Finding Her Edge | Jennifer lacopelli | Book Review

Finding Her Edge has been on my TBR list since I first heard about it. Growing up I always loved skating and as ice dancing became more popular I always enjoyed that as well. Yes, I’m looking at you Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir and Meryl Davis/Charlie White. So good! When the summary for Jennifer lacopelli’s new book came out, I had a feeling ai would be hooked. And I was definitely right.

Adriana Russo comes from figure skating royalty. Both of her parents are gold medalists and her older sister is on her way to the Olympics. Her family also owns one of the largest skating facilities in the world. People from all over travel to train for competitions. Unfortunately, the rink has recently taken a hit due to her father’s desire for a more lavish lifestyle. Thankfully, the junior world’s team is coming to train before they go to France for the ice dance junior world championships. There is only one slight hitch – Adriana will once again have to share the ice with her former partner Freddie as he trains with his new partner. The two characters have not spoken in two years and there are plenty of unresolved feelings for both of them.

Jennifer lacopelli knows exactly how to write YA sports books that involve girls. There are strong girls who feel real and who support each when things get tough. There may be competitions but, they are never pitted against each other. In the case of Adriana, she has always felt hidden in the shadows of her family due to her choice to be an ice dancer. The focus is always on her older sister including a reality show based on her training and her life. Of course not everything that is presented on the show is real but when producers start hinting at a possible love triangle between Adriana, her sister, and Adriana’s current partner Brayden, it comes with possibilities in real life. These possibilities include addition sponsorships if Adriana and Brayden can play up their potential romance. Plus, this will help distract her from seeing a Freddie everywhere she looks.

I really liked Adriana and Brayden relationship. They were partners and friends and there was so much potential for something more between them. Yes, I was rooting for them. I wanted them to be together. I also knew nothing would happen Adriana didn’t face what was going on with Freddie. She and Freddie had also been close and made wonderful partners. When she was forced to make the decision to end their partnership fur to different levels of skills, it broke both their hearts. There was too much history between them to ignore and one way or another it needed to be resolved for everyone involved to be happy.

Happiness is not an easy thing for Adriana. She is constantly living in the shadow of the Russo as family legacy. Her father and sister are awful to her; absolutely awful. They’re manipulative as hell and most of the time I wanted Adriana away from them. Luckily Adriana was able to make friends with the others on the junior league team. They supported each other through the good and the bad of the competition season. There are multiple sweet and hilarious moments with these group of friends. The commodity aspect is definitely my favorite throughout this story.

Finding Her Edge involves alot of character growth from Adriana. Through this experience she figures out who she is and who she does not want to be. Her decisions both on and off the ice help her create her own personal legendary status among her chosen group or family and friends. I I may have found myself rooting for her to go in a certain direction but all I really wanted was for her to find her own real happiness. And in order to do this she had to find her real edge first.

Rating: 4 Stars