2 stars This one just didn’t do much for me. It was ok. I wanted more. I’m not exactly sure what I needed but this one just fell flat. It had a lot of potential but I never fully connected with the characters.

Initial Impressions: To be honest, this book has not grabbed my attention. It is obviously very fun and light-hearted, but the introduction was nothing too exciting. This doesn't mean that the rest of the book won't be amazing, but the few SPaG mistakes and cliche characters do not bode well. I'm eager to continue reading and see what Fujimura has done to make this book special!

Halfway-Through Notes: Although I didn't like the introductory chapters, Every Reason We Shouldn't has picked up quite a bit! Personally, I dislike the protagonist, but Fujimura is successful in allowing the reader to relate with her because of mutual hatred towards snobby girls who are worthless but expecting of others. This is definitely a positive aspect for me! Something I'm a bit concerned about is the attention towards safe sex. On one hand, I am unbelievably appreciative that a YA author is finally mentioning condoms and being responsible. Books are one of the biggest influences on teenagers, so putting safe sex into books could be a lifesaver (literally or not). On the other hand, I felt like the topic of safe sex was placed awkwardly and talked about too much considering the fact they aren't actually having any sex at the age of fifteen. We'll see how it goes!

Opinions: To be honest, Every Reason We Shouldn't is a fun read but nothing special. It is a book you should save for the end of your TBR that is quick, exciting, and doesn't cause too much timely deep-thinking. Something I enjoyed about the book was how realistic it was. Fujimura made sure readers related and connected to the characters and therefore learned something from them about various subjects. I appreciate her intentions with this book; they were very obvious! On the other hand, I feel like Fujimura focuses far too much on the setting rather than the story as a whole. I found myself having to reread whole pages because I lost engagement due to too much Chekhov's Gun misuse. For me, this was a bit of a problem throughout the book. Although there were things I disliked about Every Reason We Shouldn't, we can't forget the positives as well. I would recommend this book to anybody looking for a sweet, innocent romance! I hope you enjoy it.

My Favourite Thing: I actually did enjoy the ending; it earned Every Reason We Shouldn't a full star! Without giving anything away, the climax and ending was emotional for the characters and the reader. Depending on which characters you were rooting for in the book, all of the built anticipation was ruined. The ending is what makes readers sit down and think about the character's journeys and decisions. It made me enjoy this book much, much more! It gave this story meaning.
My Least Favourite Thing: I found Every Reason We Shouldn't to be a dull book. There is lots of drama but everything seems to flatline. There were no ups and downs and very little excitement. Another way to look at this is my connection to the characters. Because they're so realistic, I'm able to relate, but connecting and empathising is another story. Because of this, I found myself unable to care about their fates, thus making the story slow and lifeless to me.

Total Rating: PG-13
Language: PG-13
Adult Content: PG-13 (discussions about safe sex)
Violence: PG-12

Recommended For and Similar Reads: That's right, Every Reason We Shouldn't is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Jenny Han. It is a soft, heartfelt, emotionally-relatable book about first love and friendships. You'll cry, laugh, and learn a lot about yourself and relationships! Similar reads are Tweet Cute, Yes, No, Maybe So, and Finding Mr Better Than You. The writing style also reminds me of Silken Scales by Alex Hayes, despite the utter differences in genre.

Everything stated within the "My Opinions," "My Least/Favourite Thing," "Going Deeper," and "Looking Back," is my personal opinion.

Very enjoyable and well rounded read. Romantic YA novels tend to focus on romance and nothing else, this was an exception. The characters, their choices and actions were well formed and there was a good balance between showing and telling character motivations. I was really sad to come to the end of this fictional world.

I am far form the target audience for this book (my YA days were long ago), but I have to say that this was a very fun read. Interestingly, there wasn't much conflict in the romance, none of the will they/won't they; instead the conflict came from family issues and (more interestingly) the protagonists' uncertainty about her future and whether she really did have what it takes to be a top athlete.

I disagree with some other reviewers who see the heroine as a "not like other girls" archetype; instead she and the love interest were "not like other people"; it takes insane commitment and sacrifice to try to be a top athlete and I think the author did a good job of capturing those differences in personality and worldview. I also like that <spoiler>the book ended with some ambiguity. Things were looking up, but not everyone had achieved all of their ambitions and goals yet.</spoiler> One major thing that fell flat; <spoiler>the major incident at the school felt shoehorned in and too quickly forgotten. </spoiler>

On the whole, not a masterpiece, but a really fun, quick read.

Olivia and Jonah the main leads of this book are slowly falling for each other since the very starting. You can get the vibe of an Asian guy coming over, a health freak, from a wealthy family who pay trucks full of money to get him to train alone and prepare for Olympics. And Olivia is the one whose family owns the skating ring where the guy is practicing and is supposed to assist him, she finds him annoying, typical of how people fall, first the fights and then the realization. So basically that happened.
I like the character of her bff Mack, she seemed quite bubbly and loyal.

This is a story about complicated families, falling in love, finding yourself, and friendship. Olivia Midori Kennedy is a girl who's lost her way. She was a champion figure skater who was on her way to the Olympics when she crashed and burned her first time competing at the adult level. She found herself giving up and putting away her skates, not wanting to face the world again after her humiliation.

But when Jonah Choi, a speed skater, comes to train at her parents' ice rink, she finds herself rediscovering her motivation as she watches his focus and determination. She finds herself wanting to skate again, to try to find her way and get back to the championships she knows she can win.

Together, the two of them open each other's eyes to what's important. They understand each other in a way no one else can, seeing the drive in one another to compete, to be better, to win. They find happiness in one another and they push each other to do better.

3.75 stars

From the cover and description, I assumed this book would be a light teen romance and that this romantic relationship would really be the focal point of the work. I am pleasantly surprised that this is not the case at all.

While the romance is an important aspect of the novel, it isn't the only story line. The main character, Olivia, experiences a great deal of growth as she comes to terms with her potential as a nationally and even internationally recognized figure skater, a daughter, a friend, a typical teen (i.e. one who attends school, has friends, experiences a social life, etc.), a romantic partner, and a maturing young adult. Olivia's relationships are complex, and she straddles the line between having to grow up very quickly (with a mostly absent father, a mother who is not fully present for other reasons, a socioeconomically disadvantaged kid, and a young person with an extensive figure skating history) and needing to do a lot of social maturation because these other areas have taken up so much of her "normal" kid time. It is exciting to watch her grow - along with various other characters - and it is easy to feel invested in their success. Also, it's so refreshing to see that so many of the central characters are Asian. Representation matters, and this novel is stronger because of this aspect.

I will absolutely be recommending this to students and colleagues who are looking for a solid YA novel centered on character growth and teamwork.

There are parts of this story I loved, like the atmosphere of the rink, the side characters, Olivia's complicated home life, and her exploration of herself and what she really wants for her future. The problem I had with this book was really odd and not something I've experienced before in another book: the characters, who are 15, are still pretty immature (expected--they're 15 after all and still figuring it out) BUT the sexual tension and level of sexual exploration between the protagonists was more intense and graphic than most YA I've read with 18 year old protagonists. The juxtaposition was jarring and made me feel like a creeper. I still enjoyed the book and would read more by this author, but wow it was just an overall disjointed feeling.

I read this straight through, much too late into the night, and I am completely delighted. I was interested in the experiences of these characters with lives different from my own. I was cheering them on toward their own successes. The friends and family characters were engaging and I just enjoyed this story so much. Thank you for creating a fun teen sports romance that so thoroughly immersed me in the ice rink culture in Phoenix, Arizona.

4 stars
Exciting, PG, multicultural, YA, sports romance

Olivia Kennedy is the almost-sixteen, biracial daughter of a Japanese-American mother and Euro-American father who are world famous for winning Olympic gold as a fabulously talented figure-skating team. Olivia had figure-skating, Olympic dreams as well, and trained since early childhood toward that lofty goal, until a humiliating failure at a major competition the previous year convinced her that her Olympic potential is gone. Since then, she has concentrated on life as a “normal” teenager in Phoenix, Arizona. She has been attending school for the first time, after years of home schooling due to her hectic skating schedule. And she has contributed a great deal to the increasingly dicey proposition of keeping her parents’ ice-skating rink afloat. The rink is struggling mainly because her father is constantly on the road trying to earn a living as a professional, performing, Ice Capades type skater, and her mother can work very little due to suffering constant debilitating pain from a back injury sustained a few years ago when her father dropped her during a performance. Besides Olivia’s efforts, significant help with the rink is also provided by its sole, non-family employee who helps manage the rink, Olivia’s closest friend, Mack, a twenty-year-old single mother with a baby and aspirations to win a spot on a local, women’s, roller derby team.

When almost-sixteen Jonah Choi, a Korean-American, Olympic-caliber, speed skater, begins training regularly at Olivia’s family’s rink, his fees are a tremendous boon to the bottom line of the rink. In addition, their budding romantic relationship has a profound, positive effect on the two of them, both personally and in their ongoing growth and development as super-star skaters.

I’m a big fan of well-written, young-adult, sports romances, particularly when both of the romantic protagonists are massively talented athletes, and especially when they engage in the same sport—or very close to it—as is the case for Jonah and Olivia, who are both masterful ice skaters.

In addition to the central romance plot, there are many fun scenes with both Olivia and Jonah on stage when he is training as a speed skater and solicits tips and tricks from her as a figure skater that could help him avoid catastrophic falls while racing. There are also many entertaining scenes between Mack and Olivia, as well as scenes showing Olivia’s relationship with her mother and one-on-one scenes with her father. There are also crucial scenes with Olivia’s former figure-skating partner, Egg, who at age eighteen is a few years older than Olivia.

I greatly appreciated that every character in this novel, both the main two protagonists and the above subcharacters, all have significant grown arcs. Jonah and Olivia have the ideal kind of romance, in my estimation, in that they stimulate each other to become better people, both personally and as athletes. Olivia’s mother has important decisions to make about treatment options for her chronic pain, and her father has issues to deal with surrounding keeping the family financially afloat. The author sympathetically portrays Mack’s struggles as a single mother, as someone attempting to improve her ice-skating skills in order to win a spot on the local roller derby team, and as a new adult hoping to find a career that fits her natural interests and talents.

This book has a satisfying, “happy for now” type of HEA, and all plot threads are tied up with no crucial questions left unanswered.

I would rate this book PG in the sense that Olivia and Jonah have intense sexual and emotional chemistry with each other, and as a natural outgrowth of that, they have several passionate make-out sessions over the course of the novel. Other than that, the book is mostly G-rated in that there are no drugs, underage drinking, or wild parties. It is a refreshing change for YA novels that Jonah, especially, and Olivia to a lesser degree, both eat a healthy diet and, while in training, avoid junk food of all kinds, especially sugar.

My one objection to this book is that the author has not done her homework on treatment options for excruciating chronic pain such that which Olivia’s mother endures. Further, the author has a poor understanding of how health insurance coverage works in the USA. It seems to be a typical failing of American authors of popular fiction in general that they tend to present in their stories one of two equally inaccurate, opposite extremes about healthcare costs: either they presume that all healthcare is free in the USA (which it decidedly is not), or they presume that all healthcare is paid entirely out of pocket (which also is not true). In the case of Olivia’s family, their money problems are a central source of conflict for Olivia in the novel, and they are attributed for the most part to the ever mounting, unpaid medical bills of Olivia’s mother. However, as a family that is poor enough that Olivia qualifies for the free lunch program at the public school she attends, her family would simultaneously qualify for free health insurance coverage under Medicaid in Arizona, which has been greatly expanded via massive federal subsidies since 2013. Which means that, in actuality, Olivia’s family would have no logical reason to be enormously in debt for Olivia’s mother’s ongoing medical expenses.

In addition, there is another irritating medical inaccuracy springing off of the above misconception that Olivia’s mother is presumed to have no health insurance. Other than for emergency surgery to keep a patient from dying, doctors and hospitals in this country, for decades now, have refused to allow patients to run up medical debts. They flatly refuse to treat patients without insurance unless they pay cash directly to their billing staff before the doctor will see them, or the hospital will treat them. And if patients have insurance, before the doctor will see them or they can have surgery at a hospital, the billing staff will call their insurance company, find out what it will pay for the proposed medical care, and insist that the patient pay the difference before receiving treatment. In addition, no doctor or physical therapist deals with the money side of things. They leave that entirely to the billing staff. For that reason, as well as patient privacy laws, a PT would never, ever yell across a waiting room, threatening a patient that she’d better get her bill paid soon if she wants any more treatment, as Olivia’s mother’s PT does in this book.

Finally, on the irritating medical mistakes front: it is highly improbable that, in a city the size of Phoenix, both Olivia’s mother and Jonah would show up at the same time at the same PT’s office for treatment.

Other than these healthcare inaccuracies, though, the author’s research on the central focus of the story, ice skating, including figure skating, speed skating, and roller derby skating, seems accurate, realistic, and is compellingly written.

I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Skating Plot: 4 stars
Family Medical Drama Plot: 2 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Overall: 3.8 rounded to 4 stars

Following our main character, Olivia, as she struggles to balance her responsibilities in keeping her parents’ rink afloat and her feelings about her own skating ability, it’s safe to say this young, fifteen-year-old has a lot on her plate. Couple this with her feelings for the new, competitive speed skater at the rink and caring for her mom as she struggles with chronic pain, going into this book, I was hoping to see a lot of growth in our main character. Disappointingly, however, this wasn’t entirely the case.

Beginning with the plot of the novel, I have very mixed opinions. On one hand, as a former figure skater, I found the atmosphere of the rink and the technicalities of the sport that were mentioned to be both accurate and entertaining, with clever mentions to common post-practice rituals and remedies. I also appreciated the comparison between different types of skating and the mutual respect that was held for each of the main character’s passions with consideration for how these passions influence who they are as a person and vice versa. This being said, there were a lot of things about the plot that I found inappropriate and unnecessary with the two biggest examples of this being the school lockdown and the car accident. In both cases, we get very little lead up to them, resulting in their addition to the story to simply serve as a shock factor rather than a genuine plot point. Specifically with the lockdown, we see little follow up to the emotional trauma that an event like this commonly has on students involved in these scenarios. Continuing on the same note more generally, I also found that my biggest problem with the plot as a whole was how poorly paced it was, leaving the scenes that had the most potential for character building and development with little time to unfold, further constricting the characters’ movement within them. This, naturally, negatively impacted my relationship with the characters as I felt them to not have the emotional depth that I was wanting from them and their relationships to each other. More importantly, however, this led to mental health being simply utilized as a buzzword throughout the novel, rather than something powerful to be explored and understood.

The other big thing I want to talk about, specifically, is Olivia’s character because, while I understand that she’s a fifteen-year-old girl who has been placed on a pedestal in the past, I ultimately found her to be a brat. (Sorry, not sorry?) Yes, in the beginning it made sense for her to act with immaturity and selfishness, but I had hoped that she would grow more substantively as the story progressed. This was especially prominent when it came to her mom’s injury and discussions of money with her family. I can sympathize with her desire for more attention and care from her parents, but her reactions to their struggles and her unwillingness to help until the near end of the book made her unlikeable as a main character.

BUT, the relationship was pretty cute. So there’s that.

I’m still on the fence about my rating for this book with so many contradicting factors, however, I did enjoy parts of this story and would recommend it to those seeking to read about figure skating and what it means to have to push back in a sport that knocks you off the podium.

Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for sending me a digital arc for this book. All opinions are my own.

Actual rating 3.75 stars. (Rounded up to 4)

Set in an skating bubble, this book is perfect for a December read. Too bad it comes out in March, but nevertheless I really liked the book. It is a typical love story, but in this case it was not an overused trope. The aspect of ice skating really mixed well with the love story.

Olivia wants to become a figure skater again even though her parents have absolutely no faith in her. Jonah, on the other hand is being pushed by his parents to be the very best in short track.

Overall the book flowed quite nicely. At some points it became a bit boring. But I pushed through and it was worth it in the end.

I will be buying this book once it comes out!!!! It is something different and I saw that there were plans for a second part, which I want to read like now. Will she ever end up on the olympics?

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

This was a cute read that I would recommend to young adults and those that would like to learn about a new culture.

This was alright but I didn't love it. I found Livy kind of annoying but I dealt with her and I thought her relationship with Jonah was cute, albeit a bit rushed. I really did not like Stuart (Egg). And can I just say - this is the 1st book I've read/reviewed that comes out in 2020 and that is mental! Can't believe we're in the roaring 20s again!

Sometimes the whole fun of reading is: learning about something new. A teen romance set amongst Olympic level ice-skating with a side of roller derby was by far the highlight(s) of this book. These scenes were written well and really enjoyable.

Our leads are Olivia and Jonah. They have a meet cute at Olivia's family ice rink and the rest is history. While I found them cute-ish at times (hotteok-flavoured kisses and all), I cant work out where the title actually came from. I thought it would be ripe with teen angst, but there really wasn't any question about will they wont they. I have to say these two were 15 on the edge of 16 and Olivia's descriptions of 'feels' was a little more mature than you would expect it to be.

Mack, Olivia's bestie was probably the most memorable character for me. The rest of the characters (friends and family) seemed real with some good life 'stuff' to keep things semi intersecting, but I found the plot really waning in the second half.

Many of the cast were of Asian decent - biracial had a big focus. I haven't gone to the trouble of looking up the author but another reviewer mentioned that she wasn't Asian herself. If thats the case, I'm not sure how that translates on to the page for Asian readers, but I cant really judge either way.

(ARC kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

This was so cute! I’m really loving the asian protagonists, I love that they try to balance their worlds, and I like that they’re so supportive of each other! The mom thing was a bit of a spoiler for me, even though I kind of felt like that’s were it was going. Good read!

Eu gostaria de poder dizer que esse livro me surpreendeu. Na verdade, eu até posso dizer isso, mas não pela surpresa ter sido inteiramente positiva. Infelizmente surgiram detalhes no decorrer do livro que por mais que eu tentasse, não pude deixar passar, e que, ao final, prejudicaram realmente minha opinião sobre o livro. No entanto, ele não é uma leitura ruim de fato, e vou explicar agora o que eu gostei e o que me decepcionou na leitura.

Vamos começar falando sobre a primeira coisa que se destacou para mim e que me fez querer ler esse livro logo que me deparei com ele aqui no site: a presença de personagens com background asiático, em especial japonês e coreano. Fiquei ainda mais instigada por esse detalhe quando descobri que a autora tem relação com a cultura japonesa, então me animei mais ainda e, felizmente, esse foi um tópico na leitura que não me decepcionou. Gostei muito da forma como os personagens, desde Olívia e Jonah até os colegas do colégio, Brandon em especial, falam e trazem à tona suas origens das mais variadas formas, seja falando do idioma, das comidas típicas de cada país e afins. Familiarizada com a cultura pelos doramas asiáticos que vejo, gostei muito de reconhecer comidas e receitas citadas, que me deixavam com quase a mesma vontade de experimentá-las como se estivesse assistindo um dorama mesmo.

Apesar disso, sendo eles birraciais, claro que a cultura asiática se mistura à americana no dia-a-dia e se destaca por diversas vezes, mas tudo flui de forma tranquila e bem diversificada. Até então, pontos positivos que me fizeram envolver e aproveitar a história. Mas nem só de referências e comidas sobrevive uma leitura e, principalmente, uma cujo o foco vai bem além do estilo de vida comum de um adolescente americano.

O foco da trama, pela sinopse, se dá a entender ser a patinação no gelo, tanto a artística quanto a de velocidade, respectivamente de Olívia e Jonah. Pelo fato do livro ser em inglês, os primeiros capítulos foram um pouco demorados para eu me envolver com a leitura, devido aos termos constantes sobre patinação, saltos e afins que me distanciavam um pouco da narrativa por não conseguir imaginá-los por completo, mas aos poucos fui me acostumando e isso deixou de ser um "problema". Só que foi seguindo esse caminho que, logo mais, o problema realmente aconteceu e me fez voltar a me distanciar da trama. A impressão que fica no meio da história é que a autora sabia como começar e como terminá-la, mas não sabia bem como desenvolvê-la. Foram vários os capítulos monótonos, que basicamente repetiam uma sucessão de pensamentos e situações dos anteriores com apenas breves variações, e não saia disso, Isso me incomodou muito porque parecia que a leitura avançava, mas ao mesmo tempo eu me sentia como se estivesse no início dela, nada de muito grandioso acontecendo ou sendo uma situação\conflito que me deixasse ansiosa pelas próximas páginas e me fazendo imaginar como tudo terminaria. Em dado ponto da leitura, lá pelos 70%, eu não sabia mais o que esperar, não sabia direito nem mesmo o que eu gostaria que acontecesse, de tão desprendida que eu estava do enredo, e infelizmente isso se seguiu até os dois últimos capítulos.

Digo "até os dois últimos capítulos" especificamente porque nesse ponto, coisas aconteceram e quase me fizeram envolver de novo à leitura. Até o derradeiro último capítulo chegar e terminar de forma tão abrupta, no meio de um diálogo, que eu fiquei sem entender, pensando que meu ebook havia vindo com alguma página faltando, mas aparentemente era assim mesmo que a história terminava. Novamente, o tal sentimento de ainda estar no início de tudo, mesmo após vários capítulos já terem se passado.

E isso tudo é só sobre o enredo em si. Em se tratando dos personagens, que eu torcia para me cativarem, também me decepcionei. Isso porque Olívia, nossa narradora, até tem uma voz bacana e que dá vontade de querer se aproximar e ser amiga dela, mas com o avançar dos capítulos, ela não conseguiu sustentar a trama, principalmente quando as coisas ficaram complicadas para o lado dela e parecia que ninguém a estava dando crédito de fato; eu só queria colocá-la num potinho e proteger, até que finalmente me distanciei de novo desse sentimento pelo andar da história no final e voltei a ficar meio indiferente à ela, infelizmente. Jonah também tinha potencial para me cativar, mas sua personalidade logo ficou tão apagada, principalmente quando o romance aconteceu, que eu só conseguia continuar indiferente à ele. Não que ele fosse uma pá pessoa, nem nada assim. Eu só não sentia vontade de ver mais cenas dele e interações dele com a Olívia, de tão monótono e previsível que as coisas ficaram, tanto para ele em si como na relação dele com a Olívia. No fim das contas, acabei me apegando mais à Mack, melhor amiga da Olívia, cujo background e problemas familiares me interessaram bem mais e fui bem mais cativada pela personalidade brincalhona, mas ainda madura e séria, dela. Gostaria de ler um livro da história dela, provavelmente me cativaria mais do que a história em torno da Olívia.

Enfim, Every Reason We Shouldn't tinha tudo, de acordo com sua sinopse, para ser uma leitura no mínimo envolvente e gostosinha, mas o que antes eu pensava ser um young adult comum envolvendo patinação, se transformou-se em um livro sobre patinação na vida de adolescentes que, por ventura, tinham objetivos e realidades diferentes e é... isso. Queria ter conseguido me envolver mais com a história e seus personagens, e em certos momentos até consegui e no final ainda fez a leitura valer a pena, ainda que não tanto quanto eu esperava. Se você curte uma veia mais dramática e com problemáticas familiares em geral, talvez curta mais do que eu.

dnf @ 41%

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book and therefore cannot review it. There was nothing wrong with the writing, which is usually a factor when I don't finish a book despite almost being halfway through. It just wasn't for me, and frankly, while there wasn't anything necessarily wrong with the representation, I wasn't sure how I felt about a (presumably) white woman writing about Asian American struggles...it's 2019, and I'm a bit tired of this. I could've let it slide if some little reference to how Olivia is half-Japanese, or Jonah is 3/4 Korean hadn't been brought up almost every scene. I'm not biracial, so I can't speak to that representation however.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book. I just don't have the time to slog through a book I'm not really enjoying.

I'm not even sure what to say about this book. It's wonderful. There is something about Sara Fujimura's writing that draws you in from the first page. Yes, from that first page that is only half full of words. I'm serious. I've read all of this author's books, and would read her shopping lists if she published them.

Maybe it's the Young Adult genre that lends itself to just being plopped into the heart of the story? I'm not sure, but I really can't recommend this book enough.

The characters are lovely and genuine, and you feel like you want to be their friends. The settings are modern and relatable. My only complaint is that I want more from these characters. Are they going to wear an Olympic Medal? I must know!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC.

I was given an e-ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was attracted to this book on NetGalley because of the cover and the concept. An ice skater and a speed skater try to balance being normal teenagers and being Olympic level athletes. I love all winter sports so this really called to me. And now that all of the formalities are out of the way, let’s get into the review.

The positives-

-the characters all seem realistic and they all have depth. Every one of them has their own problems and their own goals. I think it says a lot when you can love a side character just as much as a main character.
-the ice skating and Ice Dreams rink. I think this author has to have some experience around winter sports because she writes about it all so well. It gives the book so much character.
-the real world emotions. The author portrays being an outside and feeling completely abnormal so well. She also does a good job of showing that everyone can have their own normal and that that’s a good thing. I like that she didn’t make her athlete characters change to fit in with a “normal” group of kids at their high school. And there are some poignant moments when the main characters go through heartbreak and the disappointment of not feeling like they have a normal set of parents.

The negatives-

-the plot. Towards the middle of the novel it really feels like the author didn’t know how to go from point a to point b and so we spend a lot of time meandering before getting to the build up to the end of the novel. I have one specific plot point that I’m thinking about here, but don’t want to give away for other readers. I think once you’ve read it the plot point just sticks out like a sore thumb.
-not being enough. I think there’s a chunk just missing from between the last two chapters. We take a leap forward in time but seeing how we got there would have been really impactful in my opinion. Even if there were just a couple of pages it would have added a lot to the story.
-the cover. If I’m incorrect or insensitive here, then please let me know, but I do have some trouble with the cover. I just feel like it’s really whitewashed given that both of the characters on it are supposed to be biracial. Also, the female character on the cover is pretty thin, but the character in the book has some trouble getting back into her usual routine because she has gained some weight, specifically in her hips. It just feels a little messed up to have such a skinny girl on the cover given the story itself.