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Until We Break Hardcover – September 20, 2022

by Matthew Dawkins (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Dance like everyone's watching. Because they are.

As the only Black student at her ballet academy, Naomi Morgan knows her feelings of isolation and artistic sacrifice are the price she has to pay in order to win the Youth American Grand Prix, the country’s most prestigious dance competition. Winning means access to a spot in a top ballet school and, ultimately, a place with The New York City Ballet. Nothing else matters.

But when Naomi’s dance instructor assigns her Odette’s variation from Swan Lake, Naomi’s world begins to fall apart. She doesn’t think she can dance the part―and her doubts become the loudest voice in her head. Her best friend, Jessica, used to be her sounding board, her support, her co-star―and even though Jessica died in a freak car accident, Naomi still sees and hears her everywhere.

She’s been burying her grief by focusing on her dancing. But when an injury steals that refuge, Naomi’s mental health deteriorates and she starts to seek answers outside of her carefully constructed reality. Then one night, she meets Saint, a street artist, and he opens up an entirely new world for her. A world that’s not connected to dance.

Saint spends his nights creating brilliant and beautiful messages of social change that the world needs to hear. In their sleepy California town, he wants to mix it up―to force the world to see him as he is―he’s got a voice and isn’t afraid to use it. Even if his family life is tough. Even if the same avenues that are open to Naomi are not open to him.

Together they both learn that there’s no one right way to be in the world. For Naomi, this means that maybe dance isn’t the only choice for her. Maybe her voice can be louder off stage, and she can shine in a different kind of spotlight. Maybe she and Saint will shine together and everything will be different in the best possible way.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Wattpad Books
  4. Publication date
    September 20, 2022
  5. Grade level
    7 - 9
  6. Reading age
    14 - 15 years
  7. Dimensions
    6.9 x 1.35 x 8.55 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    1990259693
  9. ISBN-13
    978-1990259692
  10. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

From the Publisher

Until We Break
Until We Break
Until We Break

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Matthew Dawkins has always had a passion for storytelling and today, he uses this passion to fuel his career, create award-winning stories and promote a tight-knit community of online writers.

Online, Matthew is a 2018 Watty Award Winner for his debut novel, Wicked, Wild, Wonderful. Having amassed over 150,00 reads on Wattpad, Matthew prides himself on crafting prose and poetry that interrogate the world around us and offers new explorations of the relationship we have with society.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wattpad Books (September 20, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1990259693
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1990259692
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 - 15 years
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.9 x 1.35 x 8.55 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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Matthew Dawkins

Matthew Dawkins

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Matthew Dawkins is a Jamaican award-winning author and poet whose work explores subjects matters including adolescence, race, nationhood, and mental health. Until We Break is his debut novel.

Matthew is currently the Student-Writer-in-Residence at Western University where he also pursues a Bachelor’s of Arts in The School for Advanced Studies in Arts and Humanities and English Literature.

Matthew’s work has been featured in Symposium, Indolent Books, Pinhole Poetry, and more. When he's not writing, Matthew can often be found re-watching the Harry Potter series for the millionth time and procrastinating his assignments.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Shannan Harper
5.0 out of 5 stars A spellbounding read
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2023
Naomi and Jessica are best friends and thick as thieves, until a freak accident causes Jessica's demise. Naomi is not only forced to continue dancing with out Jessica, Her teacher assigns a dance to her that causes her to rethink if dancing is even right for her. She meets Saint, who has a boat load of issues that he has to deal with, and they both become friends and confidants and are trying to make sense of what is going on in their individual lives.

Not too many YA stories tug at my heart strings like this one did. It was such a beautiful and emotional read. It highlights what some people struggling with grief deal with, as well as some of their thoughts. I was spellbound and captivated from the very beginning and well until the end of the story and beyond. I still sometimes have the characters and story swirling around in my head. This was a dazzling and compelling read.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.
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Miss Print
4.0 out of 5 stars an introspective story
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2022
Two weeks ago Naomi Morgan lost her best friend. It was an accident, there wasn't anything she could have done. But still Naomi is weighed down by guilt as she continues pursuing a career dancing ballet when she knows that Jessica can never dance with her again.

But even if she isn't dancing next to her anymore, Naomi still has Jessica at her side. Jessica is quick to remind Naomi that she doesn't have room for distractions like TV, or friends. She's always there to tell Naomi that as a Black dancer--the only Black dancer now that Jessica is gone--Naomi has to work harder, be better.

As dancers at her academy gear up for a prestigious competition that will open doors to every conservatory program, Naomi pushes herself harder. And harder.

But when disaster strikes, Naomi is only left with herself and her grief as she recovers and contemplates if she'll be able to dance again and, more importantly, if she wants to dance again.

Saint has never met anyone like Naomi. Even when she's hurting, her dancing is beautiful. Watching her--and eventually drawing her--feels like Saint's one refuge from being the sole carer for both his dying father and his younger brother.

Naomi and Saint don't inhabit the same worlds but together they might be able to find their way to a better one in Until We Break (2022) by Matthew Dawkins.

Until We Break is Dawkins' debut novel. The story is narrated in close third person with alternating viewpoints following Naomi and Saint, both of whom are Black.

Until We Break explores themes of passion and grief while Naomi reluctantly acknowledges Jessica's death and Saint faces his father's mortality as his health deteriorates from COPD and continued smoking. While Naomi's grief is a main theme of the story her hallucinatory conversations with Jessica are never unpacked as a potential manifestation of a larger mental health crisis.

Dawkins brings a fine eye for detail to descriptions of Saint's art creation and, especially, to Naomi's dance. Common problems in ballet dancers including overstrain and disordered eating are mentioned (the first with Naomi's sprain that forces her off the dance floor for part of the novel and the latter hinted at with fellow dancer Aspen) but never addressed beyond superficial treatment as Naomi learns how to love both her dancing and herself.

Until We Break is an introspective story of healing and recovery; ideal for readers with an interest in dance or art.

Possible Pairings: Pointe by Brandy Colbert, Bunheads by Sophie Flack, I Wanna Be Where You Are by Christina Forest, You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
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Briana Mae
4.0 out of 5 stars An infusion of ballet, artistry, and fighting to find your place
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
Behind the scenes of grace and beauty lurks a gruelling orchestration of competition, dedication, and pain that no dancer can escape. The infusion of ballet and artistry, and the glimpse into the inner workings that Dawkins presented with Naomi and Saint’s contrasting roles was hard hitting and raw, and an element of storytelling that I enjoyed immensely. The role of Jessica especially was a favourite in the way she echoed the dark and self-depreciating thoughts of Naomi - a dancer under pressure to be the best, no matter the cost. And boy did it come at a cost!

Dawkins has crafted with an authentic teen voice as these characters grappled with loss, grief, and a world that sought to contain them. Each of their perspectives were presented with an equal honesty and conviction, and the challenges each faced, and the growth they exhibited was thought out and clear, the swift friendship formed between the cracks providing a great tool of support and enlightenment.

While this story was told largely from the third person perspective of Naomi and Saint, there were several instances in which a scene would jump to an alternating perspective for a few moments before switching back to the leads. Unfortunately this was a letdown for me as it was a little disruptive and inconsistent with its sudden transitions that contributed little of necessity to the scenes. Otherwise, I appreciated the perspectives portrayed and the messages they were able to convey.

Matthew Dawkins craft is raw, the voice with which he speaks convicting as he delivers hard hitting messages the world needs to hear. For an intensive read about fighting to find your place in the world and what it means to break - and life on the other side of this - I cannot recommend Until We Break enough.

I received an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad Books, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.
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Britainy M.
3.0 out of 5 stars Okay....
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2023
This book in the beginning, I almost stopped listening to it because I thought it was going to be a horror type of book. Overall, the book was decent. The narrator was good, the story was a bit slow in the beginning but picked up towards the end. Also, the book sort of gave me Black Swan vibes (the movie with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis). This book shows the toll that death can take on your mental state, the good, bad, pretty and ugly all while trying to fulfill a dream of yours.
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Top reviews from other countries

Liza Worsfold
5.0 out of 5 stars well written
Reviewed in Canada on March 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
It is a very good book well written
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