A Sharp YA Series About Ambition, Family, and Romance

Finding Her Edge is a swoony, high-stakes sports drama that draws loose inspiration from one of Jane Austen’s classics and sets the story in the intense world of competitive ice dancing.

From showrunner Jeff Norton (Geek Girl), Netflix’s 8-episode drama Finding Her Edge is based on the 2022 novel by Jennifer Iacopelli. The book quickly became a phenomenon after breaking into the ‘BookTok’ community on TikTok, a platform that has become the go-to place for so many readers nowadays. The BookTok community is becoming more and more influential in the world of streaming, with everything from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to A Court of Thorns and Roses in line for live-action adaptations.

In Finding Her Edge, we follow Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys), a former competitive skater from a family with an esteemed history in the ice skating field. When her proud older sister Elise (Alexandra Beaton), is injured in competition, Adriana decides to put the skates back on to. But it’s not just for her own vanity. She needs to earn a sponsorship in order to save her family’s ice rink. With her former partner — and lover — Freddie (Ollie Atkins) moving on to another partner, she ends up pretending to be in love with her new on-ice partner Brayden (Cale Ambrozic), if only to secure the all-important sponsorship.

The release timing is no doubt deliberate, coinciding with the Winter Olympics 2026 in Milan, where figure skating will have a prominent presence. Despite Finding Her Edge being a work of pure fiction, it gives you an appreciation for the hard work and dedication that goes into the sport.

‘Finding Her Edge’ Everything You Need To Know About Netflix’S New Ya Ice-Skating Drama

Throughout the series, we see the youngest Russo sister, Maria (or Mimi, as she’s mostly referred to), constantly reading the seminal Regency-era author Jane Austen as part of a school project. This almost echoes the show’s overall plot — it takes inspiration from Jane Austen’s classic Persuasion. It challenges the notion of identity and explores earned confidence and renewed love.

Let’s not get mistaken, the Persuasion inspiration is loose at best, but it nevertheless serves as a solid foundation to build the plot around. It ends up with more YA romance tropes than you can shake a stick at: fake dating, childhood friends, enemies to lovers, and one of the wildest love triangles you’ve seen on television for quite some time.

The whole plot is constructed around the central love triangle and the moral dilemmas that come with it. Of course, skate partners are not romantic partners, but they can blossom into romances. When Adriana is thrust back into the ice skating competition, the only partner she’s able to work with is Brayden, who’s a highly coveted and talented dancer, but infuriatingly arrogant. Her true love is Freddie, but he’s since moved onto a new partner. What’s more, they all share the same home where pressure boils high and tensions are almost palpable. When both Adriana and Brayden realise that publicity boosts their chances of success, they embrace fake dating to boost their public reception and ratings… and it works. The series keeps you guessing and pondering which love is real, and which is only for personal gain.

While Finding Her Edge is Adriana’s story at its core, it also explores the relationships, trials, and tribulations of her two sisters — proud and stubborn older sister Elise and rebellious younger sister Maria (Alice Malakhov). I particularly enjoyed Maria’s storyline. Expected to continue the family legacy, she struggles with her day-to-day life as a teenager in school. Alice Malakhov is a standout performer, delivering scenes with plenty of youthful energy and exuberance. Meanwhile, Alexandria Beaton excellently portrays Elise, the fiercely competitive elder sister, driven by strong emotions.

The supporting cast all bring something unique to the table. I really liked Harmon Walsh as Will Russo, the wildly competitive former world champion and determined father of the three girls. He’s a loving father at his core, but often finds himself driven by business and image rather than by family. Then there’s Ollie Atkins as Freddie and Cale Ambrozic as Brayden. Both of these teens are written as stereotypes and living cliches, but both actors deliver stellar performances with a wide emotional range.

The series brings spectacle too, namely in the skating performances. You see the choreography from its beginnings in the dance studio, to endless gruelling rehearsals, to the visually spectacular requisite performances.

Admittedly, the plot is chock-full of clichés and it’s very predictable, but that’s not a put-off. For a show like this, it’s about the journey rather than the destination. The family dramas and fragile romances offer more than enough to keep you engaged until the final credits roll. And you may well want more. The ending leaves room for another season. It has both a satisfying and conclusive ending, while leaving the door open for plenty more story to tell.

MVP of Finding Her Edge

Madelyn Keys — It’s hard to believe that Madelyn Keys has very few credits to her name before tackling the star role in Finding Her Edge. She explodes onto the scene in Finding Her Edge with an electric performance from beginning to end. From intimate moments to larger sequences, she owns every scene.

Watch Finding Her Edge on Netflix if you like:

Spinning Out
Heartstopper
Geek Girl
Ginny & Georgia

3.5/5Above Average

★★★½☆

Finding Her Edge is a drama that’ll attract a lot of demographics, and it delivers a pleasing story to each of them. Whether that’s teenage drama, romance, and sibling rivalries, which will draw in fans of Heartstopper and slightly more adult-focused drama like Ginny & Georgia; or the young adult audience and fans of the novel; or indeed fans of figure skating. For viewers who were disappointed with the cancellation of the 2020 series Spinning Out, this will fill that void.