⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.25/5
**SPOILER ALERT**
One moment of appreciation for this amazing sport/art (and Yuzuru Hanyu).
So, this was surprisingly an amazing book, it was really sweet, romantic and emotional, it was INTENSE. I really loved, although, I have to confess that when I read this book was about figure skating, the book had already won half of my rating 😂😏.
Although I loved this book, there a few details I didn’t like, like how little it's explained of the sport, like someone who doesn't know what figure skating consist of would wonder what a triple lutz is, or an axel... Mariana Zapata didn’t explain what was each exercise and that could be confusing.
There was a bit of paraphrasing too, that was a bit weird and confusing too, some weird sentences too (I hope it was an publishing mistake...) that were hard to understand.
Leaving behind the parts I didn’t like too much, let's dive right into the good things!!
The PLOT it's centered in Jasmine, the heroine, Ivan Lukov, her skating partner for a year, her family and the upcoming World Championship of Figure Skating, Jas and Ivan have to prepare for in only a few months.
The family drama and scenes were intense, excellent written and transmitted the right kind of emotional roller coaster. The relationships in this book were all complex, beautiful and hard to understand from an outsider point of view, but just as Jasmine said, they were her family and she just loved all too much and equally, she didn’t want any of them to felt left out or less loved than the rest.
The difficulties of being a professional/elite sportsman/woman were REALLY WELL portrayed, was really authentic and realistic. How many sacrifices one must make to have that life, the king of endurance one must have to life that kind of life and let's not even begin with the body... 😖😢
There were minor plot twists and angst but nothing too troubling. Everything is uncovered in the end.
The ROMANCE , I must have to bow down to the QUEEN of SLOW BURNS Mariana Zapata, I'm not even that much of a fan of slow burn but she just does them so well!!
This was soo romantic, there's no words, (where can I get an Ivan?), even with all that sexual tension, that animosity in the beginning, the chemistry between them was just that authentic and believable, the romance was so well developed, that even though it was slooow in the end everything happened when it had to.
The only maybe, negative feedback, it's that Ivan was too much of the giver in the relationship while Jas only took and didn't give much back, she was a bit stingy with love 😂🙆🏻♀️
The troupes in this book are really popular and good! 😏
♡ Enemies To Lovers
♡ Best Friend's Brother
♡ Possesive Hero
♡ Sports Romance
♡ Forced Proximity
There wasn't any O/M or O/W drama, there was some stalking problems rewarding Jasmine but well she obviously didn't like to have a freaking stalker.
CHARACTERS , the characters were all GREAT!! Actually, I didn’t disliked anyone (shocked, right?! Me too) They were all WELL DEVELOPED, with interesting backgrounds, their personalities and characteristics were attractive and intense (more so, both mc's). And although I liked BOTH, Jasmine and Ivan, the one that stole my heart obviously was Ivan, I guess that's why he's a book character because it's impossible for someone like him to exist 😂.
🏆JASMINE, she was quite a ride, to be honest, I liked her, she was strong (too much, sometimes, I wish someone had told her it's good to cry sometimes), she was funny, she was sassy, she stood up for her lived ones, she stood against bullies!! (can I marry this girl?!), she never gives up on her dreams no matter how hard it got, she has a bad temper and didn’t even hide it (ICON 🛐), she always puts on their place people who deserve it, no matter who, she has a learning disability and doesn't like studying and doesn't want to continue her studies (she's just gets better 🛐).
Body shaming it's her trigger, she transforms into a monster, whenever, there's someone body shaming others or her, she can't stand that, she was a bit chubby until she reached sixteen and suffered a lot of body shaming bullying. (Really she deserves an altar by now, I really think she one of the best heroines 🛐🙆🏻♀️)
She has a closed off personality, she doesn't like to talk about her feelings, her difficulties, ask for help. She has a really bad temper and says what she think without filter (this was so hilarious ⚠️😂), sometimes, she was a bit frustrating how much she would suffer alone when everyone just loved her so much and she just didn't see it.
She always felt a bit left alone in her family and the less loved one, that's why probably she has always tried to love his family a lot and the same. Although she didn't have that much time with her figure skating, she did try her best.
EXAMPLES:
“Were they picking on you?”
It took a swallow before I got a nod. From both of them. And that feeling in my spine only got stronger.
“If I ever, ever hear or see you picking on them—or anybody here—again, I’m going to make you both regret the day you decided to take lessons here, do you understand me?”
“You get picked on again, come tell me, okay? I’ll deal with it for you. Tomorrow, next month or a year from now, don’t be shy, as long as I’m here, I’ll take care of it for you. Nobody deserves to be spoken to like that.”
“And you two, I catch you doing that again and I will open a can of whoop-ass on both your rude—”
--
My idol!!🛐🙆🏻♀️ I wish, there were more people like her!
🏆IVAN LUKOV, this one was probably the most confusing and mysterious one almost till 60% of the book and then some more, he wasn’t what i expected at all, at the beginning we get a condescending rich brat... who in the end resulted in the best character of the book, he was sweet, he was supportive, he was protective, the most mature of everyone in this book, he was the major supporter of Jasmine throughout all her struggles, how much he helped her and the beautiful words he said to her and how he always took care of her (😍😭).
EXAMPLES:
Ivan had made me fucking hot chocolate. Without marshmallows according to him, but he wouldn’t have known that I only treated myself to hot cocoa with marshmallows on very rare occasions.
How he knew—why he even had the mix—I couldn’t handle.
“Let me give you a hug.” His voice sounded even closer, his body warmer.
And he hugged me. He hugged me so tight to him I couldn’t breathe, and I hated myself.
“Mr. Santos, your daughter is the hardest working person I’ve ever met. She’s persistent to a fault. Someone will tell her not to do something, and she only does it more. I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who has fallen more than her and gotten right back up, never complaining, never crying, never quitting. She’ll cuss herself out, but it’s at herself. She’s smart, and she’s relentless,” he said calmly, his hand squeezing my leg tighter than before.
“She gets to the facility at four in the morning Monday through Friday and trains with me until eight. Then she goes to work, on her feet right after that until noon. She eats her two breakfasts and her lunch in her car, then comes inside and trains with me until four. Three days a week, she has three ballet lessons by herself and one with me for two hours each time. One day a week, she takes Pilates from six until seven. Four days out of the week, she goes for runs and works out after we train. She goes home, eats, spends some time with the rest of her family, and goes to bed by nine. Then she’s up at three o’clock in the morning and does it all over again.
“And for months, she was going back to the facility to practice by herself from ten at night until midnight. Because she was too proud to tell me that she needed help. Then she would go home, sleep for three hours and do it all over again. Six days a week.” The hand on my leg gripped the fuck out of it, not hard but… desperate. And Ivan kept talking. “If Jasmine wanted to go to school, she would graduate with honors. If she wanted to become a doctor, she would be a doctor. But she wanted to become a figure skater, and she is the best I have ever had as a partner. I think that if you’re going to do something, you should be the best at it. And that’s what Jasmine is. I understand school is important, but she has a gift. You should be proud of her for never giving up on her dreams. You should be proud of her for being true to herself.”
Ivan paused and then said three words that slayed me. “I would be.”
--
That's how you defend the love of your life, watch and learn, bitches 😂🙆🏻♀️
“Why do you do this to yourself? Huh?” he asked me.
“You know how good you are. You know how rare that is. You know how much work you put in to everything. You know how strong you are,” he whispered, his arms crossed over my shoulder blades. “Your dad doesn’t know anything about figure skating, Jasmine. From the sound of it, he doesn’t know you at all. You know better than to let what he thinks get to you. You know better.”
“You’re enough. You will always be enough. Hear me?”
“I believe in you. In us. Regardless of what happens, you will always be the best partner I’ve ever had. You’ll always be the hardest working person I’ve ever known. There will only ever be you.”
“I’d give you every ribbon, trophy, medal, anything at my house or at the LC if it meant something,” he told me. “I’ll give you anything you want if you stop crying.”
--
And that, ladies and gentlemen was Ivan Lukov! 😍👏🏼👏🏼
As this was an enemies to lovers, the quirky banter between them, their childish fights, their evil insults... they were like ten years old, when is popular insulting the person you like, they fitted perfectly in that elementary school grade.
If there was one thing I really disliked from Ivan, was the body shaming, that, I really CAN'T stand, not even as a joke and even though he said he wasn't serious and that he thought she had the body of a goddess, the knife was already stabbed...
His pep talks to Jasmine were the BEST of this book, they were just that SPECTACULAR and SPECIAL, just like him, sometimes it's important that someone reminds you just how wonderful and amazing you are, how much you are loved and how much you will keep achieving. His sentimental side gave him such a depth that other characters lacked that he actually was the star in this book, how important it's to be partners in the sport, but also it's important to have trust and emotional connection, support in each other to create something really beautiful out there.
EXAMPLES:
“You’re the best figure skater I’ve ever seen,” this man whispered directly into my ear, his hold the strongest thing I had ever felt in my life. “You are. The most athletic. The strongest. The toughest. The hardest working—”
“These young girls quit right after they win gold medals because they’re scared of losing after that. You say nobody remembers second place, but no one remembers the girls that win once and disappear afterward either. The girl I know, the Jasmine I know, isn’t scared of shit. She doesn’t give up, and that’s the girl people will always remember. The one who is there time after time. You’d win and keep trying to win afterward. That’s the girl I know. The one I partnered up with. The one I think is the best—and you better not ever ask me to repeat that because I won’t. I don’t know what happened to you earlier, but whatever it was, you need to move past it. You need to remember what you’re capable of. What you are. You make every sacrifice worth it. You make every penny worth it. Do you understand me?”
He was really great to everyone in Jasmine's family and he liked to include himself in their family dinners, meetings... Just like Ivan's family liked to have Jasmine over, so did Jas family with Ivan (when families knows before you 🤡)
The SIDE CHARACTERS were funny, enjoyable and actually completed the story, they were some of other Zapata's book mc's like Aaron and Ruby, the mother and her husband had an interesting relationship too (age gap, Zapata's signature), Jonathan, Jasmine older brother and Jamie his husband, were the ones I liked the best, their dynamics and their teasing, lightened the atmosphere always, trying to make Jasmine feel better and familiar. Sebastian and Talia the two other Jasmine siblings, these two doesn't appear much, only twice and then in the family texting group chats.
This family was something... intense and their dynamics were really interesting, they really had some miscommunication problems (mostly by misconceptions and misinterpretations) but they all were close and protect each other very much. They all supported Jasmine very much and were all very proud of her.
The only family member outside the "family’s core" was the father who lived with his new family and didn't support Jasmine very much. They are some troubles regarding this issue throughout the book.
In CONCLUSION, I liked this book very much, it was very well constructed and developed, the sport is one of my favourites (so that's a plus 😏), all the characters were plainly and straight up great. The romance was BEAUTIFUL, there was an actual emotional connection between them and you could actually believe it, if only we had a bit more of them... and an epilogue from Ivan's pov (yeah, I know, that Mariana Zapata doesn't write dual pov but a girl can dream 😭).
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book, I hope you will loved as much as I did, and have a blast reading it!!
Happy reading everyone!! ❤❤🖤🖤
P.S.I. I'll be posting quotes sometime soon... I have been feeling sick this last few weeks (migraines and dizziness), so I'll not be that active until I feel better.
P.S.II. Imagine me this weekend reading Mariana Zapata & Taylor Swift, so yeah, romanticism overdose, a little too much 😂😂🙆🏻♀️
