Paperback, 320 pages
Release Date: February 24, 2026
Published by: Dial Books
Read from: May 22-June 11, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: TLA (Received a finished copy from the publisher during this conference.)
Content Warning: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic Friendship, Injury/Injury Detail, Medical Content, Cursing, Transphobia, Alcohol
For Readers of: 2sLGBTQ+, Contemporary, Graphic Novels, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Chinese American and Malaysaian), Realistic Fiction, Recommended, Sports (Figure Skating), YAIn this gorgeous debut graphic novel, Lydia tries to fall back in love with figure skating without falling for her competition
Lydia Chen knows how good she is on the ice. Technically perfect, she’s been the one to beat since her debut years ago.
Except now, something is missing in her performances—a spark that’s been gone for a while. Between the constant training, appealing to sponsors to fund her, and the pressure to perform, Lydia’s passion for skating has disappeared.
When her rival Elaine Yee starts training at the same rink, Lydia’s struck by the emotion in Elaine’s routines and unwillingly finds herself getting closer to her as they compete for a spot in the Olympics.
As the tension between them comes to a head, Lydia’s about to find out how a competitor can become an ally and figure out how to feel alive on the ice again.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Whenever I find an interesting graphic novel, I add it to my tbr and then it sits there for a long timeeeee. Which is how I know when I’ve found a good one if I read it right away. And this is exactly how I found this one. I found this at TLA and immediately started reading it. This one didn’t stand a chance.
Ok so the art was amazing. I loved the colors used. The yellow is a like more warmer color and the blue gives it a more chilling effect. Which works perfectly with the characters that they represent. When those colors start clashing, it’s almost like a tiny bit of foreshadowing, and I loved it. The art itself was also beaturiful. With just a flip through I could tell that it was nothing like I had ever read before. The entire thing just worked so well together.
The plot was just ok to me tho. I wasn’t a fan of the way she was so mean to everyone. I mean I got it. It’s a competition and stuff, but she went over and beyond. She was just down right rude and it seemed like she was happy about it, When things finally started moving between them tho, it was so close to the end it felt like it was just tacked on. I didn’t even feel like it had a romance to be honest. I also liked the way they added in the most grueling part of sports too, like the completeness, an imjury, and people piutting them on a persestal and wanting them to be perfect (in their eyes, not their own)
But paired together I was able to look past some things and just finish the book. I really loved the way they worked together to make like the perfect graphic novel. I enjoyed this alot, even the parts I wasn’t fond of. So if you love the Olympics and figure skating, or just sports in general, come pick up your copy!
Overall, I give this
