Synopsis

Adriana Russo is part of a legendary figure skating family, with gold-medalist parents and a world renowned skating rink. Here sister is headed to the Olympics and being followed by a camera crew for a reality TV show; Adriana herself is training with her ice dancing partner Brayden for their biggest competition yet. But her focus is on her father's excessive spending, which is putting the ice rink in danger of bankruptcy and only Adriana seems to be concerned about their family's future.

With the Junior World team arriving to train at the Russo’s rink, Adriana is now faced with sharing the ice with her former partner (and crush), Freddie. Guilty over ending their partnership and harboring feelings for him still, Adriana’s life is further complicated once the reality show airs and social media explodes with speculation of an Adriana-Brayden romance. Fearing the fate of the rink and knowing how increased fame and success could help, Adriana agrees to fake a relationship with Brayden and grow their star power. As their feelings become more real, Adriana has to make some life altering decisions that will decide not only the fate of her love life but also of her family and their future.

My Thoughts

Finding Her Edge is a fun YA romance that I particularly was excited to read given the figure skating aspect. I’m a former figure skater (though as a hobby and not competitive) and my first job was working at an ice rink, complete with teaching little kids how to skate! Would a non-skater be as enamored of this book as me? Maybe not, but it was a satisfying romance regardless of how much you’re invested in the skating world.

The book is not entirely realistic, either with life issues or skating, so there are some plot issues if you think too much about it. The financial issues are the driving force behind Adriana agreeing to the fake romance with Brayden, as well as many other decisions. But when looking at the book as a whole it does seem that Adriana lived in a privileged world where any impending bankruptcy was a future issue and did not impact her current lifestyle. Skating is an extremely expensive sport and with 3 girls to support, it would make sense that she would have felt some direct impact already. 

The bigger issue I had was that many of the characters were one dimensional and made it difficult to believe they were real people. Adriana’s older sister Elisa and her dad were the worst, taking me out of the story every time they were featured. They both only had one characteristic which was self-absorbed. It made it difficult to understand or believe that Adriana would care at all about them as there did not seem to be any redeeming qualities. Elisa early on treats Adriana like a servant, watching as Adriana packs her suitcase for the Olympics for her. And she gets away with this because… ? Luckily both the sister and dad spend most of the book away at the Olympics and do not have a lot of direct interaction to read through. 

As a whole the book is enjoyable and any issues I had were nit-picking as the book is a light, romantic read. I think that YA and middle grade students who like romance would enjoy it, as well as adults who want a quick read after watching a lot of skating this February!  

Especially with the winter Olympics this year, Finding Her Edge is a fun romantic read that celebrates figure skating, love, and taking control of your own future. 

Book Information

Genre(s): romance
Recommended for: middle school, high school
Themes: love, family
Protagonist Description: Teenage girl, straight, white
Trigger Warnings: not much beyond kissing

I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this book for free from NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group. This is my honest review and all opinions are my own..

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