Every Reason We Shouldn't

Every Reason We Shouldn't #1

by Sara Fujimura

Warning: Contains family expectations, delightful banter, great romantic tension, skating (all kinds!), Korean pastries, and all the feels.

Fifteen-year-old, biracial figure skater Olivia Kennedy’s Olympic dreams have ended. She's bitter, but enjoying life as a regular teenager instead of an athlete... until Jonah Choi starts training at her family's struggling rink. Jonah's driven, talented, going for the Olympics in speed skating, completely annoying… and totally gorgeous. Between teasing Jonah, helping her best friend try out for roller derby, figuring out life as a normal teen and keeping the family business running, Olivia's got her hands full. But will rivalry bring her closer to Jonah, or drive them apart?

Every Reason We Shouldn't by Sara Fujimura is a charming multicultural romance perfect for the many fans of Jenny Han and Rainbow Rowell.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Sports, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[chan ☆]

dnf @20%

cute but not what i'm in the mood for at the moment tbh. YA contemporaries are pretty hit or miss for me anyway

[Inside My Library Mind · Rating 1 out of 5]

More reviews up on my blog Inside My Library Mind

First of all, I really did not enjoy the characters. Olivia and Jonah did nothing for me. I found them to be really flat characters, and moreover, I couldn’t quite comprehend any of their struggles or issues, because none of them really made sense. Moreover, Olivia was pretty much awful at times. For example, when her best friend was explaining how she would love to go back and do high school differently, Olivia said something along the lines of “what, you would study harder so you would not have a minimum wage job at an ice rink”. Who does that? And like I said, I could not find any aspect of the characters that I liked, I never really understood their motivations or their issues, it all translated very two dimensional to me. Moreover, both Olivia and Jonah had this “we are not like other people” which read very much like the not-like-other-girls trope, with them constantly talking how other people just don’t get them, but in a way that felt so performative and obnoxious and not like it had any real grounding.
The same thing is true for the rest of the characters — they felt like placeholders and did not really have any prominent characteristics and served just to push the narrative forward.

I was also super excited about the skating part, but the passion that the author wanted to instill into Oliva never really translated. For example, she gives this big speech at the end about skating and how she loves it, but not once in the book did I feel like she loved the sport. We were supposed to believe that she loved the sport, but we were never really shown said love.

The romance also did nothing for me. First of all, it happened already at 15% into the book, and wasn’t given any build-up or tension to be believable. The characters had no chemistry whatsoever, and moreover, Jonah was pretty shitty to Olivia at times. He was both dubious and unsupportive of her talents and interests, which was bad, and he was also such a show-off and a self-righteous person that kept being a jerk, so I did not even understand what was there to like about him.

I also felt like the representation in this was quite performative. To me, it really translated like a white woman writing about an experience that she doesn’t have and doesn’t fully understand. Moreover, the story kept stressing on the fact that Olivia is half-Japanese while Jonah is “three quarters” Korean at weird times, and it felt like the author wanted us to not forget that this was a diverse story, without really engaging with that in any sort of meaningful way. And I just felt a little bit iffy about a white person writing about the “overbearing Asian parent” stereotype. It all felt a bit performative. I respect that the author has biracial children, but this still felt like it was obviously not written by an ownvoices author.

The book also has a lockdown scene in the school which was handled super poorly. It’s used for shock factor and drama, and it’s never properly explored. Being lockdown in a school is terrifying and an experience that needs to be dealt with really carefully, and this book did not do that at all. It was only there so Jonah could say I love you to Olivia (at like 25% into the book) and for her to state that this was both the worst and the best day of her life. PLEASE. And then the whole lockdown experience was just brushed over which really did not sit well with me.

I also felt like the plot of this novel made no real sense. The pacing was really off, and I felt like the book kept going without any sort of real direction or purpose. Not a lot happens throughout the book and then an issue is introduced at 95% into the book and gets resolved so quickly so I saw no purpose to it. It was just not a well paced book, and I was bored for the most part, which is weird since this book is under 300 pages, so there’s not a lot of room for things to drag and yet they did.

Finally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing. The dialogue did not work, and there were to many instances of adult-trying-to-talk-like-the-kids instances, like using the word extra 40 times in the book, or “get it guuurl” or “boy, bye” things which got on my nerves infinitely.

To Sum Up
I am really sad I did not like this one, but I did not enjoy anything about this book really. It’s rare for me to not find anything to like in a book, but this one was such a huge miss for me, and I would not recommend it.

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[The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Review on The Candid Cover

3.5 Stars

Every Reason We Shouldn’t by Sara Fujimura seemed like the perfect book for me since I am a big fan of any story about skating. While I did enjoy this concept, I had many issues with the book, including the immature main character and the lack of discussion around the sensitive topics presented. I didn’t hate this book, but it was not what I was expecting.

❀ A SKATING STORY

This book tells the story of Olivia, a figure skater adjusting to life outside the rink and trying to save her family’s business. When speed skater Jonah Choi starts training at her family’s rink, Olivia finds herself falling for him. I love any book about skating, and it was nice to see two different types of skating (as well as roller derby) represented in the book. I also found it interesting how the story talks about being “washed up” at 15 and the difficulties that come with coming back to sports after taking a break. This adds some depth to the book and makes it more than just a romance.

❀ MAIN CHARACTER IS IMMATURE

One of my biggest issues with the book was the main character. I found Olivia to be selfish and immature, and she almost disregards the problems in everyone else’s life and sees her own as more important. I did like how passionate she is about skating and how she perseveres to get her dream back, but I couldn’t get past how whiny she is. Jonah is not as annoying as Olivia, but the two of them have this whole “we aren’t like everyone else” mentality, and the way they isolate themselves is a bit elitist and off-putting.

❀ SERIOUS TOPICS AREN’T HANDLED WELL

Another aspect of the book that I didn’t love was the writing itself. While I did appreciate the discussion of more serious topics, I feel that there are a couple of topics that are not handled properly. For instance, there is a school lockdown scene that comes across as an excuse for Jonah to say “I love you” for the first time. It is an incredibly sensitive topic and clearly disturbing for Olivia, but it is never brought up again or truly unpacked. As well, the main characters’ unhealthy relationship with food is never really commented on, and this could be triggering to some readers. Along with these jarring moments, I also had issues with the way the characters speak. It comes across as though the author is trying way too hard to sound like a teenager with her excessive use of slang like, “extra” and “that’s the tea, sis.” I appreciate the effort to relate to a younger audience, but in this case, it went overboard.

❀ A FANTASTIC PREMISE, BUT A BIT UNSATISFYING

Every Reason We Shouldn’t has a fantastic premise, but other than that, much of the book didn’t satisfy me. The main character is selfish, and sensitive topics are not handled as well they should be. In my eyes, I definitely don’t think this book needs a sequel.

[Paula M · Rating 3 out of 5]

for more reviews and to see the playlist forthis book, please visit Her Book Thoughts!

If you’re looking for a teen romance with no unnecessary drama and angst, I would recommend Every Reason We Shouldn’t to you. The warning or disclaimer of this books really delivered, it did include delightful banter, sports and all the feels.

The story centers around figure skater Olivia, who at a very young age already won gold for being a fantastic athlete. Olivia is biracial, very young, ambitious with an authentic teenage voice. She is the daughter of two highly known figure skater which also gave her some sort of pressure to exceed as an athlete. Let me just start by saying Liv doesn’t hate her parents, she just feels what every other teenagers   would feel towards their parents. In short, she was being a teenager. This is what I liked most about  her  character, her voice are real. I also adore our “love interest” Jonah, an oppa to love (as Mack would say) Unlike a normal teenage boy though, Jonah doesn’t really have that rebellion phase going on. He doesn’t have time for that because like Olivia, Jonah is an athlete too. A hard-working one I might add.  It's such  a refreshing thing to read about the thought process of an athlete who juggles with peer pressure while keeping up with their social life or as Olivia would say, a normal  life. But if you're gonna ask me who my favorite character is though, I'll 100% say its Mack. This girl deserves her own book. She's the most interesting supporting character I've read in a while. I really had no major issues with the characters.

Jonah and Olivia are biracial. This fact is really one of the reason why I was excited to read the book (along with that cute cover) and although it did deliver, I expected more. I feel like it focused on the sports which I'm not complaining about, but there was a lack of information or aspect that I though would be shown throughout the story. I didn't feel the #OwnVoice enough and I would say that there was a lot of opportunity to explore that. Another thing, there was a scene (or chapters) of the book that I feel wasn't needed. It just turned out rushed and unnecessary.

Like I mentioned, skating is such a huge part of this book. I have no idea or background when it comes to roller skate derby or figure skating at all so that aspect was really interesting to me. For me, Olivias determination, fear and motivation towards her sports were penned perfectly by the author. I can say the same thing with Jonah's storyline and even with their parents too. It was fun learning and going through the ups and downs of their social and athlete life. The romance wasn't a big deal for me although it was there. I have one word for it: CUTE. I know some of you may say that you're too old already for this kind of teen romance, but it will still give you the feels (if you need more reason to read the book)

Overall, I recommend Every Reason We Shouldn't if you're looking for a light read with a heavy sports plot line. Spend some on the rink and get to know more about skating through Olivia's eyes.

[Kathryn S (Metaphors and Miscellanea) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reeeeally mixed feelings on this one. Full review coming soon, but here are my initial thoughts:

It was cute, but had quite a few flaws as well. Props for diverse rep but it isn't really ownvoices (the author is white, her kids are biracial, she wrote this book so that kids like hers can see themselves represented) and it didnt always come across as authentic, but I did love Mack, a secondary character who was valedictorian of her high school but ended up a teen mom shortly thereafter. There's a weird "not like other girls" feel to both Olivia and Jonah, and their friends at school are really one-dimensional. Also, maybe it's just me, but the title totally doesn't make sense in the context of the book.

Side note: I read an ARC of this that I won in a Goodreads giveaway (it arrived VERY shortly before publication date, which is why it took me a bit to get to it and I'm just finishing now), and my copy was almost 330 pages, while apparently the final version is only around 250? So take this review with a grain of salt, because it seems like a lot was probably cut going from this to the final version.

[Ahana M Rao (Heart’s Content) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find this review of Every Reason We Shouldn't on my blog, Heart's Content!

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher, Tor Teen, via Edelweiss+ and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Every Reason We Shouldn’t is a very special book, because it addresses a variety of issues and all of them manage to stir emotions in you and have you connect to the protagonists. I loved seeing Japanese and Korean culture and I was squealing at all the parts that I recognised (*looking at you KDrama*) and just joyous to see asian rep.

Olivia is a very very lovely protagonist and I think for a fifteen year old, she handled situations much better at her age than I would in some of those same situations at my age. She was … alone in many ways and a lot of her very genuine problems she had to come to terms with on her own (due to circumstance) and my heart truly broke for her during those moments. I felt for her, I really did. I also love that she cut her hair, fierce pixie style. Jonah was a real darling. I honestly expected to see a mildly conceited hero, because of all that he’d achieved and at such a young age. But he wasn’t. He was just a normal boy, who put it a lot of effort into what he loved and was finally living–even if only a little–the life of a teenage boy. I did love seeing the relationship he had with his parents and how it wasn’t messed up like I’d expected it to be, given that his father was a large part of his athletic career. Added to this, I loved how Jonah and Olivia had their own balance, how understanding they were of one another’s situations and had their own little world–all of which doesn’t take away from the small hiccups in their relationship.

Mack. My heart really went out to Mack, no doubt. Of all the characters, I think perhaps she was my utter and absolute favourite. Not only does she already have a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, she’s also always always there for Olivia. So much so, that Olivia looks to Mack in times of trouble. But at the same time, Mack’s shown as being very human, with her own moments of short-temperedness, loss and weakness. I really do hope we see her story next. Stuart, fondly referred to as Egg (I have to say that nickname was ingenious) was a very interesting character and … I can’t place it exactly, but I’m not sure if I like him or not, I just know I had lots to take away from him.

My only issue with the book was pertaining to the first thing I said. The fact that it handles so very many things renders it incapable of handling everything well. Sometimes, some of the things have to be smoothed over a little too easily or handled very very swiftly to fit everything in. Because of the importance of each topic, I felt like I wanted to see the issues being solved; no, I needed to see it being solved because so much of Olivia’s pain, I have felt too and so there was that little bit of unfulfillment that I experienced. But did that take away from how much I sniffled through the book? Nope-sie-daisey.

Four stars! I would definitely definitely definitely recommend ERWS with all my heart. Sara *finger hearts all the way to you*. Though I will warn you, yes, there’s humour, but there’s a lot of emotion in this book. ❤ Happy reading!

[USOM · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

I was initially drawn to Every Reason We Shouldn't for a few reasons. Number one, skating. Ever since "Cutting Edge" I will read anything ice skating focused and this certainly fills a niche. That being said, there isn't that same romantic, will-they-won't-they as in that film and there aren't pair competitions so just know that the only comp between those is that there are just two characters who are skating professionals (speed skating and pairs figure skating).

Number two, I thought this was going to be an ownvoices biracial/Asian rep situation. You can say I should have done more research before reading, but only when I sat down to write this review did I find out that it is not ownvoices rep. Instead it is written from the perspective of, presumably a white, woman who married a Japanese partner with biracial children. She wanted to write the rep that her children wish they saw. I also want to say I am not a biracial Asian American so I also do not have an ownvoices perspective <.b>

Let's start with what I liked about Every Reason We Shouldn't. The scenes on the ice were great. I loved that it gives you a skating scene whether that be the competition or the feeling of being free on the ice. I ice skate for fun, but I have loved that feeling of weightlessness, of gliding. Secondly, I liked that both Jonah and Olivia are handling this life of being an aspiring professional - training all the time and intensely goal oriented - but also what a 'teenage' experience might be. I loved the side character of Mack. She's a single mother who loves roller derby and wants to join a team.

But,

I feel like the summary makes it seem like there will be this long drawn out angst - sort of "Cutting Edge" vibes - and if you were prepared for that, then just re-evaluate your expectations. I also felt like the latter half of Every Reason We Shouldn't sort of felt loosely connected. The pacing took a different turn, but it also felt like all these elements and events were introduced which were never fully resolved.With two aspiring professionals, or even just two people in any relationship, you can encounter one person thinking their career might be more important. I think this is such a great point to bring up, especially with two athletes (and something I've struggled a lot with in the past), but I just wish there was a more satisfying resolution.

The Rep

I want to make this very clear, I am not biracial so I cannot speak to the accuracy of the representation. I couldn't find an ownvoices review to cite either. Definitely go into Every Reason We Shouldn't, knowing it's not ownvoices representation. I do want to mention that in terms of representation, Olivia and Jonah's biracial/multi-racial identity is brought up quite a lot. It's been a bit since I read the book, but as someone who's life has been deeply touched as being Asian, I do not have any real notes about the ways their identity was mentioned in a deep way. By that I mean, in Our Wayward Fate Chao talks a lot about growing up in the minority and what it means about the jokes people make, the ways we self-erase and internalize. The deep and profound ways our experience is changed. And I cannot remember any ways in which this was mentioned in Every Reason We Shouldn't. I didn't just finish so I want to apologize in advance if I've missed something as I'm so behind on reviews.

I also want to make it clear that I am not saying that all books which feature POC characters have to be books that revolve solely around their identity or are "issue" books, I just wanted to give a comparison to some other books I have read. We deserve fun fluffy contemporary romances, messy characters, questions on every level.

As someone who has struggled to find representation in books and the YA sphere specifically as a transracial adoptee, I know how hard it is. I am in no way trying to invalidate Fujimara's desire to write representation that would have helped her children growing up or feel represented in the YA sphere. I also deeply identify with the struggle finding Asian representation. I just wanted to make sure other readers did not go into this thinking that it would be ownvoices like I did.

full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...

[Erin]

I wanted to give this a solid effort but the writing is just so juvenile and tries too hard to be hip. I can't read a book that uses the phrase 'awko-taco' in its prose.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Lou (Lou and Life) · Rating 2 out of 5]

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).

[chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

i received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions below are my own.

3.5 stars

every reason we shouldn’t is an adorable novel about ice skating, love, dreams and family. if i were to rate this book solely in terms of enjoyment, i would have given it a higher rating. i liked the story, but i felt that some parts could be changed to make it even better.

i have never participated in sports competitively, and have only done a little bit of figure skating for fun when i was younger, so olivia’s story and perspective are both pretty new to me – her parents are former olympians, she’s an aspiring olympic figure skater, her boyfriend speed skates competitively, and her family runs an ice rink. reading this book gave me a glimpse into the lives of professional athletes (especially skaters, whose olympic performances i’ve always enjoyed watching) and how devoted they are to their training – olivia and jonah both have incredibly strong work ethic, and i really admired how they spend hours and hours practising, rewatching their own videos, and gritting their teeth through excruciating muscle pain, just so they can get better at skating. as much as i liked their dedication, though, there were some parts that really bothered me. at school, olivia and jonah act obnoxious and stuck-up, and whenever their friends ask them about “normal” things out of concern, they simply dismiss it, always saying something along the lines of “oh, you wouldn’t understand” and “we’re not like other people”. this annoyed me to no end!

as for the food, the characters in this novel all seem to have a habit of gifting sweets and desserts to each other, and that is honestly the sweetest thing ever (both literally and figuratively). i especially liked the parts where brandon brings treats to the lunch table to cheer his friends up, and that reminded me of how some of my own friends would sometimes bring homemade cookies for everyone. jonah and olivia also gift each other desserts from their own culture, which is so heartwarming and wholesome! However, there are, again, some parts that can definitely be handled better. olivia and jonah both seem to have some issues with food which are left unaddressed in the book. olivia throws away the cookies her friend makes for her, just because she is trying to fit into the skating costume she used to wear, and jonah often complains about “simple carbs” and refuses almost everything that has carbs in it. i don’t know if it’s a skater or athlete thing, but to me this seemed unhealthy and problematic.

to sum up, every reason we shouldn’t definitely has its flaws, but it’s a cute, fun book with a lot of potential and great ideas (i.e. i have very mixed feelings), which i hope will be further explored in its sequel.

[Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from being annoyed with the main character, I didn’t really dislike anything about this book. The problem is I also didn’t particularly like anything about it, either. Maybe it was me, so if the summary sounds like your thing don’t let my apathy stop you. Give it a try.

This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m big into sports romances, so Every Reason We Shouldn’t appealed to me in a big way. Not only do I love skating and hockey stories, but since Jonah Choi is a long track speed skater it made for an interesting change of pace in the genre. Add in the fact that Olivia Kennedy is a biracial, Japanese-American teen, who was a gold medalist in pairs skating at the junior level, but who has crashed and burned at the senior division, and Jonah is a 3/4 Korean who has the drive and talent to make it to the Olympics some day, and I knew it had the makings of a good book.

Personally, I don’t think the title is great. Yes, there is some rivalry from Olivia’s side, mostly of the jealous kind, but this isn’t a book in which either a big part of the plot is driven by specific reasons that would keep them apart as a couple or where they have tension or discussion surrounding reasons that keep them apart. If you’re looking for that kind of thing, you’ll be disappointed. Rather, Olivia is drawn to Jonah from the first moment she sees him, and super impressed by his ability. They also always end up as the last two together at the lunch table at school and they make promises to skate together when possible. As the novel goes on, and Olivia attempts to get back into pairs skating training with her partner, Egg, and is struggling just like she had at Skate Detroit, she starts to feel more jealousy toward Jonah and he occasionally says something dumb, like “I didn’t think you were that good,” but this doesn’t stop them from getting together in the first place, which is what the title implies.

Overall, I thought this was a cute romance where both characters, because Olivia understands what competitive skating involves, have realistic expectations of what the relationship can involve. If anything, it is their school friends who attempt to cause drama in that regard when, especially the girls, ask Olivia if she’s upset that Jonah didn’t give her a flower for flower day or say that they have to go to the winter formal, even though Jonah has a competition out of town that weekend and Olivia has to practice with Egg for his audition tape for Olympians on Ice. A previous review suggested that there was an issue with Olivia and Jonah who saw themselves as “Elite” vs their normal, non-athlete friends, but honestly, this camaraderie is because they understand what an Olympic dream entails. Moreover, a lot of the tension came from their normal friends who were so focused on school, studying for the PSAT, volunteering, etc just to stand out on their college applications that they suggested Jonah might be stupid because he had different priorities than studying and that getting a GED to succeed in speed skating, like Jonah wishes he could do if his parents allowed him, is unthinkable to them. In other words the “we’re better than you” thinking isn’t coming from the elite athletes of the group.

One of the things that was definitely shown was Olivia’s low self esteem. She’d worked all her life to succeed as a Olympic level skater, and until this year, hadn’t been in a regular school to permit her to train full time. When things started getting hard for her, and her training was no longer going to be paid for, she kind of gave up. She gets focused on the wrong things like how her body is curvier and slightly heavier, and has a weird relationship with food to try and fit into her old costumes or get back to where she was as a skater. The thing is that it’s only when she stops thinking so hard about her body, how bad she did in her last competitions, and focusing so much on nailing those jumps she was known for is she able to perform properly. It’s basic sports psychology. Add in the negative thoughts of her parents and the Skate America judges about her lack of ability and that it’s too late to reach for her dream, and it’s a recipe for disaster. It’s only when Olivia can get over these things and push through how hard it’s going to be for her going forward that she has a real chance of achieving her dreams.

In a previous review, the writer complained that some sensitive issues weren’t handled well and that, for example, the lockdown situation at their school was just a was for the author to let Jonah say he loved Olivia for the first time. I disagree. Maybe listening to the audiobook and hearing Caitlin Kelly’s voice affected my feelings because, truth be told, I had literal chills at this point. However, beyond that once the situation was resolved, it became clear that there was no weapon in the intruder’s possession and the school offered counselling for anyone who needed it. To me, the biggest reason it was included was to show the huge difference in Jonah’s and Olivia’s support network. Whereas Jonah received text messages from his parents immediately, while they were still in lockdown and his father came and allowed Jonah to cry on his shoulder once it was resolved and they were let out of school, Olivia’s parents not only didn’t contact her, but also failed to respond to her text messages to them for hours. Her mother didn’t know about the lockdown till the next day, and her father didn’t contact her for hours. Moreover, her mother didn’t come to pick her up, and she had to find a way to get to the rink on her own. If it wasn’t for Mac, she wouldn’t have had anyone to really comfort her during a time of crisis, and this also was just a repeat of the way her parents weren’t there for her at any step once she started struggling with her skating.

Sometimes Olivia is immature without a doubt, but when she yells at her mom at one point to figure out whether her mom wants her to be the child or adult, there’s a reason that the author says “she sounds just like a five year old.” Olivia is flawed for sure. She has outbursts that are basically juvenile tantrums, and she gets jealous over boyfriend’s talent when she isn’t sure that she has what it takes. She’s not perfect, but honestly, neither is Jonah. He lies to his parents, sneaks around, yells at his parents, and sometimes says terrible things to Olivia, like “I didn’t think you were that good.” Yes, he apologized immediately for the last bit, but still it kind of sucked. And yet, I didn’t see criticism of his maturity level anywhere on Goodreads, so I tend to think it’s because we put female characters at a higher, unfair standard, even a lot of other women. Plus, let’s be honest, Jonah has great parents and Olivia’s basically leave her to fend for herself and to worry about the growing pile of last due bills without ever talking to her about it or reassuring her. If anyone has reason to yell at her parents, it’s her.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the next instalment in the series to see how the rink fairs after the changes they’ve made, how Jonah and Olivia’s skating careers continue, and how their romance blooms and grows. Perfect for fans of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park, and Julie Cross’ Juniper Falls series.

[TheGeekishBrunette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

I’m glad that I went into this one with lower expectations thanks to a few of the reviews I had read beforehand. Even though I knew the romance wasn’t going to totally work for me, the cover kept calling my name. Light blue covers are my favorite. So, I did it anyways!

When it came to the characters, yay for multicultural! Olivia and Jonah aren’t the greatest characters when it comes to development for me but I liked the diversity they brought to the table. I also enjoyed Granny Macintosh. She was awesome! I think everyone needs a grandma like her. I also enjoyed Mac. She was a great friend/fill-in mom for Olivia.

One good thing about this novel was the friendship between characters. Even when it got tough they were there for one another and I love reading about that.

My biggest gripe would be the relationship between Olivia and Jonah. The thing is, it was pretty insta-lovey. It’s one thing that really breaks fully enjoying a book. After I got past that aspect though I liked seeing their relationship grow.

The plot is unique in that it deals with a skating rink as most of the setting and figure skaters. Haven’t read a book about that yet! There were some plot twists that I felt weren’t really needed. Other than that, I did enjoy reading through this one.

Overall, I liked it. I am curious to see where book two will go and hopefully we will see some more great development when it comes to Olivia and Jonah.

[Nanci · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 from me. I loved this super cute realistic fiction romance. This shows us some of the tough choices and sacrifices talented athletes have to make in order for dreams to come true. Some of the tough choices parents have to make and the line between pushing, encouraging, and wanting kids to be their best. I'm a parent. It's tough to know where the line is drawn. What is not enough? What is too much? Who gets to make those choices and when does the responsibility shift? What does it take to be the best? Romance can be a bit messy. This shows only a bit of that, but I'm.ok with that. You know what I loved about this book? It's not depressing. It addresses issues without bringing the reader down. There's a very upbeat vibe and I need that in a book! No strong profanity. The sexy factor is there but not graphic or in your face. Thumbs up on this one!

[Dany · Rating 4 out of 5]

"No regrets?”
“No regrets"

Every Reason We Shouldn't features my auto add to tbr tropes
🌟Asian Rep
🌟 Controlling parents
🌟High school drama
🌟Not fitting in

RTC

I thank NetGalley and MacMillan for approving my request for this e-ARC. Thjs hasn't affected my opinions .

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 10%. This was so juvenile it was painful. The MC was just a spoiled bitch and had no redeeming qualities. I'm not putting anymore time into it.

[Tressa (Wishful Endings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

EVERY REASON WE SHOULDN'T is a story about a girl who crashed and burned in her last ice skating couples' competition and is figuring out what her life should look like. It's about a talented speed skater who begins training at her rink and the possibility of romance. It's about friendship and family, but mostly about second chances and finding the nerve to save something important. Recommended to contemporary YA fans, especially those who enjoy stories about athletes.

Olivia was a great character from the start! She was easy to connect with and cheer on as she tried to figure out who she was and if she was really washed up or if she had more in her. She also brought all the feels as she dealt with a tough family situation, competing for herself, and finding first love. Jonah was adorable and inspiring. He had talent and a good work ethic while also trying to figure out what "normal" looked like. Mack was this crazy mix of young mother, responsible employee, surrogate mom, and wild woman with her roller derby aspirations. It was a bit of a mess, honestly, as Olivia and Jonah got to know each other. At one point I actually didn't like Jonah for Olivia and was even upset at Mack... but it all worked out. Then there was the fun and crazy group of school friends and both Olivia's and Jonah's families with all their own issues and drama, that added to the story.

There was a lot of romance in this story (some of it swoon-worthy), but what I really liked was that it was about so much more than that. It was about Olivia finding her inner strength to push through pain, to give it her all, and to believe in herself when no one else would. It was also about an ice skating rink that was its own home for the family it brought together of owners, employees, serious skaters, and those who skated for fun. It was also about dreams and sometimes letting go.

There were a couple of things that didn't work for me or needed a bit more development. I wasn't quite sure about a couple 15-year-olds hanging out with some college-aged friends. Some parts didn't always feel realistic and felt over dramatized. I think some things would have worked better for me if some of the characters would have been older and maybe if some of them weren't always competing against each other.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I enjoyed reading this story. It was entertaining with some serious feels in places, and characters who I could cheer on. I'm curious to see where book two will lead.

Content: Some swearing (including the s-word), some innuendo and heavy making out.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through the Fantastic Flying Book Club, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting, PG, multicultural, YA, sports romance

Olivia Kennedy is the almost-sixteen, biracial daughter of a Japanese-American mother and Euro-American father who are world famous for winning Olympic gold as a fabulously talented figure-skating team. Olivia had figure-skating, Olympic dreams as well, and trained since early childhood toward that lofty goal, until a humiliating failure at a major competition the previous year convinced her that her Olympic potential is gone. Since then, she has concentrated on life as a “normal” teenager in Phoenix, Arizona. She has been attending school for the first time, after years of home schooling due to her hectic skating schedule. And she has contributed a great deal to the increasingly dicey proposition of keeping her parents’ ice-skating rink afloat. The rink is struggling mainly because her father is constantly on the road trying to earn a living as a professional, performing, Ice Capades type skater, and her mother can work very little due to suffering constant debilitating pain from a back injury sustained a few years ago when her father dropped her during a performance. Besides Olivia’s efforts, significant help with the rink is also provided by its sole, non-family employee who helps manage the rink, Olivia’s closest friend, Mack, a twenty-year-old single mother with a baby and aspirations to win a spot on a local, women’s, roller derby team.

When almost-sixteen Jonah Choi, a Korean-American, Olympic-caliber, speed skater, begins training regularly at Olivia’s family’s rink, his fees are a tremendous boon to the bottom line of the rink. In addition, their budding romantic relationship has a profound, positive effect on the two of them, both personally and in their ongoing growth and development as super-star skaters.

I’m a big fan of well-written, young-adult, sports romances, particularly when both of the romantic protagonists are massively talented athletes, and especially when they engage in the same sport—or very close to it—as is the case for Jonah and Olivia, who are both masterful ice skaters.

In addition to the central romance plot, there are many fun scenes with both Olivia and Jonah on stage when he is training as a speed skater and solicits tips and tricks from her as a figure skater that could help him avoid catastrophic falls while racing. There are also many entertaining scenes between Mack and Olivia, as well as scenes showing Olivia’s relationship with her mother and one-on-one scenes with her father. There are also crucial scenes with Olivia’s former figure-skating partner, Egg, who at age eighteen is a few years older than Olivia.

I greatly appreciated that every character in this novel, both the main two protagonists and the above subcharacters, all have significant grown arcs. Jonah and Olivia have the ideal kind of romance, in my estimation, in that they stimulate each other to become better people, both personally and as athletes. Olivia’s mother has important decisions to make about treatment options for her chronic pain, and her father has issues to deal with surrounding keeping the family financially afloat. The author sympathetically portrays Mack’s struggles as a single mother, as someone attempting to improve her ice-skating skills in order to win a spot on the local roller derby team, and as a new adult hoping to find a career that fits her natural interests and talents.

This book has a satisfying, “happy for now” type of HEA, and all plot threads are tied up with no crucial questions left unanswered.

I would rate this book PG in the sense that Olivia and Jonah have intense sexual and emotional chemistry with each other, and as a natural outgrowth of that, they have several passionate make-out sessions over the course of the novel. Other than that, the book is mostly G-rated in that there are no drugs, underage drinking, or wild parties. It is a refreshing change for YA novels that Jonah, especially, and Olivia to a lesser degree, both eat a healthy diet and, while in training, avoid junk food of all kinds, especially sugar.

My one objection to this book is that the author has not done her homework on treatment options for excruciating chronic pain such that which Olivia’s mother endures. Further, the author has a poor understanding of how health insurance coverage works in the USA. It seems to be a typical failing of American authors of popular fiction in general that they tend to present in their stories one of two equally inaccurate, opposite extremes about healthcare costs: either they presume that all healthcare is free in the USA (which it decidedly is not), or they presume that all healthcare is paid entirely out of pocket (which also is not true). In the case of Olivia’s family, their money problems are a central source of conflict for Olivia in the novel, and they are attributed for the most part to the ever mounting, unpaid medical bills of Olivia’s mother. However, as a family that is poor enough that Olivia qualifies for the free lunch program at the public school she attends, her family would simultaneously qualify for free health insurance coverage under Medicaid in Arizona, which has been greatly expanded via massive federal subsidies since 2013. Which means that, in actuality, Olivia’s family would have no logical reason to be enormously in debt for Olivia’s mother’s ongoing medical expenses.

In addition, there is another irritating medical inaccuracy springing off of the above misconception that Olivia’s mother is presumed to have no health insurance. Other than for emergency surgery to keep a patient from dying, doctors and hospitals in this country, for decades now, have refused to allow patients to run up medical debts. They flatly refuse to treat patients without insurance unless they pay cash directly to their billing staff before the doctor will see them, or the hospital will treat them. And if patients have insurance, before the doctor will see them or they can have surgery at a hospital, the billing staff will call their insurance company, find out what it will pay for the proposed medical care, and insist that the patient pay the difference before receiving treatment. In addition, no doctor or physical therapist deals with the money side of things. They leave that entirely to the billing staff. For that reason, as well as patient privacy laws, a PT would never, ever yell across a waiting room, threatening a patient that she'd better get her bill paid soon if she wants any more treatment, as Olivia’s mother’s PT does in this book.

Finally, on the irritating medical mistakes front: it is highly improbable that, in a city the size of Phoenix, both Olivia’s mother and Jonah would show up at the same time at the same PT’s office for treatment.

Other than these healthcare inaccuracies, though, the author’s research on the central focus of the story, ice skating, including figure skating, speed skating, and roller derby skating, seems accurate, realistic, and is compellingly written.

I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Skating Plot: 4 stars
Family Medical Drama Plot: 2 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Overall: 3.8 rounded to 4 stars

[Lyn *Nomadic Worlds]

Olivia’s parents own a skating rink where she spends most of her time. She used to be a figure skater until something happened to end her career. Enter Jonah Choi, skating prodigy who starts training at the rink. Sparks fly as they clash.

The synopsis gives the impression of a rivalry, an opposites attract vibe between Olivia and Jonah but I didn’t see it. Even the title hinted at it but it was missing from the story. Their first meeting was a volley of barbs but after that the relationship did a rapid 180. Trust me, I do like when relationships progress fast but the segue lacked a smoothness that felt wrong to me.

There were quite a lot of things about the story that annoyed me, the exchanges between Olivia and Jonah, Olivia’s volatile and juvenile reactions. I understand that teenagers have the constitution of a ticking time bomb but the way Olivia reacted to some of the things in the story just irritated me.

I did empathize with Olivia’s plight over what she went through with her mother and how she had to deal with stuff on her own.

I really wanted to like this book but I didn’t like Olivia and there were plot holes in the story. Some important matters were glossed over which dissatisfied me. This story had potential and could have been much better.

https://nomadicworlds.wordpress.com/2020/06/07/book-review-every-reason-we-shouldnt-every-reason-we-shouldnt-1-sara-fujimura/

[Sarah Salisbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this book marks only the second time I've been THIS excited to get an ARC. (Like, seriously, the last and only other time was when a publisher granted my NetGalley wish to read "Tweet Cute". Worth it.) "Every Reason We Shouldn't" went on my TBR the moment I stumbled across it on GoodReads - at the time, it was so far out it didn't even have a cover yet - so when I saw that it was available on NetGalley, you better believe I smashed that "request" button. And I got it! Why was I so excited? 

Simply put, there just aren't enough YA novels about figure skating. I should know - I've been searching for them since my early teens, when I started reading YA. At the time, I was a serious figure skater, and I was absolutely obsessed with my sport, so it always made me sad that the majority of books available about skating were either middle grade (I actually have read a very good, very accurate MG skating book that I'd recommend, though) or...kinda crappy, TBH. To my knowledge, the only high-profile YA skating book released before this one was "Being Sloane Jacobs," which I read and was very meh on, mostly because, as a former skater, it drove me crazy that the skating parts of the book were so friggin' inaccurate. So when I saw that this was a thing, and my request got approved? Heart eyes. I read the entire book within a day of getting the ARC. There were a few considerations that were going to impact my opinion of this book, so let's see how it stacked up to my lofty expectations. 

1. First and foremost: how accurate was the portrayal of figure skating? 

Honestly? For a skating book written by a non-skater (as it appeared from the author's note, et. al.), it was excellent. The protagonist, Olivia, is a pairs skater, and I was in singles, so I can't speak to that. But the elements (moves, basically) that were name-dropped were all actual things, and most of them were used correctly. The program they were doing, technically, was pretty on-par with the majority of "just moved up and getting our butts kicked" senior-level pairs programs that you'd see among the lower-ranked pairs at the U.S. Nationals. The only thing I have to point out here is that Olivia apparently has a triple axel, which...highly unlikely. There are only four or five singles ladies at the junior and senior levels (keep in mind that singles skaters usually have to do much harder jumps and spins than pairs skaters) who can land a triple axel with any sort of consistency in competition right now, let alone female pairs skaters. It's kind of insane that a mid-tier pairs skater would have such a difficult jump in her arsenal when it isn't expected of female skaters, let alone women in pairs, at all. Otherwise, the portrayal of skating was on-point, even in the non-technical aspects.

Oh, and the "your body goes rogue once you stop skating and you look like a normal person again" thing? 

PAINFULLY accurate. 

(No, really. I was sixteen when I quit, so I was almost in the same boat as Olivia is here, and the second I stepped off that ice for the last time...poof! Went from looking 12 to looking 25 overnight. So yeah, I felt that.) 

2. How much of the rom-com goodness promised by the summary was actually there? 

A good amount, as it turns out. 

To start on a positive note: Olivia and Jonah are a lot younger than most YA characters (usually they're 17-18 and juniors or seniors in high school, while in this book the characters are 15-year-old sophomores), and the development of their relationship really mirrors that. "Every Reason We Shouldn't" has one of the most realistic portrayals of high school romance I've seen in a while, despite being between two characters who aren't anything like typical high school kids. It isn't instalove (which annoys me), nor is it enemies-to-lovers (which, though it is an awesome trope, pretty much never happens in high school, to my knowledge), or any other unrealistic romance trope - they start off as friends, and their crushes on each other develop along with the friendship. There's no fanfare or grand gestures, just shared interests, time spent together, and awkward situation after awkward situation slowly pushing them towards each other. It was...nice. I loved that, as well as how skating - something that matters so much to both of them - is a large part of what brings them together. But once they actually become a thing, that sorta derails. I felt as if they became a little...old-married-couple-ish after they started dating, in a way that no 15-year-olds I've ever met have. But mostly, solid rom-com goodness.

3. Were any loose ends left untied? 

Sorta. 

The epilogue wrapped up almost everything quite nicely, but the *spoilers* conflict between Olivia and her a-hole of an ex-pairs partner, Stuart "Egg" Trout, doesn't really get resolved, and I was curious to see how that would work. Never found out - not a huge deal, but still, disappointing. 

So, was it worth the wait? 

...It's a skating rom-com! It may not have been a perfect book, but I'm never going to say "no" and y'all know it. 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

One-Sentence Summary: he was a sk8er boy, she said...wait, no, she didn't, that doesn't work. 

Recommended For: figure skaters, fans of the sport, anyone who likes sports novels (especially of the rom-com variety). 

Objectionable Content: scattered cursing, and a LOT of implicit making-out that could be something a little steamier but is left so ambiguous that one can never know. 

Overall Rating: 4/5 Golden Grasshoppers

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is a story which follows Olivia, a 15 year old figure skater who tries to adapt to life as a "normal" teenager after a disastrous performance puts her future as a proffesional in doubt. When dedicated speed skater Jonah Choi comes to Ice Dreams, her family's rink, a romance blossoms and both realise there may be more to life than just skating.

A few things I liked about this book:

- First off, I have an unending love for sports romances. This is widely documented. This kind of book automatically appeals to me
- Olivia is fiercely determined to be the best in her field. When people tell her she isn't good enough, she tells them she is and tries even harder to prove that to everyone, herself incuded.
- Despite wanting to try and achieve some kind of 'normal' teen life, neither Jonah nor Olivia let their romance obstruct their skating goals - yes, there are some hurt feelings ocassionally, but for the most part they both understand that their career comes first and that sometimes, that sucks.
- Mack. I adore everything about her. A young Mum recieving very little help from the child's father - financially or otherwise, who still has ambitions of her own and doesn't let the hard parts of life get her down. She acts as a mother figure to Olivia despite only being a few years older. I just love her. She's precious and deserves the world.
- Good representation in terms of race and culture.

Things I had issue with or wasnt very fond of:

- Olivia's treatment of her 'normal' friends. On multiple occasions she blew off plans with them either for Jonah or for skating or Egg or whatever.
- Olivia and Jonah's elitist attitude - they constantly referred to their friends as 'normal' and acted as though they were better than them and like they 'wouldn't get it'. Her friends were nothing but kind and accepting the whole book despite Olivia being shitty to them and honestly, they deserve more credit.
- A lot of things seemed to happen that deserved some focus, but were forgotten in an instant. The school went on lockdown in one chapter and by the next, it was old news, never to be mentioned again. Surely a topic like that deserved to be unpacked at least a little given the psychological impact it had on Olivia?
- Olivia and Egg. Them being skating partners and having a brother/sister relationship was fine, but he treated her like shit and then was all nicey nicey, then abandoned a minor in a place miles from her home that she wasn't familiar with? Clearly his biggest priority wasn't her safety, despite that being their thing for the entire novel. And he faced very little repercussions for this? And the kiss? WHY? It made no sense and added nothing to the story so why not just leave it out?

Overall I actually had a good time reading it, and I'm definitely interested in picking up a sequel.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia thought she had come to terms with the end of her Olympic dreams, but a new fire was lit, when inspiring speed skater, Jonah, began training at her parent's rink. As she attempted to reclaim her place in the skating world, her world outside began to crumble, but would this mark the end of her skating comeback?

• Pro: In this kind of story, I needed to be able to root for someone, and I found myself sort of rooting for EVERYONE! Olivia, Jonah, Mack, mom, dad, the business -- I wanted everyone and everything to succeed, and Fujimura did a nice job cycling me through an array of emotions as I awaited all the individual outcomes.

• Pro: I couldn't imagine going from being at the top of my sport to believing I was washed-up at 15. I easily sympathized with Olivia's adjustment to "normal teen life", but I never stopped hoping she would stop moping and mount her comeback.

• Pro: I adored Jonah. He was so focused on his goals. His discipline was admirable, however, I won't say I was sad, when a certain young woman became both a motivation and distraction for him. This let me see his sweet and swoony side, and it was something I was glad I had the opportunity to get acquainted with.

• Pro: Mack was everything you want and need in a best friend. At first, I saw her as the comic relief, but she was so much more than that, and I was so happy that Fujimara gave Mack her own story arc. Believe me, when I say that the Kennedys struck gold the day this young woman walked into their rink.

• Pro: Olivia was still adjusting to life outside the skating world, and she had little support from her parents, as her father was physically absent, and her mother, emotionally absent. My worry was allayed once I met Mack, Jonah, Egg, and even the lunch bunch, who were there to give Olivia much needed pushes, hugs, and encouragement.

• Pro: The romance between Jonah and Olivia was so sweet, adorable, and awkward. I shipped them hard from their first standoff, and was so happy with the way it all played out.

Overall: I loved the time I spent at the rink getting to know Olivia, Jonah, and everyone else in their world, and throughly enjoyed their journey as they reached for their dreams.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Juliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this digital arc.
Olivia is part of an Olympic family. Her parents are gold medalists who now own an ice skating rink called Ice Dreams. She's skated professionally but her dreams seem to have ended after a terrible finish. When a speed skater and his dad buy out the rink every day for a few hours of practice, Olivia doesn't know if it's a good or bad thing. Little does she know how much Jonah Choi is going to affect her life.
This book was so much more fun than I expected. I love ice skating books so add in speed skating AND roller derby? This just got so much more interesting! All the characters are flawed but I loved that. While Olivia and Jonah are not normal teens, they felt genuine to me. Olivia is not quite ready to give up on her Olympic dreams even though she knows deep down that she's not the best. Watching Jonah as he practices every day doubles down on those feelings. Within her skating bubble, there's so much detail about the different types of skating that I loved. From the good with Jonah getting better and better and winning competitions to the bad of her mom dealing with horrendous pain from an old skating injury. It's clear that the author did her research of skating. Throwing in roller derby just made it all the more fun.
The budding romance between Olivia and Jonah was wonderful. It felt real and I couldn't help but smile when they skated together and grew closer. Their growing like/love for each other was adorable. You could feel the love coming off the pages.
The supporting characters were so great and really filled out the story. Mack was my absolute favorite and the story would have been lesser without her. The parents of the story have big problems that make you side with the teens when they have their fights. I also liked Olivia's school friends because it took you out of the skating world and into the normal teen world for a bit. I do feel that last 30 pages was rushed and it could have benefited from a few more chapters. There were actual issues that needed to be solved in a more thorough manner than it was. Still, this is a solid YA book that was a lot more entertaining than I expected. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking for a YA romance or has a love of all types of ice skating!

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am far from the target audience for this book (my YA days were long ago), but I have to say that this was a very fun read. Interestingly, there wasn't much conflict in the romance, none of the will they/won't they; instead the conflict came from family issues and (more interestingly) the protagonists' uncertainty about her future and whether she really did have what it takes to be a top athlete.

I disagree with some other reviewers who see the heroine as a "not like other girls" archetype; instead she and the love interest were "not like other people"; it takes insane commitment and sacrifice to try to be a top athlete and I think the author did a good job of capturing those differences in personality and worldview. I also like that the book ended with some ambiguity. Things were looking up, but not everyone had achieved all of their ambitions and goals yet. One major thing that fell flat; the major incident at the school felt shoehorned in and too quickly forgotten.

On the whole, not a masterpiece, but a really fun, quick read.

**I was given an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

[Pursuing The Happy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5
I loved the Asian representation in this book. Very nicely woven themes and developed characters. This is one of those books that I wouldn’t get bored rereading. It’s such a cute teen romance, one of the better ones I’ve read. Many of the situations are relatable too—especially being compared with other people and not thinking you’re enough. A much needed story in the YA genre. I would most definitely recommend it. Critique wise, there was a bit of power and “wow” missing. It was a really good story, just not to the wow effect.

[jp · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a cute read 💗💗

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

Every Reason We Shouldn’t is a young adult contemporary romance by auhor Sara Fujimura. Every Reason We Shouldn’t is a skating romance that felt different than previous skating romances that I have read in the past. In the past, the books centered around skating focused on one kind. Either hockey, or figure skating mostly. But Every Reason We Shouldn’t centers around a skating rink and the people that own and use it. The cool part of Every Reason We Shouldn’t is that so many different kinds of skating are showcased.

Our main character Olivia was a once semi-famous pairs skater that had hopes of an Olympic Gold, but instead found herself (maybe?) washed up at the young age of 15. Jonah is a speed skater that shows great promise, and has tons of Gold medals from various competitions to show for his hard work and dedication. And Olivia’s best friend, and Ice rink co-worker Mack is a roller derby girl. Though this story is mainly centered on Olivia and Jonah’s romance, there is plenty of spotlight for the whole cast of characters, which I loved. Mack is my favorite by far. She is smart, a hard worker, hilarious and a wonderful friend to Olivia. I am really hoping that she gets her story told in the next book.

Olivia is a young main character, and because she is younger than most young adult heroines at just 15 vs. 17 or 18, I think she was very age appropriate. She had a different than most upbringing. She was homeschooled secondarily to her primary goal of figure skating. After one too many disastrous performances at a senior level, she is taking a break from professional skating at the start of our story. She is grappling with the idea of trying to adjust to life as a normal teenager, all the while asking herself the question, “is she really a has been skater at just 15?” I felt for Olivia. I can’t relate to her skating talent, but having to deal with normal teenage desires like fitting in at school and with your friends, and also juggling not so normal desires, like should she get back into the world of competitive figure or pairs skating? And if so, does she have what it takes to make it?

In the middle of this internal struggle, speed skating hotshot Jonah shows up at her parents Ice Rink and a really adorable romance ensues. I loved watching them bond of skating, and even watching them skate together. I loved the whole cast of characters, including Jonah’s parents. I thought they were what parents should be like. I was most disappointed in Olivia’s mom. I thought she could have been a whole lot more supportive of Olivia overall. Jonah and Olivia were supr sweet. I enjoyed watching them bond and watching their romance bloom. They got each other in a way that most other kids couldn’t relate. Skating is such a huge part of each of their lives that it makes up a big chunk of who they are.

Overall, I really enjoyed Every Reason We Shouldn’t. It was a really cute ice skating romance that felt different than the previous Ice Skating books I have read in the past .

3.5/5

[Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks)]

dnfed @ 25%

*I received this book from the publisher through Net Galley for an honest review. This does not affect my opinions.

I got 25% into this title and I couldn't continue any further. The main character was very selfish and I was very confused while reading.

The friendship between Mack and Olivia seemed very unlikely! Mack is 20 years old, Olivia is 15. I don't know how common it is for a 20 year old to befriend a 15 year old and become invested in her life. I did like that Mack is a derby girl. That was really interesting and not something I know a lot about.

For about 20% of the book, I thought Fiona was Mack's dog, but 25% in, I realized she's a teen mother which would make more sense to why she had diapers in her car. This was very confusing to me because the friendship just felt very unlikely. A 15-year old and a 20-year old mom being friends? Not something I would say is realistic.

Also, the fact that Olivia's secret to not skating anymore was because of a bad performance? That felt like a less unique reason to why she will never skate again. Last, the excessive use of teenage slang was brutal. I really couldn't imagine teens saying "He must have Ebola", 'guyliner' and 'awko-taco'. There's so much cringe in this and it felt like the author has never actually talked to a teen.

I appreciated the bi-racial representation as well. But, I couldn't get past the writing to save my life and Olivia was a bratty teen. I would've liked to see Olivia's hardships as she had to care for her mother and felt like she wasn't being taken care of by her own mother, but to read her complain about how taking her mother to PT and seeing her mother break down in tears in front of her just to have Olivia say, "I really wish my mom was healthy enough so she could take care of me for a change" made me furious.

There's also a scene about how Olivia's bruises would get so bad from falling on the ice that CPS would come to her house? Excuse me??

This book had potiential, I just feel that it needs a lot of work. I'm bummed because I was really anticipating this and the concept of ice skating was interesting to me.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked the premise and overall concept of this book, I also had some issues with it.

This book is centered around ice skating and the main character is a former figure skater who didn’t do well at her last competition and is no longer actively competing. She works at the ice skating rink her parents own that is in danger of closing.

I really enjoyed the plotline of saving the small family business. The main character loves the place but also resents it too, since her parents are hyper focused on keeping the place going and less focused on her life. It was also an interesting exploration of being “washed up” and basically a has been at the age of sixteen and how the main character coped with that. I also really enjoyed the author’s note at the end and how/why she came to write the story. There’s definitely a lack of diverse YA contemporaries and I liked that the author felt inspired because of her own family.

However, the main character wasn’t terribly likable. She was moody and changed moods constantly. One minute she liked the guy, the next she was resentful of him. One minute she liked that her parents weren’t really involved in her life, then a few pages later she wished they would be. She was pretty rude and snotty at times.

There are also numerous heavier topics in the book that weren’t really handled well. There’s a scene with a school shooter that was barely addressed and the main character definitely has some disordered eating that no one addressed with her. A side character was a teen mom which wasn’t explained until much later in the book (I thought she was around 30 when she was first introduced but she’s actually 19).

I also hated the main character’s parents. Once famous skaters themselves, the mother had a fall on the ice and has a bad back. She was a horrible mother and wasn’t involved in her daughter’s life because she was so focused on all the pain she was in. Also, the father is away signing autographs or something for 90 percent of the book so he wasn’t present either.

Overall I liked this one, but it didn’t end up being a favorite due to all the issues I had with it.

[abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.75


This was a book I anticapated reading a lot this year, but overall it was pretty middle of the road for me. The romance was pretty instalovey, and I didn't really like the some of the character relationships and friendships in here, and the problems in the relationships weren't really resolved in the end. And the ending was TOO perfect if that makes sense. Their is supposed to be a sequel coming out next year so I may read that, but based on the ending here, the questions I wanted answered weren't, and they wouldn't make that great of a sequel.


I did really enjoy the ice skating (which is mainly what this book is about), and that's really why I gave this book such a high rating. I love any kind of ice sport, ice skating being my #1 favorite, and will always watch the competion's on TV. When I was younger, I was the kind of kid to take every sport at least once, and ice skating was one I stuck with for about a year, after that year in which I decided I was going to be a soft ball player (which lasted all but 4 seconds). But often times I wish I stuck with it, because it is such an amazing sport, and so much fun to watch and read about.


Overall it was ok, but it felt like a book for the younger side of YA or a older middle grade novel, which isn't always a bad thing, but the way the author tried to write it and how it ended up executed just didn't work for me.


May try and read the sequel if I feel motivated to do so. Going to add it to my to-read list anyways though.