were some of the best parts of Eyes on Me. Their thoughtfulness towards each other was touching. The plot was pretty standard for a romance, but I liked the dancing aspect. Mrs. Viktoria was hilarious, and I enjoyed the scenes in the studio, where I think Lily learned the most. The bad: It's so hard for a romance to surprise me, so of course Eyes on Me felt a bit predictable. It's not bad to follow a formula, but it sort of hurt my reading experience that I knew where the plot points would be. I also didn't like Stone. Some of his dialogue came across as repetitive to me, and the ways in which he described looking at Lily's body hit me kind of wrong. That being said, the majority of his narration was great, so I could get past it. Overall: 4/5 stars for Eyes on Me. A sweet romance and fun spring read.
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The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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