While I have very limited experience on an ice rink, I have always loved watching figure skating. It is such a beautiful and impressive endeavor – from the balletic grace to the sheer athleticism of hurling oneself, spinning, into the air. Completely beyond the realm of my ability, but the stuff of dreams nonetheless. With the Olympics dominating my watching, I thought it’d be fun to take a quick look at ice-based stories I have found in books.
You may notice my list is smaller than some that I’ve shared, and the main reason for that is figure skating books are a lot harder to find than hockey books. I don’t like hockey. In many ways, it reminds me of soccer on ice, with more fights, and I am not a fan of soccer either. {For those interested, there is a whole subgenre of hockey romance}. That said, I have read a few hockey books, and there are a few more on my TBR – but they’re mostly “hockey plus something”. Like a hockey player having to team up with a figure skater. Etc.
The Favorites | Layne Fargo | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I absolutely devoured this one. The skating. The drama. The way the narrative was interspersed with the transcript from the documentary. Feels like a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, and it’s apparently a nod to Wuthering Heights, which explains the intensity of the drama.
Finding Her Edge | Jennifer Iacopelli | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
A thoroughly enjoyable YA read that is a retelling of Persuasion set against the glamour and drama of competitive ice skating. I loved the “insider look” and seeing the Junior Level skaters working their way to the top, with talk of hoping for the Milan Olympics {our current Games}. Looking forward to watching the Netflix series, post-Olympics.
Fake Skating | Lynn Painter | ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
This one is definitely hockey. But high school hockey – which, in the Minnesota setting, is the equivalent of high school football in my experience. Seeing the whole community involved made it more fun. Fake dating is always a favorite trope, and works will with a high school setting, although I spent most of the book wanting Alec and Dani to have a real conversation.
Collide | Bal Kahbra | ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
College athletics have a special place in my heart, and this one features a college hockey team. It was not a perfect read for me {pacing issues; much more open-door than expected}, but what really worked was the team dynamic. The relationship between the hockey boys was so good, it really carried the story. This is a series I plan to continue.
On the TBR
There are several more books on my TBR {of course}, including a few more with hockey elements. {Maybe if I read enough good stories, it’ll start to be less annoying? After all, I used to not like football. But I digress}. If you’ve read any of these, let me know!
- Spiral | Bal Kahbra
- Revolve | Bal Kahbra
- Fated Skates | Victoria Schade
- Icebreaker | Hannah Grace
- Blade | Wendy Walker
And of course there are a number of wonderful ice-skating movies as well, Ice Princess is a favorite. I’ve also seen the original and the “sequel” to The Cutting Edge. Netflix has several offerings, from Finding Her Edge to Glitter and Gold which follows current ice dancing pairs on their journey to gold. I’m saving these for post-Olympic viewing.
Have you read any of these?
Or maybe you’ve read some I haven’t mentioned, in which case: please share!
This list is all fiction, but I know there are more nonfiction/biography and memoirs available now as well. If anyone has read any of those, I’m definitely curious what you think.
Love this Olympics/figure skating post. So fun! The Favorites has to be my favorite from your list. So good! Cutting Edge used to be one of my favorite movies when I was younger. I didn’t know Finding Her Edge is based on Persuasion and is coming to Netflix! How fun!
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I had no idea about the Persuasion connection either! I haven’t seen anyone else talking about it. But about 3 pages into Chapter 1 I texted a friend and was like “it’s ice skating AND it’s Persuasion”. Even the naming of people/places! Which has really made me giggle at people’s responses online to the ending, because if you knew the original story, you wouldn’t be surprised 😀 hehe
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I enjoyed The Favorites very much, and I have seen (and enjoyed) The Cutting Edge 1, but have not seen the 2nd one. I think the O.G. ice skating movies is Ice Castles. I read the memoir My Sergei a long time ago, and it still sticks with me. I was obsessed with Gordeeva and Grinkov, and his death was devastating. This is a great list of skating books! I will have to check them out!
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I somehow missed seeing Ice Castles when I was binging the Cutting Edge movies many years ago. I’m gonna have to add that to my watchlist 🙂
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What a lovely idea for a book list post 🥰 Ive only seen bits of the Winter Olympics when I’ve been in the same room as it but what I’ve seen has been very impressive. Figure skating amazes me as they do things on the ice that most people would struggle with on solid ground 🤯
I really want to read The Favourites. It was everything last year and I feel like I’ve only seen good things said about it. The inclusion of the transcripts and Wuthering Heights ties are intriguing too. Im also curious about Fake Skating, although I want to try something else by the author first.
I hope you love all the TBR ones 🥰 with the Netflix documentaries and popularity of hockey romances maybe more Skating ones will follow too 🤞
Like you im not sure ice hockey ones will be for me. I have a few on my TBR due to hearing good things and one because I loved another book by the author. Whether they’ll work for me or not remains to be seen.
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I am completely mesmerized by the entire mindset of the Winter Olympics, which appears to be “let’s see if we can do this without dying” 🤣 But truly: figure skating is elite talent and grace in action, and I am amazed. I’ve been watching it my entire life, and it still boggles my mind 🙂
The Favorites was such an unexpected delight, and such a wild ride. Fake Skating was my first by the author, and I do want to try more of her – both the YA and her adult offerings.
Here’s hoping we both manage to find some hockey stories we like! 🙂 There is certainly a wide variety, so surely some of them will appeal to the non-hockey enthusiast … we hope.
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Omg you definitely have a point there. Some of the falls I’ve seen on the jumps have looked awful. And who on earth thought up Skeleton? Hurtling along headfirst like that 😬 Im glad if continues to amaze you. I should make more of an effort to actively watch it tbh as it always fascinates me when I happen to be around whilst its on.
I’m glad you loved The Favourites. And I hope you love whatever you pick up next by Lunn Painter.
I’ll let you know if any manage to win me over 😂 there are definitely a lot of them out there so as you’ve said, surely one of thrm will work for ys 🤔
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[…] 2, Week 3, and Week 4}, we also talked books. From an ambitious Cozy Mystery Bingo challenge to books about skating, the TBR list is growing exponentially. There was snow and cozy dessert, and somehow we made it […]
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