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jugglingpup's review against another edition
3.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
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 wasn’t the focus on a romance that I didn’t ship.
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 wasn’t the focus on a romance that I didn’t ship.
brigsis's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
sashreads's review against another edition
4.0
Every Reason We Shouldn't is such a fun character driven story about Olivia Kennedy and how she is trying to come back from a failure in the skating world and also trying to navigate how to be a normal teenager.
I really enjoyed Olivia as a character, I couldn't quite relate to her as I did Mack though. Who is a side character I would love her own story on.
I absolutely adored Olivia and Jonahs relationship and all their moments together just made me cheesy smile.
4/5 stars because I just couldn't wrap my head around all the skate talk/lingo but loved how relatable most characters were.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Olivia as a character, I couldn't quite relate to her as I did Mack though. Who is a side character I would love her own story on.
I absolutely adored Olivia and Jonahs relationship and all their moments together just made me cheesy smile.
4/5 stars because I just couldn't wrap my head around all the skate talk/lingo but loved how relatable most characters were.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
readingrocio's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
nixbix_reads's review against another edition
3.0
This was an enjoyable read. It is predictable, but this does not make it any less enjoyable. I did feel it dragged in some places, but it is a nice light read.
Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
madamenovelist's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mass/school shootings, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing
Minor: Racism, Classism, and Car accident
I really wanted to like this book, and there were a lot of good moments and astute observations into the inner struggles of elite skaters. I felt the author really understood the immense hurdles pairs female skaters have to face very well. That is VERY hard to nail and make it understandable to non-skating fans, but she did nail it. But. BUT. There were a lot of stereotypes/hamfisted references in showing the experience of mixed Asian kids in an area like Phoenix that just didn’t ring right. I love that the author wanted to write something for mixed teens like her own kids… just the execution probably needed a sensitivity reader or two, or a coauthor to help handle showcasing an experience the author herself didn’t have as a white mom. Another point broke immersion as a reader…she cannot write modern Gen Z teen dialogue or inner monologue. It’s hard yes, I am not one of the kids these days either! But I know what they don’t sound like. Another point that was done VERY well but will be hard on readers: extremely disordered eating—and by extension—fatphobia. It’s scary accurate to how eating disorders basically are part of the sport itself but can be extremely distressing or triggering for anyone who has struggled/is struggling with disordered eating. My favorite part of this book is actually a single mom who is a little older than the heroine and is basically her best friend and big sister rolled into one. She was the most alive and spot-on of any of the characters.sammys2's review against another edition
3.0
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.
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.
cafeyre's review against another edition
4.0
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.
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.
louandlife's review against another edition
2.0
Book provided to me by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this book because I thought that it was a book by an Asian author and I wanted to read it and help promote it. It's not. I feel a bit like I have been catfished into thinking that this would be an own voices book, when in reality it's written by a white woman whose married a Japanese man. Before I list the points as to why this is bad representation and how I felt about it as a biracial Asian, I do want to acknowledge the fact that the author states that she's written this book to help biracial Asians to be seen in books, for her children and others. I say biracial Asians as in the book Olivia is half Japanese, and Jonah (the love interest) is 3/4 Korean. Even though this book had romanised Japanese (which I could understand and I barely learnt Japanese when I was studying it), I could still tell that a non-Asian wrote this book. Let me set you the seen as to when I realised this. There's a scene in the book where Olivia and Jonah are talking about ice skating (to be fair it's most of the book). It's about 20ish/30ish per cent into the book. Jonah says joking that if speed skating doesn't work out for him, maybe he can be a Kpop Idol. He then says, word or word in my e-Arc, "I work out. I have a sexy American accent. I can sing, sort of. I'm sure Korean girls would be screaming 'Oppa!' and falling all over themselves to get to me." That screamed to me white person, so I had to look up the author because I was like surely no Asian author would actually write and publish this and I was right. Let me break down this section, in case you don't get the subtext.
1) Kpop Idols - Most people who like Kpop know that Idols work their butt off to even debut let alone be successful. Most Idols train from childhood/teenage years to be able to get into an entertainment company, and if they're luck enough to get in a company, they are a trainee for a while. It could be months or years before they even debut, and in that time the trainees amass debt to those companies which they have to pay back. They would hopefully tend pay the training off after they've debut and acquired fans to support them. The comment of Jonah working out, having an American accent and being able to kind of sing irritated me as a Kpop fan because I know that there is a lot more than that to become an Idol.
2) The comment on the "sexy American accent" made me see the white author behind that statement. This may be a bit of a stretch, but it reminded me of white people thinking that just because they're white, that Asians would love them. It's similar here but it's in the sense of being American/having an American accent is better than Asian for attractiveness.
There was also another scenario where Olivia was happy that she was able to take her shoes off in Jonah's house upon entering because she was wearing heels. It's common in most Asian and Middle Eastern countries to take off shoes because you do not want to be bringing the dirt from outside inside your house. It's become a part of the culture, so that being written in the book was also a clear indicator that the author was not Asian.
This book also encourages the stereotype of Asians being the best students and studying when they can with Olivia's friendship group in school being the only Asians, and they study during their lunch break. There's Japanese twins, but I don't remember their names, and Brandon who likes to bake. Most of their dialogue is about homework or how to get to college.
I was tempted to dnf it as the main reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place was because I wanted to support an Asian author. I can understand the authors intentions in writing this book but I do think it's most likely going to do more harm than good. I personally would have much preferred to have a Japanese author or a biracial Asian to have written this book instead of a white woman. I think this book takes up the space of people who have a difficult time in getting published in the first place.
Unfortunately, I wanted to finish this book because I was mildly enjoying the story. It was an easy read, but it still was problematic in other areas, and some of the plot was terrible, but I still managed to finish this book which is why I ended up giving this book 2/5 stars. I will most likely be doing a whole video review of this book on my YouTube channel as well once I have finished studying.
Now I will talk about what I didn't like about this story.
The Plot.
The plot was okay. I liked the skating aspect but it made Olivia and Jonah the stereotype of not like other girls/guys because they're all about the ice. I understand that it is their lives, and it's not something I can relate to, but their general attitude makes it so that they think everything is below skating. School, friends, and sometimes even family. It's skating first. It's done in a way that it's a bit alienating towards the reader. In general, the story is quite slow paced. It picked up in the latter half of the book but there was a plot twist that I really didn't like. This book should have trigger warnings for an intruder in school because I can imagine that it would be quite harmful to some people. I liked seeing that in a book because it was the first time that I've seen in, but it turns out just to be a plot device to make Olivia upset at her mother for not checking her phone/the news. I don't think that it was handled well in the book and I thought that there would be better ways to ensure the same result then to barely discuss intruders in schools/school shootings. I liked the last 30% of the book the best and I ended up reading that in one go. I thought that it was a lot better than the rest of the book because there was numerous stakes involved and you wanted to see how the story would play out.
In terms of the characters, I didn't mind them. I don't think that they are that memorable. If it wasn't for the fact that I feel like I've been catfished by a white author, I would forget this book in a few months. My favourite character was probably Mack - one of the main white people in this book. I really liked her storyline of being a valedictorian, but getting pregnant and pretty much being a single mom and living with her grandmother. I honestly think that the author should have written this story from Mack's perspective because it would have been better, probably in general because her story is quite complex, but also for the Asian representation. But I know that this would have defeated the authors original intention of writing a story for biracial Asians, but as one, I say it's not that good. Skip it.
One of the funniest things about this book is that there is a character nicknamed Egg in this book. His name is Stuart but Olivia calls him Egg because he has twin older brothers who are like peas in the pod and Stuart was the only one by himself so he's a singular Egg. I didn't really understand it but I do think that nicknames are meant to be easy to understand and not involve a paragraph of explaining. I think it would have been better if Stuart only ate eggs, was obsessed with Guatemala, or looked like an Egg. There was no need to highlight the older brothers in this story because they weren't really a part of the story, but a small part of Stuart's background.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book. Whilst I did mildly enjoy reading this book, the positives do not outweigh the negatives. I hope that you enjoyed reading every reason why you shouldn't read this book (book title pun intended).
I requested this book because I thought that it was a book by an Asian author and I wanted to read it and help promote it. It's not. I feel a bit like I have been catfished into thinking that this would be an own voices book, when in reality it's written by a white woman whose married a Japanese man. Before I list the points as to why this is bad representation and how I felt about it as a biracial Asian, I do want to acknowledge the fact that the author states that she's written this book to help biracial Asians to be seen in books, for her children and others. I say biracial Asians as in the book Olivia is half Japanese, and Jonah (the love interest) is 3/4 Korean. Even though this book had romanised Japanese (which I could understand and I barely learnt Japanese when I was studying it), I could still tell that a non-Asian wrote this book. Let me set you the seen as to when I realised this. There's a scene in the book where Olivia and Jonah are talking about ice skating (to be fair it's most of the book). It's about 20ish/30ish per cent into the book. Jonah says joking that if speed skating doesn't work out for him, maybe he can be a Kpop Idol. He then says, word or word in my e-Arc, "I work out. I have a sexy American accent. I can sing, sort of. I'm sure Korean girls would be screaming 'Oppa!' and falling all over themselves to get to me." That screamed to me white person, so I had to look up the author because I was like surely no Asian author would actually write and publish this and I was right. Let me break down this section, in case you don't get the subtext.
1) Kpop Idols - Most people who like Kpop know that Idols work their butt off to even debut let alone be successful. Most Idols train from childhood/teenage years to be able to get into an entertainment company, and if they're luck enough to get in a company, they are a trainee for a while. It could be months or years before they even debut, and in that time the trainees amass debt to those companies which they have to pay back. They would hopefully tend pay the training off after they've debut and acquired fans to support them. The comment of Jonah working out, having an American accent and being able to kind of sing irritated me as a Kpop fan because I know that there is a lot more than that to become an Idol.
2) The comment on the "sexy American accent" made me see the white author behind that statement. This may be a bit of a stretch, but it reminded me of white people thinking that just because they're white, that Asians would love them. It's similar here but it's in the sense of being American/having an American accent is better than Asian for attractiveness.
There was also another scenario where Olivia was happy that she was able to take her shoes off in Jonah's house upon entering because she was wearing heels. It's common in most Asian and Middle Eastern countries to take off shoes because you do not want to be bringing the dirt from outside inside your house. It's become a part of the culture, so that being written in the book was also a clear indicator that the author was not Asian.
This book also encourages the stereotype of Asians being the best students and studying when they can with Olivia's friendship group in school being the only Asians, and they study during their lunch break. There's Japanese twins, but I don't remember their names, and Brandon who likes to bake. Most of their dialogue is about homework or how to get to college.
I was tempted to dnf it as the main reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place was because I wanted to support an Asian author. I can understand the authors intentions in writing this book but I do think it's most likely going to do more harm than good. I personally would have much preferred to have a Japanese author or a biracial Asian to have written this book instead of a white woman. I think this book takes up the space of people who have a difficult time in getting published in the first place.
Unfortunately, I wanted to finish this book because I was mildly enjoying the story. It was an easy read, but it still was problematic in other areas, and some of the plot was terrible, but I still managed to finish this book which is why I ended up giving this book 2/5 stars. I will most likely be doing a whole video review of this book on my YouTube channel as well once I have finished studying.
Now I will talk about what I didn't like about this story.
The Plot.
The plot was okay. I liked the skating aspect but it made Olivia and Jonah the stereotype of not like other girls/guys because they're all about the ice. I understand that it is their lives, and it's not something I can relate to, but their general attitude makes it so that they think everything is below skating. School, friends, and sometimes even family. It's skating first. It's done in a way that it's a bit alienating towards the reader. In general, the story is quite slow paced. It picked up in the latter half of the book but there was a plot twist that I really didn't like. This book should have trigger warnings for an intruder in school because I can imagine that it would be quite harmful to some people. I liked seeing that in a book because it was the first time that I've seen in, but it turns out just to be a plot device to make Olivia upset at her mother for not checking her phone/the news. I don't think that it was handled well in the book and I thought that there would be better ways to ensure the same result then to barely discuss intruders in schools/school shootings. I liked the last 30% of the book the best and I ended up reading that in one go. I thought that it was a lot better than the rest of the book because there was numerous stakes involved and you wanted to see how the story would play out.
In terms of the characters, I didn't mind them. I don't think that they are that memorable. If it wasn't for the fact that I feel like I've been catfished by a white author, I would forget this book in a few months. My favourite character was probably Mack - one of the main white people in this book. I really liked her storyline of being a valedictorian, but getting pregnant and pretty much being a single mom and living with her grandmother. I honestly think that the author should have written this story from Mack's perspective because it would have been better, probably in general because her story is quite complex, but also for the Asian representation. But I know that this would have defeated the authors original intention of writing a story for biracial Asians, but as one, I say it's not that good. Skip it.
One of the funniest things about this book is that there is a character nicknamed Egg in this book. His name is Stuart but Olivia calls him Egg because he has twin older brothers who are like peas in the pod and Stuart was the only one by himself so he's a singular Egg. I didn't really understand it but I do think that nicknames are meant to be easy to understand and not involve a paragraph of explaining. I think it would have been better if Stuart only ate eggs, was obsessed with Guatemala, or looked like an Egg. There was no need to highlight the older brothers in this story because they weren't really a part of the story, but a small part of Stuart's background.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book. Whilst I did mildly enjoy reading this book, the positives do not outweigh the negatives. I hope that you enjoyed reading every reason why you shouldn't read this book (book title pun intended).