Staff Writer: Julie
Book Title: Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli
Published Date: February 8, 2022
Number of Pages: 304
Format: Physical Book
Genre: Teen
Tags: Teen, Young Adult, Romance, Fake Boyfriend, Contemporary Fiction
Cardigan Rating: 3 out of 5
Adrianna Russo comes from a family of figure skaters. Her parents won the Olympics and have one of the most influential rinks in the world. Since her mother died, she has been trying to help keep the Russo rink afloat as her father and sister spend all the money they have. Her older sister is going for singles figure skating in Beijing, her younger sister is one of the top pairs skaters, and she is an ice dancer, which is looked down upon by her family. She starts up a fake relationship with her partner, Brayden, to try and get sponsorships, but there is Freddie, her former partner and crush, in the wings. What is she supposed to do?
I have been interested in figure skating since Kristi Yamaguchi won in 1992, yes, I am old. With the Olympics in February, I was glued to the TV for this year’s team, so I had to pick up this book afterwards to keep my fix. The book was good. The family dynamics were all over the place, where no one appreciated all that Adrianna was doing, and some just took her for granted.
I liked the explanation of the skating. You don’t need to have any background knowledge in skating to enjoy the book. The fake romance was great; you could see it growing and begin rooting for it to not be fake. Freddie isn’t in there that much, but one can see where the feelings came from and why Adrianna might still have them. I won’t spoil anything, but I wasn’t happy with the ending. There is a Netflix series that loosely follows the book and has the same ending. There will be a season two of the series, so maybe things will change.