Maya Ameyaw’s Spiraling Out opens with a young figure skater determined to turn last season’s disappointment into this season’s victory. For Evelyn Osei, winning gold is the goal, and everything else, from school to friendships, threatens to get in the way. But when Mei Sato, her former friend and skating rival, begins training at the same club, Evelyn’s carefully managed plans become harder to maintain. Her third novel explores what happens when the pursuit of perfection collides with feelings that refuse to stay in their place.

Ever since she failed to win gold the previous season, Evelyn has been focused on getting it right this time. She is determined not to let her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), her relationships, or the demands of everyday life distract her. Mei’s return, however, complicates matters. Their history makes them rivals on the ice, but Evelyn’s growing attraction to Mei threatens to blur the distinction between competition and something more intimate. As pressure mounts and her relationships begin to fray, Evelyn must confront the possibility that control is not the same as having everything figured out.

The figure-skating rink gives Ameyaw a fitting setting for a story about ambition and vulnerability. Skating demands precision, discipline, and the ability to recover when a performance goes wrong. Evelyn’s personal life offers no such choreography. The more she tries to keep her emotions and relationships under control, the harder it becomes to ignore the uncertainty beneath her determination. Her struggle also brings attention to the pressure young people face when achievement becomes central to how they understand themselves.

Ameyaw, a Ghanaian-Canadian writer, has built her work around questions of identity, mental health, and the healing power of art. Her debut novel, When It All Syncs Up, received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews and was named among Kirkus’s Best Young Adult Books of 2023. Her second novel, Under All the Lights, follows a young musician navigating sudden fame, anxiety, and his bisexuality. Across her work, Ameyaw explores the tension between the person young people present to the world and the uncertainties they are still learning to understand. 

With Spiraling Out, Ameyaw brings that interest to the world of competitive sport and first love. Evelyn’s desire to win is not easily separated from her need to feel in control, and her attraction to Mei forces her to reckon with feelings she cannot simply train herself out of. The novel follows her through the uncomfortable work of recognising that ambition, identity, and intimacy do not always move in the direction she expects.

Here’s the synopsis:

Evelyn Osei is determined to win gold after falling short last season. But when her former friend and rival Mei Sato joins her skating club, Evelyn’s focus begins to falter. As she struggles to balance competition, school, friendships, and OCD, her feelings for Mei become increasingly difficult to dismiss. Spiraling Out follows Evelyn as she confronts the limits of control, the pressures of athletic competition, and the confusing beginnings of first love.

 

Buy Spiraling Out here.