Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I really enjoyed this book! Was it the perfect representation of athletes or teens with Asian families? Probably not but the jokes were witty and the story flowed nicely. Mack was my favorite character and would love to see a follow-up story on her! I felt like Jonah was not super nice to Olivia and was surprised at how many times she forgave him. I liked seeing inside the skating world and reading a story set in my current city was also very fun. I would say that it's a great book to escape the stress of what the world is currently going through.

Every Reason We Shouldn't centers around Olivia, a 15 year old figure skater who is trying to find her place after flaming out as a pairs skater. Olivia has to adjust to going to school (for the first time, I believe) while working at her parents' skating rink. Her parents are former Olympians who are very much involved in their own issues - they aren't going to be winning any parenting awards. Then Jonah, a speed skater, starts training at the rink and things start looking up for Olivia... This book was a good read, and I really enjoyed Olivia's character. She drove me crazy and was extremely self centered a lot of the time, but she felt so realistic to me - her family is really struggling financially, she is trying to figure out if she has (or ever had) what it takes to be an Olympian, and she doesn't know if she will ever fit into normal high school existence. (An aside - in the author's note, Sara Fujimura notes that she wrote a book with a biracial Asian heroine so that her kids could see themselves represented in fiction, which I loved.) I also really liked Olivia's friends - particularly Mack, a single mom who works at the rink with her - and Jonah, who is super driven and talented. His relationship with Olivia was really cute. I did think, going into this book, that it would be a lot more lighthearted than it was. This was a serious read at times, and was sometimes a bit stressful. I also felt that the last chapter was a bit abrupt - I wanted a slightly more fleshed out ending. Overall, if you enjoy YA sports books with driven characters I'd recommend picking this one up.

I loved the representation in this! I felt engaged all the way through and really liked the new voices present throughout! While this wasn't my favorite book, I did really enjoy seeing this representation on the page and look forward to reading similar books in the future. I think Sara Fujimura created dynamic characters who were realistic and relatable.

I picked up this book on a whim looking for more fun, lighthearted content, and Sara Fujimura came through in many ways with Every Reason We Shouldn’t. With humor and passion, her characters come off the page to spin double salchows in your living room. But while I especially enjoyed protagonist Olivia, she and love interest Jonah have a few problematic character traits I don’t enjoy seeing in YA fiction especially. Coupled with a poorly handled school shooting situation, I was grimacing more than smiling by the end of this one.

Every Reason We Shouldn’t centers around a biracial family in Phoenix trying to keep their struggling ice rink afloat. Spunky Olivia is the daughter of two Olympic medalists trying to balance high school, competition failure, and her passion for figure skating.

When Jonah shows up at Ice Dreams with Olympic speed skating hopes, Olivia falls head over heels pretty quickly. The two go to the same high school and cultivate a relationship centered around their mutual understanding of the other’s hopes and dreams — and how much time and dedication goes into seeing them through.

The first of a few problems begins to present itself around this dedication: Olivia and Jonah both have troubling relationships with food, with Jonah going so far as to shame his friends for eating “simple carbs” on multiple occasions. Olivia is impressed by Jonah’s dedication, and, in her own desire to get back in shape, she follows suit and begins internally reproaching herself for having an extra bite of something, even when she’s hungry.

In the same vein as this, Fujimara’s male characters, Jonah and Olivia’s ex–skating partner Egg especially, put Olivia down on various occasions. She’s on her way to being “washed-up,” and neither Jonah nor Egg pretend to believe in her dreams of trying to make it to the Olympics. (But both of them expect her undivided support while following their own dreams, of course.)

Last point of contention: the high school intruder bit. Spoiler alert: Jonah and Olivia’s high school is locked down in the latter half of the book due to a potentially violent intruder. This serves as a bit of a come-to-Jesus moment for Jonah, who professes his love for Olivia via text just after the students are given the all clear to return to class. While this is a traumatic experience for most of the novel’s characters, Fujimara uses it as a plot movement device and hardly provides any reflection about the event from the characters. After a few days, the event is forgotten completely. By the end of the novel, I’d forgotten it even happened. Not great.

There are a few memorable supporting characters, like Olivia’s single mom best friend Mack, who add to the narrative in thoughtful ways. Mack is fun, smart, supportive, raising a kid, and trying to make the cut for a badass women’s roller derby team.

Having voices and narratives like Olivia’s in YA fiction that’s filled with Asian Americans characters is important, but, while I’d be interested to hear more from Olivia, I’d hope her story was told with support from those in her circle and filled with positive relationships like Mack and Olivia’s.

Every Reason We Shouldn’t is a quick, fun romance with some juicy sporting elements, but I’d hesitate to recommend it for various reasons. Fingers crossed Fujimara redeems this storyline in a sequel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This is a story which follows Olivia, a 15 year old figure skater who tries to adapt to life as a "normal" teenager after a disastrous performance puts her future as a proffesional in doubt. When dedicated speed skater Jonah Choi comes to Ice Dreams, her family's rink, a romance blossoms and both realise there may be more to life than just skating.

A few things I liked about this book:

- First off, I have an unending love for sports romances. This is widely documented. This kind of book automatically appeals to me
- Olivia is fiercely determined to be the best in her field. When people tell her she isn't good enough, she tells them she is and tries even harder to prove that to everyone, herself incuded.
- Despite wanting to try and achieve some kind of 'normal' teen life, neither Jonah nor Olivia let their romance obstruct their skating goals - yes, there are some hurt feelings ocassionally, but for the most part they both understand that their career comes first and that sometimes, that sucks.
- Mack. I adore everything about her. A young Mum recieving very little help from the child's father - financially or otherwise, who still has ambitions of her own and doesn't let the hard parts of life get her down. She acts as a mother figure to Olivia despite only being a few years older. I just love her. She's precious and deserves the world.
- Good representation in terms of race and culture.

Things I had issue with or wasnt very fond of:

- Olivia's treatment of her 'normal' friends. On multiple occasions she blew off plans with them either for Jonah or for skating or Egg or whatever.
- Olivia and Jonah's elitist attitude - they constantly referred to their friends as 'normal' and acted as though they were better than them and like they 'wouldn't get it'. Her friends were nothing but kind and accepting the whole book despite Olivia being shitty to them and honestly, they deserve more credit.
- A lot of things seemed to happen that deserved some focus, but were forgotten in an instant. The school went on lockdown in one chapter and by the next, it was old news, never to be mentioned again. Surely a topic like that deserved to be unpacked at least a little given the psychological impact it had on Olivia?
- Olivia and Egg. Them being skating partners and having a brother/sister relationship was fine, but he treated her like shit and then was all nicey nicey, then abandoned a minor in a place miles from her home that she wasn't familiar with? Clearly his biggest priority wasn't her safety, despite that being their thing for the entire novel. And he faced very little repercussions for this? And the kiss? WHY? It made no sense and added nothing to the story so why not just leave it out?

Overall I actually had a good time reading it, and I'm definitely interested in picking up a sequel.

Thank you net galley for providing me with an e-arc of this for review.

3 stars.

This book started off as a fun and sweet contemporary about two teen skaters, one at the top and one who has recently been knocked down after a tough competition.

For the most part I enjoyed this story, especially some of our side characters like Mack and their school friends. Where I think this book struggled some was it attempted to tackle too much in one story. This wasn't a very long book, and because of that, I think some of the issues that our main characters face aren't fully fleshed out or explored enough. There was also one scene within the book that I felt like was very misplaced and didn't add much to the story at all. Our main characters experience something very traumatic for just a few pages, and then it's never really brought up after. It just didn't really add much to the story.

But as a fun, YA contemporary I think this book succeeded, and that is what I set out to read and enjoy. Sara Fujimura discusses in her author's note how important it is to her to write stories about young biracial teens because her own children never grew up with those stories. And for that in itself, I think this story is so important and special.

After a bad season of figure skating, sixteen-year-old prodigal child of Olympic gold medalists Olivia Kennedy is just trying to figure out what her new “normal” is. She works at the ice rink her family owns, hangs out with her best-friend-slash-mother-figure Mack, and tries to fit in at school, but Olivia doesn’t really know how to do anything other than live and breathe figure skating. When Jonah Choi, Olympic-track speed skater extraordinaire, moves to Phoenix, Jonah and Olivia’s relationship instantly sparks. Jonah and Olivia challenge each other to be the best they can possibly be, because there’s no other option in their world of competitive skating.

Every Reason We Shouldn’t touches on many serious issues in contemporary YA, such as school lockdowns, teen pregnancy, and the immense amount of pressure that teens feel to be perfect in our current age. Jonah and Olivia’s instant connection is necessary because so much of Olivia’s growth throughout the novel depends on her self-reflection generated in relation to Jonah and their friends at school. Jonah and Olivia are able to understand each other in a way most people can’t, and it creates a frustrating dissonance between the two of them and other people’s expectations for them, such as life after high school. In Every Reason We Shouldn’t, Sara Fujimura crafts a gold medal-worthy story of love, family, and friendship, while also highlighting the trials and tribulations of trying to be #1 at any cost, even if it’s a steep one.

This was a cute and fun YA read for me. I have never read anything about an ice skater, professional or otherwise, so that made this book all the more enjoyable and unique. I also loved seeing a story told from the perspective of so many bicultural characters, which isn't something you get often (yet!). The characters were entertaining and varied, had depth (though I personally would have preferred to get to know some of them even better), and made sense with the story. The romance was sweet, not too steamy, and felt pretty real (although I find it hard to imagine there are actually teens out there who aren't feverishly texting each other at literally every opportunity in 2019/2020). The plot wasn't cookie cutter to me at all, so I was never quite sure where the story was going next, and I'm ALWAYS down for that! Overall, it's a fascinating insider look at the world of skating (in more form than one!), Olympian athletes, Asian-American families, and one take on navigating life as a famous has-been. Solid four stars from me!

Parents and cautious readers be aware that there is some language (mostly "minor" words), physical affection (different levels, nothing overtly or graphically sexual), and lots of angsty teen attitudes and disregard for authority. ;)

Big thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the chance to read this book as an advanced copy, which I received for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Olivia is the daughter of two former Olympic champions. She was a gold medal junior champion until her and her partner had one failed performance. Now she helps teach kids at her parents’ ice rink, because her mom has chronic pain from a skating injury. When a speed skater, Jonah, moves to Phoenix, he reignites her love of skating and her desire to go for the gold.

I don’t know much about skating, but I’ve always been fascinated by it. It was amazing to see how hard Olivia and Jonah had to train. Their goal was the Olympics, but few people actually make it there. Skating has the unique position in sports as also being artistic. I could relate to that creative side to the sport.

Olivia’s Japanese heritage played an important role in the story. Olivia and Jonah are both biracial. She has a few friends at school who are also Asian. There were lots of Japanese and Korean foods mentioned in the story, which made me so hungry.

I loved this new story!

Thank you Tor Teen for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i thought this was cute! the writing is a little juvenile for me, but it would be perfect for younger readers.

things i liked:
- the skating aspect: this is the first book i've read with really any type of skating and it was cool
- MACK: easily my favorite character and i really liked her friendship with olivia
- the romance: actually wasn't bad and i thought they had chemistry
- olivia rediscovering her passion for skating
- korean and japanese representation and culture sprinkled throughout (not quite own voices though like i thought it was going to be)

things i didn't like:
- scenes were choppy: things were talked about in one chapter and never mentioned again (school lockdown??)
- olivia treated her non-skating friends like garbage i.e. her and jonah being elitist because they are top athletes
- lack of discussion around sensitive topics (especially the school lockdown and olivia's relationship with food and her body)
- i also don't really understand the title after reading this?

i did enjoy this story and would recommend it, but i was a little unsatisfied with some parts.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fast and easy read. I flew through this and really enjoyed the tropes and the writing style.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I just couldn’t get into this book for the life of me. I didn’t care for the characters and actually found Olivia to be really annoying, and extremely selfish. I understand that she's only 15 and has some maturing to do, but she was so inconsiderate especially when it came to her mother which didn’t sit well with me. She seemed to really hate her mother for not paying any attention to her, but favored her dad who wasn’t even there. Personally I think it was all because her dad was still skating and her mom couldn’t because of her back injury that was worsening. Olivia just made it seem like it was all about her, and no one else’s dreams mattered. I couldn’t move past it. The issues she had with her parents were never resolved. They seemed to brush it under the rug, and Olivia ended up getting what she wanted.
The relationship between Jonah and Olivia was rushed, and there didn’t seem to be any chemistry between the two. They talked one day and were just all of a sudden together. I was interested in seeing the skating theme develop. Hoped to learn more about it, the different types, the training required, etc. And while there was a little description when Jonah was training (he’s a speed skater) it wasn’t as in depth as I had hoped. The book also has a lockdown scene in the school, which was handled poorly. It’s used for a shock factor, and seemed placed as an excuse for Jonah to say I love you to Olivia. After that was said and done the whole lockdown experience to be brushed aside. Overall it was not a well paced book, and I was bored for the most part of it. This just wasn’t for me.

So I’m just going to call it quits. I could tell from early on that this wasn't going to be a book for me. Everything fell flat and I couldn't connect with the characters or plot.

If I was 14 years old I would have loved this book; however, as an adult, it felt too young for me. I appreciate the Asian representation (Olivia is half Japanese and Jonah is 75% Korean) as teens will find characters that they can relate to. I didn't like a scene where Olivia applies eyeliner onto Jonah's eyelids and suddenly he looks like a k-pop idol. It felt stereotypical to say that all Koreans look like they could be an idol and discredits all the hard work that trainees go through to become idols and the hard work they still do to make it as an idol.

Sadly, this book didn't work for me but I can see young teens liking it.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

YA has been on a roll this year so far and when I got approved for this title I was so excited! I love ice skating and I feel like it is a highly overlooked sport to be featured in books. Olivia’s character had so much responsibility on her plate. My heart hurt a little bit for her family and their struggles. Jonah was super cocky and full of himself. A few of his comments kind of bugged me. I was not completely sold on their romance. Overall, It was cute and I really enjoyed Mac aka “Mac Truck”. She was probably my favorite character and I loved her support for Olivia.

I love a sweet multicultural romance filled with dysfunctional families and a sincere and relatable gaggle of unlikely characters.

Learn more about roller derby and ice skating in this competitive sports realistic fiction novel perfect for teens.

Fujimura also ties in illness and socio-economic issues making this a relevant and intuitive read.

Find my complete, in-depth book review on The Uncorked Librarian: https://theuncorkedlibrarian.com/march-2020-book-releases/

*ARC was provided by Macmillan-Tor/Forge through NetGalley.

This has a cute premise, but it really doesn't start to pick up until the end - this really could have been the first half of a story, instead of the whole book. I really appreciated the Asian representation - I'm biracial (half Vietnamese), and it was so nice to read multiple characters of multiple ethnicities, instead of having everyone come from the same background. That said, I thought the Asian characters outside of Olivia and Jonah weren't really well-developed. They were pretty stereotypical and what you would expect for the token Asian friends.

This is on the younger side of YA, and it definitely reads like it. I think this makes sense because one of the main themes is being a "has been" while still in high school, but it was irritating at some points. However, this meant that a lot of the plotlines in the book - Olivia trying to get back into skating, the Kennedys possibly losing their ice rink, Olivia's mom's health, etc - were kind of touch-and-go over the course of the book. It felt like there was so much going on that barely anything happened.

I liked the characters, but not enough to tune in for the second book. This is sweet at parts but I really had to push myself to finish it.

Olivia is a born skater with raw talent. Her parents as Olympians were teaching her figure skating since she was three years old. Her career as a skater didn’t last long and her dreams ended together with a failed performance when she was fifteen. She tries to live her life as a normal teenager but as funny as it is, it’s not so easy for her. She was homeschooled, and her life was always focused on skating. Even now when she’s going to the normal school, most of the free time she spends on rink owned by her parents; Ice Dreams. She’s working there together with her best friend Mack.

Her life is a routine and it doesn’t change until the new skater appears at the rink. Jonah Choi, a young and handsome speed skater stepped into her life and didn’t even think about leaving it. They changed each other’s points of view on how they want to live their lives.

Soon after Jonah’s appearance, her former skating partner contacts her and asks her for help. After the tragic performance, he left for college and that’s how their partnership ended. However, they are still friends, so she was the first person he asked to partner him in his audition tape for a new job. She considers it as her come back to skating but it’s not as easy as she thought it will be.

My thoughts

I think it’s one of the best years of reading for me because I read only good books this year, and this one is one of them. I’ve never read about skaters and it was very surprising how their life looks like. Skating is everything for them and they could do everything just to be able to train and skate. They focus their whole life on skating and there is no free time for them. Most of the time they don’t even go to school because it’s not worth their time. They are homeschooled so they can use all their time for training. It’s not a hobby, it’s their life. They don’t see any other future than skating. If they can’t skate because of any confusion, it’s the end of their lives.

Olivia is a very talented person, but she didn’t receive enough support from her loved once to use it on ice. She lost her motivation, and no one helped her to get back on track. It was heartbreaking how little faith her family had in her. However, I’m very glad that it didn’t stop her from following her dreams. She listened to her heart and showed everyone that she is the one and it’s not just raw talent.

I didn’t like Jonah in the beginning. He was his only concern and he didn’t care about anything that was happening around. He changed and happened to be one of the best characters in the book. I love his relationship with Olivia and Mack. He was new in everything and it made me laugh so many times. I think even he was surprised how much he started to care about his friends with the time. Thanks to Olivia, his life changed in a way he never could imagine.

I think the worst character in this book was Egg. He cared only about himself and hurt Olivia so many times. I felt like he didn’t care about anything that is happening in Olivia's life and was able to leave her just to get what he wanted. I’m happy that he didn’t play a big role in this book because he didn’t even deserve it.
Thank this book I learned a lot about figure skaters and how hard and dangerous is their life. I was shocked about is how dangerous is this sport. I don’t even mean the falls on ice but how damaging it is for their bodies and mental health. The competition and pressure are huge in this sport so you need to be very strong to be a part of it.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Sara Fujimura for providing me this book. I very enjoyed reading it.

I was drawn to this book because of the skating. I really did enjoy the concept of the book. It is fun and playful. I felt like the main character Olivia was a bit immature and I felt like a few of the main topics that were really important got played down in the end.
Olivia is a 15 year old girl who loves to skate and has been skating since she was very young. Her parents were skaters before she was born and they own an ice rink which is barely holding on by a thread, then comes in speed skater Jonah. He uses the rink to practice and they quickly get into a relationship. I think there could have been a bit more “will they won’t they”. There wasn’t any tension or build up to the relationship they just were together all of a sudden.
The issues she had with her parents were interesting but they never really resolved anything. I was really looking forward to a frank and honest discussion between everyone. There was no closure there. The one relationship I loved was between her and Mac. You can see how real they could both be with each other and they cared for each other like sisters.
Overall this was a sweet fun book to read definitely for a younger audience like 13-17.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.