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A review by mfumarolo
Every Reason We Shouldn't by Sara Fujimura
3.0
I enjoyed this contemporary story focusing on two teens who have Olympic-sized dreams, but life throws each of them different curve balls on the path to making them come true. Olivia is the daughter of gold medalist pairs skaters, and was one-half of a power-house juniors pair that couldn't quite make it in the next age group. Instead of pushing through, she's focused on working at the rink her parents own, largely run by a young single mom since her own mother suffers from crippling pain and her dad is on the road touring. Things get interesting with a young, fellow skater-of-color shows up with the talent and drive to make it in the world of short track speed skating.
This was a fine one-time read for me. A few things that had me struggling to suspend belief especially given that novel falls solidly in the "contemporary, realistic fiction" category were the absentee parents, how healthcare actually works, and the vocabulary/actions/reactions of these apparent 15 year olds. As someone who worked in high schools for 7 years, some of these kids felt a bit Dawson's Creek/Gilmore Girls in how they spoke - If they were 17/18 I could buy it, but 15? Not so much. Good for library collections where contemporary romance is a popular genre.
This was a fine one-time read for me. A few things that had me struggling to suspend belief especially given that novel falls solidly in the "contemporary, realistic fiction" category were the absentee parents, how healthcare actually works, and the vocabulary/actions/reactions of these apparent 15 year olds. As someone who worked in high schools for 7 years, some of these kids felt a bit Dawson's Creek/Gilmore Girls in how they spoke - If they were 17/18 I could buy it, but 15? Not so much. Good for library collections where contemporary romance is a popular genre.