I was taken aback by how quickly I was addicted to the story and how much I just wanted to sit down and keep reading until I turned the last page.
I was so deeply immersed into the characters right away, emotionally invested and dreading every moment of pain either of them went through. Allie and Hudson were both the kinds of characters that it is impossible not to love and want the best for, and they were such real, genuine characters. Hudson is so direct about his feelings for Allie throughout the book that it had me swooning with every interaction. Their past has left their relationship in a very fraught state when they cross paths again so many years later, but Hudson doesn’t let Allie’s standoffishness stop him at any point. His relentlessness in trying to win her over and showing her just how present he is for her every need makes him absolute goals and impossible not to fall head over heels for.
Allie is not so forthcoming with her feelings. She comes from a world where she has constantly had to suppress both her feelings and her self which makes opening up to others difficult for her. She has an overbearing mother who expects perfection in her dancing, and lives in the world of ballet which obviously expects the same or a dancer risks becoming irrelevant and losing their status. This, combined with a past with Hudson where she felt abandoned by him at the most difficult point in her life, makes for a scenario where she point blank refuses to let him back into her heart when they suddenly find themselves back in each others lives.
All this to say, there is much angst between the couple which makes for an anxiety ridden read that was next to impossible to put down once I got into the flow of the story. Rebecca Yarros is exceptional at building up tension throughout the story and dropping hints about what happened in the past that had me desperate for answers as to what really happened to get the characters to their present point. Tidbits are fed bit by bit on the past story while the characters deal with the struggles of the present and it all combines for a phenomenal read.
And did I mention their is fake dating? I am a sucker for this trope so this just made Variation that much better, especially as it forced Allie to let Hudson in even a little instead of writing him off as she wants to, all in the name of trying to help Hudson’s niece, Juniper, with her diabolical plans that I won’t go into to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say that Juniper is just one more lovable character in this story who has all kinds of pep and isn’t afraid to go all in on the things she wants despite her young age.
I didn’t think I would be able to love a contemporary book more than In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros, but I was taken completely by surprise with how much this one completely stole my heart and became my newest obsession. I loved every page of this book and it managed to hit me right in the feels around every corner of the story. I cannot recommend it enought to contemporary story lovers because this one was everything between the characters and the story itself, and I fell so deeply in love with it all.