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Spiraling Out
Not yet published
Expected 2 Mar 27A competitive figure skater tries not to buckle under pressure while ignoring her growing feelings for her rival in this YA novel perfect for fans of Some Girls Do and Spinning.
Ever since failing to get the gold last season, figure skater Evelyn Osei has had her eyes on the prize. This time nothing will get in her way—not friends or school, not her OCD, and definitely not her ex-friend and rival Mei Sato who is training at Evelyn's club this year. As the season progresses and her relationships fray, Evelyn has to confront that she might not have everything under control and that her feelings for Mei run deeper than either friendship or rivalry.
In her third novel, award-winning author Maya Ameyaw explores the stress of athletic competition and the confusion of first love with sensitive and vivid prose. Spiraling Out will speak to figure skating fans as well as any reader balancing the demands of daily life while on the complicated road to self-discovery.
Ever since failing to get the gold last season, figure skater Evelyn Osei has had her eyes on the prize. This time nothing will get in her way—not friends or school, not her OCD, and definitely not her ex-friend and rival Mei Sato who is training at Evelyn's club this year. As the season progresses and her relationships fray, Evelyn has to confront that she might not have everything under control and that her feelings for Mei run deeper than either friendship or rivalry.
In her third novel, award-winning author Maya Ameyaw explores the stress of athletic competition and the confusion of first love with sensitive and vivid prose. Spiraling Out will speak to figure skating fans as well as any reader balancing the demands of daily life while on the complicated road to self-discovery.
240 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 2, 2027
About the author
Maya Ameyaw
3 books94 followersMaya Ameyaw is a Ghanaian Canadian author born and raised in Toronto. Her debut novel When It All Syncs Up was selected as one of Kirkus’s best books of 2023 in the young adult category. She is a former bookseller and currently works as a writing instructor. Maya has edited several literary anthologies for community arts programs.
In her free time, Maya enjoys hanging out with her adorable dwarf rabbit and devouring as many books as possible. She also loves exploring all the bookstores that Toronto has to offer.
In her free time, Maya enjoys hanging out with her adorable dwarf rabbit and devouring as many books as possible. She also loves exploring all the bookstores that Toronto has to offer.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 6, 2026
I’m a fan of Maya Ameyaw’s YA stories. They’re all centered around a romance, but are in the end, far, far more than that. Even more, if you want to read her books mainly because of the romance, you should think twice. The thing is, all of her stories tackle heavy topics and are kind of messy, with pretty flawed characters. I’m a fan of these kinds of stories, and I’d like to compare Maya’s books to Jackie Khalilieh’s YA novels. Both authors show so beautifully how messy growing up can be, especially when you’re a teen who feels ‘different.’
So in Spiraling Out, Evelyn is a figure skater dealing with OCD, and since Mei kissed her a while back, their relationship has become estranged.
OCD is an important part of Spiraling Out, and I think Maya did a wonderful job of showing what OCD can do to someone, how it can hold them back, and how good coping mechanisms can help.
Spiraling Out is a pretty short story (I wouldn’t have minded a few more pages), and I adored the queer rep (like I did with Maya’s previous stories too). Even though I loved Evelyn and Mei, I had a soft spot for Evelyn’s younger brother, Josiah. I would love to see a book about him too!
Thank you so much, Annick Press and Edelweiss, for this wonderful ARC!
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So in Spiraling Out, Evelyn is a figure skater dealing with OCD, and since Mei kissed her a while back, their relationship has become estranged.
OCD is an important part of Spiraling Out, and I think Maya did a wonderful job of showing what OCD can do to someone, how it can hold them back, and how good coping mechanisms can help.
Spiraling Out is a pretty short story (I wouldn’t have minded a few more pages), and I adored the queer rep (like I did with Maya’s previous stories too). Even though I loved Evelyn and Mei, I had a soft spot for Evelyn’s younger brother, Josiah. I would love to see a book about him too!
Thank you so much, Annick Press and Edelweiss, for this wonderful ARC!
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Read
September 16, 2026A gorgeous, fast-paced read that swept me straight into the racing heart of the figure skating world—from the very first line, I felt as if I was on the rink, feeling the slice of smooth blades on crisp ice, frosty air whipping at my hair, clasping my hands together as I waited for Evelyn and Mei's fates to be decided at the kiss and cry.
Spiralling Out tackled (often difficult) conversations surrounding sexuality, OCD, and complicated rivalry with utmost sensitivity, all while giving us a wonderfully queer, diverse cast; a beautiful mother-daughter relationship; heartwarming female friendships; and an unstoppable, strong female protagonist at the core of it all. I'm floored!
Spiralling Out tackled (often difficult) conversations surrounding sexuality, OCD, and complicated rivalry with utmost sensitivity, all while giving us a wonderfully queer, diverse cast; a beautiful mother-daughter relationship; heartwarming female friendships; and an unstoppable, strong female protagonist at the core of it all. I'm floored!
Want to Read
April 29, 2024April 30/24: Black FMC who’s a figure skating and it’s sapphic.. sign me up.
My first anticipated release of 2026…. I can’t wait ☺️☺️☺️
My first anticipated release of 2026…. I can’t wait ☺️☺️☺️
Review of advance copy received from Author
RTC! Such a fun book!!!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you so much to Netgalley for sending me this amazing read, I am so glad to have gotten my request accepted and enter Evelyns world.
4.5/5 stars
Spiralling Out follows Evelyn, one of the best figure skaters in the country during her final year of high school as she learns to coexist with her OCD, manage school and training, find time for her friends, and figure out what the hell is going on between her an her skating rival Mei.
This book tackles OCD in a way I have never seen before, and as someone with OCD, it felt very real and genuine. There weren't spelt out comments of Evelyn going though an episode, or dramatic displays of her issues. It was true to how OCD will often present itself; an internal fight between your compulsions and actions. Evelyns need to perfect every move until her mind tells her she can stop, her need to have her lucky items with her, and her quite spiral of panic that follows her every action felt very true to my own experience, and it was great representation for the community.
The queer representation in this book is amazing. Evelyns support from her family and friends was especially nice to see. We see so much of her internal fear around her parents disapproval, her OCD spiralling as she says even she knows her family would likely be fine with it, so when her mother does talk to her about it, and Evelyns worst case scenarios prove to be as irrational as she thought, it feels full circle for her development and like a happy moment for the family.
Her family overall had a good dynamic I enjoyed reading. Having such successful parents both supportive of different career paths was a great set up for the tension in terms of Evelyns choice for school. Her mother supports her no matter, and would love for her to join her at the rink, while her dad wishes for a more traditionally acceptable career. Neither parent is downright dismissive of her, and even despite the conflict between their wants and her own, her parents find room to let her breathe and find her own place.
My one critique of the book would be that I wish her father and brother got a little more page time and development. Josiah was such a fun character and I loved the scene of the sister and brother talking about her receiving the award and her thinking about all the times he's come to support her. It was a quite ac t of sibling love and the bond the two share that I wish we saw more of. As for the father, I felt he just needed a bit more time to come around to Evelyns choice regarding a BA. For how much the book set up his bed for her to be a doctor and for her to be this perfect stem student, it felt like he accepted her choice and this 'betrayal' a little too fast. I think just a little longer spent on that scene, on her and her father having a genuine conversation where she talks about her missing him at her competitions, and her wanting more from him than just questions on academics would have really brought this book to a perfect 5 for me. Some of my favourite quotes from the books were ones surrounding their relationship, like when he asks her how's she's doing and she automatically assumes he means academically, or when she mentions she wonders if he knows she's been picking herself up. I just really wanted a full circle moment with that in their resolution and a bit more time spent on it to make it seem more realistic.
Overall though, an amazing book, and I cannot wait to read more by this amazing author.
4.5/5 stars
Spiralling Out follows Evelyn, one of the best figure skaters in the country during her final year of high school as she learns to coexist with her OCD, manage school and training, find time for her friends, and figure out what the hell is going on between her an her skating rival Mei.
This book tackles OCD in a way I have never seen before, and as someone with OCD, it felt very real and genuine. There weren't spelt out comments of Evelyn going though an episode, or dramatic displays of her issues. It was true to how OCD will often present itself; an internal fight between your compulsions and actions. Evelyns need to perfect every move until her mind tells her she can stop, her need to have her lucky items with her, and her quite spiral of panic that follows her every action felt very true to my own experience, and it was great representation for the community.
The queer representation in this book is amazing. Evelyns support from her family and friends was especially nice to see. We see so much of her internal fear around her parents disapproval, her OCD spiralling as she says even she knows her family would likely be fine with it, so when her mother does talk to her about it, and Evelyns worst case scenarios prove to be as irrational as she thought, it feels full circle for her development and like a happy moment for the family.
Her family overall had a good dynamic I enjoyed reading. Having such successful parents both supportive of different career paths was a great set up for the tension in terms of Evelyns choice for school. Her mother supports her no matter, and would love for her to join her at the rink, while her dad wishes for a more traditionally acceptable career. Neither parent is downright dismissive of her, and even despite the conflict between their wants and her own, her parents find room to let her breathe and find her own place.
My one critique of the book would be that I wish her father and brother got a little more page time and development. Josiah was such a fun character and I loved the scene of the sister and brother talking about her receiving the award and her thinking about all the times he's come to support her. It was a quite ac t of sibling love and the bond the two share that I wish we saw more of. As for the father, I felt he just needed a bit more time to come around to Evelyns choice regarding a BA. For how much the book set up his bed for her to be a doctor and for her to be this perfect stem student, it felt like he accepted her choice and this 'betrayal' a little too fast. I think just a little longer spent on that scene, on her and her father having a genuine conversation where she talks about her missing him at her competitions, and her wanting more from him than just questions on academics would have really brought this book to a perfect 5 for me. Some of my favourite quotes from the books were ones surrounding their relationship, like when he asks her how's she's doing and she automatically assumes he means academically, or when she mentions she wonders if he knows she's been picking herself up. I just really wanted a full circle moment with that in their resolution and a bit more time spent on it to make it seem more realistic.
Overall though, an amazing book, and I cannot wait to read more by this amazing author.
Read
September 2, 20263.5 stars; review to come March 2027
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
An amazing journey of Ghanaian-Canadian girl who is balancing senior year and competitive ice skating while also navigating sexuality and having traditional and a perfectionistic parent. Representation: sapphic, interracial, OCD
As someone who grew up with crippling anxiety and pressure to become a MD, I needed this growing up.
I received an ARC from Annick Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
As someone who grew up with crippling anxiety and pressure to become a MD, I needed this growing up.
I received an ARC from Annick Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Want to Read
April 20, 2026oh i am so excited. i love everything we know about this so far (and even more so the fact that Maya's canadian) and i cannot wait. if only winter 2027 wasn't literally next year.
september 2026 update: i got an arc so the wait isn’t that unbearable anymore
september 2026 update: i got an arc so the wait isn’t that unbearable anymore
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews