Iykyk- this novel brings to life Caity Weaver’s infamous and amazing 2018 tweet about the Canadians ice ‘skating’ to Moulin Rouge, just switch it up with Americans and seven different covers of Wicked Game.
Katarina Shaw has always been determined to become an Olympic ice dancer. With her childhood sweetheart Heath Rocha as her partner, it looks as if their championship dreams are destined to come true. But the road to gold never does run smooth and their partnership seems to come to a messy end. Ten years later a documentary is being made claiming to tell the true story but Katarina is not one to allow anyone else to define her.
I very much enjoyed this messy, messy rollercoaster of a book. As you can tell from the names Katarina and Heath there’s a Wuthering Heights vibe happening. A pair of neglected children cling to each other and ice dancing in the most traumatic of bonds. Two siblings and their Olympian mother come into their lives later on and have a big effect. Though we mostly follow Katarina’s point of view the documentary being made allows us to get the occasional interview from the other characters. The relationships are toxic, the characters can be terrible, and everyone needs to learn to communicate but sometimes you just need some soapy nonsense.
Speaking of soapy nonsense, what this really reminded me of was Netflix’s fabulous one season show about an ice skater Spinning Out. I kept picturing Katarina as a young and intense Kaya Scodelario. Justice for Spinning Out! And read The Favorites, it was fun!
