I really enjoyed this quick-paced and heartwarming YA romance about two skaters. Olivia is a 15-year old figure skater whose attempts to venture into adult competitions has not gone well. She is now attempting to be a normal teenager by attending the local high school for the first time and working part-time at an ice-rink that her parents own. Her life gets more interesting (and complicated) when Jonah comes to train at the rink. He is a competitive speed skater and is all about winning. He also starts attending the same high school and naturally gravitates to the lunch table where all the Asian/bi-racial kids sit at.
I zoomed through this book. I liked all the little cultural tidbits that the author included about Japanese and Korean families, in particular comforting foods and desserts. I also liked that this book is so much more than a romance. It is about finding your purpose, your goal in life, but it is also about family, friendships and all of those seemingly insignificant moments that make our life worth living.
I do hope the author will return to Olivia and Jonah’s story. I could definitely read more about them!
5 out of 5 stars.
An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com

Every Reason We Shouldn't is a romance novel for the younger YA audience. It's a sweet story that tackles not only first love, but the pressure child athletes endure, as well as the struggle to find yourself after a professional failure.
There were moments in the writing that I found awkward - particularly some of the attempts to capture teen slang. But the only glaring issue was the lockdown scene. Avoiding spoilers, the scene just seemed to be poorly handled and arguably shouldn't have been included.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, as will any YA reader whose favorite Olympic sport is ice skating.

I love sweet YA full of romance, hearts, bonds and lots of love. Every Reason We Shouldn’t bring that and a dose of drama, but unlike most, it’s not just youthful or loving dramas.

Olivia and Jonah are just perfect together, they help each other to find their balance point and are not afraid to demonstrate what they feel for each other, in addition they bring the anxieties of competitions and demands from parents and in Olivia's case the lack their support.

I loved every romantic moment, I loved their friends mainly Mack. She brings a lot of humor and dynamics to the plot and I swear I want a book for her.

The only detail that made me a little sad was that I expected a better resolution for the story of Olivia and Egg because for me what happened between them was very serious.

I loved the Asian representation in this book. Very nicely woven themes and developed characters and a very clean teen romance that I enjoyed very much! I love the dialogue and banter and the situations are very relatable. Fujimura wrote a beautiful story about these two teens and their struggles in figure skating world. It seems that research was done very well as the author was not a skater in the past. I had some issues as a person in the medical field about the issues there. However, they are minor and did not distract from the overall story line which i enjoyed very much! I would recommend this book to my young readers.

This book is a typical young adult Friends to lovers romance. But there was something about it that made me absolutely love it.The female main character, Olivia has this sort of innocence that makes the story absolutely adorable.

You know I like books about hockey, but I also have a slight interested in ice skating, so this one appealed to me right from the summary. I haven't read a YA book in a little bit, but I thought it did the teenager stuff pretty well. Another blogger asked me what I was thinking about this and they couldn't stand the slang in it. I hadn't really noticed it before they asked me that, but it did seem to use "extra" a little too much. I don't think that was a deal breaker for me.

There is a part of the book where something happens at school that I felt was used as a plot device to move the love story along. I wasn't really a fan of that. Also, don't care if this is a spoiler, but TW/CW for people who have dealt with a school intruder before. I know it happens so much more now, but it felt like so odd to be added in this book.

I think part of why I didn't rate this one higher is towards the end it felt like it couldn't decided what conflict to work on. Olivia's mom not thinking she was good enough to skate or them losing the ice rink. It seemed to hang onto both of them towards the end and I felt like it was wrapped up a little too nicely.

I thought this was a pretty decent book. I had a few minor issues with it, but in general, I still enjoyed it.

*I received a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I DNFed this book.

I just couldn't get into it, I might come back to this story once it's published, but I don't think that I will be. Which is rather unfortunate, because this book sounded good, and I think it had potential.

🥇

*thanks Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book for an honest review, all opinions are my own*

This is a very solid book.
I didn't expect to like it that much, I admit that because it was about ice skating I didn't understand all the technical terms but that in no way interfered with my reading.
The characters felt real but at the same time captivating, the story itself brings many different layers making the story more real and moving.
The author's writing is easy and quick to read.
It is a quick and pleasant book to read.
It didn’t earn 5 stars because the end is a little hurried except for this is a great book and I highly recommend it!

This was beautiful. It definitely went through all the feels and went to places I wasn't expecting. I loved all the ice skating, I haven't read any books with that in it before so it was a lot of fun. This was overall a very enjoyable read!

I highly enjoyed this! The world of figure skating has always interested me so I loved exploring it more. This was a fun, cute contemporary that was exactly what I needed. Quick and light, the perfect pick-me-up.

For me this book felt like a Hallmark Movie, super sweet sports romance that focused around ice skating. There did not seem to be a lot of action or tension in this book. The main female charcter is Olivia, who is a figure skater.
Specificaly a pairs figure skater. Jonah Choi is a speed skater that has moved to town and is training at her families ice rink. The two begin to develop a relationship.

There did not seem to be a lot of action or tension in this book. The author tried to have some tension built around the family finaces and her mother's health, however it never seemed to really develop.

I found myself skimming through the last half of the book waiting for something to happen.

Possibly because the character seemed imature and the "romance" so sweet. Overall, not a bad read, but I do feel like many of my high school students will not relate to the characters.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#EveryReasonWeShouldn't #NetGalley

3.5 Stars

Every Reason We Shouldn’t by Sara Fujimura seemed like the perfect book for me since I am a big fan of any story about skating. While I did enjoy this concept, I had many issues with the book, including the immature main character and the lack of discussion around the sensitive topics presented. I didn’t hate this book, but it was not what I was expecting.

❀ A SKATING STORY

This book tells the story of Olivia, a figure skater adjusting to life outside the rink and trying to save her family’s business. When speed skater Jonah Choi starts training at her family’s rink, Olivia finds herself falling for him. I love any book about skating, and it was nice to see two different types of skating (as well as roller derby) represented in the book. I also found it interesting how the story talks about being “washed up” at 15 and the difficulties that come with coming back to sports after taking a break. This adds some depth to the book and makes it more than just a romance.

❀ MAIN CHARACTER IS IMMATURE

One of my biggest issues with the book was the main character. I found Olivia to be selfish and immature, and she almost disregards the problems in everyone else’s life and sees her own as more important. I did like how passionate she is about skating and how she perseveres to get her dream back, but I couldn’t get past how whiny she is. Jonah is not as annoying as Olivia, but the two of them have this whole “we aren’t like everyone else” mentality, and the way they isolate themselves is a bit elitist and off-putting.

❀ SERIOUS TOPICS AREN’T HANDLED WELL

Another aspect of the book that I didn’t love was the writing itself. While I did appreciate the discussion of more serious topics, I feel that there are a couple of topics that are not handled properly. For instance, there is a school lockdown scene that comes across as an excuse for Jonah to say “I love you” for the first time. It is an incredibly sensitive topic and clearly disturbing for Olivia, but it is never brought up again or truly unpacked. As well, the main characters’ unhealthy relationship with food is never really commented on, and this could be triggering to some readers. Along with these jarring moments, I also had issues with the way the characters speak. It comes across as though the author is trying way too hard to sound like a teenager with her excessive use of slang like, “extra” and “that’s the tea, sis.” I appreciate the effort to relate to a younger audience, but in this case, it went overboard.

❀ A FANTASTIC PREMISE, BUT A BIT UNSATISFYING

Every Reason We Shouldn’t has a fantastic premise, but other than that, much of the book didn’t satisfy me. The main character is selfish, and sensitive topics are not handled as well they should be. In my eyes, I definitely don’t think this book needs a sequel.

3 stars
This book was a quick read. It’s all about believing in yourself and being in tune with your dreams and the fight to make it happen. The theme was great but the story was just okay. I had high hopes for this one and I love the cover but it fell short.

I got an ARC of this book.

I assumed this was a f/f romance based on the cover and I saw ice skates. That was really as far as it went. Well, I was half right. The book does have ice skates, but there is no f/f love. So I am a bit let down by the cover itself. The cover is just eh and if I hadn't read this as queer, I wouldn't have picked it up.

The plot itself is much better, sorta. Well, everything except the romance is better. The romantic plots of the book are incredibly weak. I just couldn't care less which two in the friend group were dating. The teenage drama just read as false and boring. The romance between the two main romantic leads was also pretty basic. There was instant forcing of the people around them and then it was constant physical stuff after that. The romance read more like an erotica plot, but without any sex scenes. There really were no big feelings or angst or anything I enjoy in a YA romance. If this book didn't feature a romance or the romance was less of the plot I would have enjoyed the plot more. I'm not even going to start in on the idea that jealousy means someone cares about you, because just no. This needs to stop being romanticized and normalized in anything. 

The skating stuff was the good stuff. I loved learning more about skating. I loved that there was a lot of talk about family support and family pressure around skating (and other aspects of life). The way that the drive is just so intense for some people was incredibly engaging. I could have had a book just about these teens coming to terms with their futures in skating. Please leave the random kissing out. The reason I even enjoyed this book at all was all the skating plots. These were able to engage me and they were able to make me care. 

The parent plots felt a bit weak. There were hints that there was a cheating plot coming up, but it fell flat. It was one of the many loose ends that just weren't tied up well. There were the issues of Jonah's parents not agreeing on how much he should skate, that was never wrapped up. I am ok with this plot still being open, since that seemed like a plot that would be on going after the story. I am surprised by the ending, because of this plot, but this may just be my aro peaking out. Love does not conquer all other dreams. I just don't understand how this particular ending happened considering the characters involved. It felt cheap and rushed. 

Overall, the book was eh. There was nothing that would make this book stand out over other YA romances. If this were a coming of age book, then it would have been much better. There would have been less weird half worked out and only physical romance plots and more substance. These characters could have gone so much further. The emotions could have been more intense. There could have been more if there wasnt the focus on a romance that I didn't ship.

This is an excellent, if rather angsty, novel about figure skating, ice sports in general, and being a child doing an adult's job. I loved the characterisation and the ice skating, but found the second half of the novel very hard to read - the author does a bit too good a job of reflecting on the helplessness of being a teenager when your parents have one idea of your life and you have a different one.

My full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books on March 3.

I really did enjoy the overall feel to this story. At times it was perfectly lovely in romance and dreams and at times it felt a little all over the place. Overall, a great read.

This book hit all the rights tropes. Not fitting in, controlling parents and wonderful HS drama. It’s such a cute sports romance that everyone should def read!

This was a delightful book showcasing biracial Asian-American characters who are unashamedly passionate about their sport, even in the face of pressure to be normal. It is a charming work that encourages readers to chase their dreams through hard work and dedication, and to stand up after falling down. It's easy to recommend for any library's collection or for any reader who has a calling that renders "normal" goals uninteresting in its pursuit.

I was initially drawn to Every Reason We Shouldn't for a few reasons. Number one, skating. Ever since "Cutting Edge" I will read anything ice skating focused and this certainly fills a niche. That being said, there isn't that same romantic, will-they-won't-they as in that film and there aren't pair competitions so just know that the only comp between those is that there are just two characters who are skating professionals (speed skating and pairs figure skating).

Number two, I thought this was going to be an ownvoices biracial/Asian rep situation. You can say I should have done more research before reading, but only when I sat down to write this review did I find out that it is not ownvoices rep. Instead it is written from the perspective of, presumably a white, woman who married a Japanese partner with biracial children. She wanted to write the rep that her children wish they saw. <b> I also want to say I am not a biracial Asian American so I also do not have an ownvoices perspective <.b>

Let's start with what I liked about Every Reason We Shouldn't. The scenes on the ice were great. I loved that it gives you a skating scene whether that be the competition or the feeling of being free on the ice. I ice skate for fun, but I have loved that feeling of weightlessness, of gliding. Secondly, I liked that both Jonah and Olivia are handling this life of being an aspiring professional - training all the time and intensely goal oriented - but also what a 'teenage' experience might be. I loved the side character of Mack. She's a single mother who loves roller derby and wants to join a team.

But,

I feel like the summary makes it seem like there will be this long drawn out angst - sort of "Cutting Edge" vibes - and if you were prepared for that, then just re-evaluate your expectations. I also felt like the latter half of Every Reason We Shouldn't sort of felt loosely connected. The pacing took a different turn, but it also felt like all these elements and events were introduced which were never fully resolved.With two aspiring professionals, or even just two people in any relationship, you can encounter one person thinking their career might be more important. I think this is such a great point to bring up, especially with two athletes (and something I've struggled a lot with in the past), but I just wish there was a more satisfying resolution.

Every Reason We Shouldn't was an enjoyable story featuring family, friendship, romance, and dreaming big. I sympathized with the main character's desperation to prove herself as not a washout and admired her passion for her sport. The romance between Olivia and Johan was cute and sweet, but it felt a bit rushed to me. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the friendship between Olivia and Mack as well as the friendship and partnership between Olivia and Egg. I appreciated that Olivia had a circle of Asian friends that she could hang out with at school and that her Asian and biracial identity wasn't written in an othering way. I'm glad that the major conflicts were resolved nicely and that Olivia was able to keep her family's dream alive.