Every Reason We Shouldn't by Sara Fujimura Pages: 332
Published by Tor Teen on March 3, 2020
Series: Every Reason We Shouldn't #1
Genres: Young Adult, contemporary, Romance
Source: ecopy from Publisher
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.
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 .
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About Sara Fujimura
SARA FUJIMURA is an award-winning young adult author and creative writing teacher. She is the American half of her Japanese-American family, and has written about Japanese culture and raising bicultural children for such magazines as Appleseeds, Learning Through History, East West, and Mothering, as well as travel-related articles for To Japan With Love. Her self-published young adult novels include Tanabata Wish and Breathe. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and children.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2020 New Release Challenge
- Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge 2020
I can’t wait to read it!!! My students are going to love it as well. Perfect for my upper middle school/high school kiddos.
cute cover
[…] Book Briefs – Review […]
This sounds like a lighthearted read worth the effort. I will be placing on my TBR. My favorite genre is mystery/suspense, but I purchase a lot of YA reads and donate to the local school after reading. Best wishes to the author on the novel.
This book looks very interesting! I added it to my TBR. My favorite genre is romance.