Enemies to lovers is a pretty common trope in fairy tales, which Star Wars is one. Lucasfilm’s Strange Magic, which Lucas created the story story for, even has an enemies to lovers plot.
In TLJ the Rey/Ben dynamic feels very much like Rey is being drawn towards trying to ‘fix’ Ben, which is definitely a thing that can happen in romantic fiction with ‘bad boy’ characters.
Which is why Rey going with Kylo at the end of TLJ wouldn’t have worked. Rey basically decided that if Ben is going to change he has to do it himself. He can change, but she can’t fix him.
Maybe it could’ve been handled better, but TROS at least sticks with that. Rey tells Kylo, “I did want to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” She sees the good in Ben, but she can’t force that good person out of him. After that, Ben has a bit of self-reflection and finally has a change of heart. And although he had some help along the way from Rey and Leia, he made that change on his own.
Again, not saying TROS is Shakespeare, but I think having Ben see his father and allow him to forgive himself was a pretty good way to handle his change. Because if Ben is supposed to be symbolic of a lot of angry young men (and women) out there who are mad at the world, or society, or certain people, the first step towards healing is forgiveness. Either forgiving people who hurt you or forgiving yourself for mistakes you made. Either way, the forgiveness is what allows you to move on and start anew, rather than hold on to those grudges that keep you angry.