Jennifer Iacopelli only released one book in the Finding Her Edge series before Netflix adapted it — with a second season in the works — so did the show change the author’s plans for how the novels will end?
“When I wrote the first book, my publishing career was in a place where I did not think I was ever going to be able to continue that story — or maybe any story,” Iacopelli exclusively told Us Weekly. “So I sat down and I was like, ‘I need to write an ending here [for Finding Her Edge] because I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to come back to this.”
In 2022 when the book was released, Iacopelli wrote an ending that “felt appropriate” to what she “was trying to do at the time.”
“Now I probably have the opportunity to expand upon it. So at this stage, I have an outline for book two and an inkling of an idea for [things] potentially beyond book two,” she teased. “So does that ending stay exactly the same? No. We will see [but] everything is on the table.”
Finding Her Edge is a YA romance about a figure skater named Adriana (Madelyn Keys) whose family’s legacy and rink is in jeopardy. She has to pretend to be in a fake relationship with her new partner Brayden (Cale Ambrozic) for sponsorships while still working through feelings for her old partner Freddie (Olly Atkins).
The show was brought to life on Netflix earlier this year — and fans quickly found themselves divided between Freddie and Brayden. While in Iacopelli’s novel and in the first season, Adriana (spoiler alert!) ended up with Freddie, the options are endless now that the series is coming back for more.
Iacopelli, meanwhile, has encouraged readers to keep an open mind about where the characters in the book could end up. While speaking to Us, Iacopelli revealed if watching Finding Her Edge be turned into a show changed her mind about how her story would conclude — and who Adriana would choose to be with in the future.
“It weirdly confirmed more what I wanted to do than changing it. It was more like, ‘Oh, my instincts were right,’” she noted. “Which is weird because it’s my instincts for the thing that I created. But then I’m watching a slightly different version with writers Shelley Scarrow, Jacqueline Pepall, Sabrina Sherif and Jeff Norton. These are people who I respect as writers as I’m focusing on a potential second book.”
Iacopelli pointed out that the characters still have a lot of experiences to go through. For now, Iacopelli has enjoyed watching how the Netflix version of her story was brought to life.
“I loved them fleshing out of some of the characters who I didn’t really have time to flesh out in the book. They did a beautiful job with that. The adaptation process I know for a lot of authors can be very grueling and very difficult,” she told Us. “My experience was so great and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they’re Canadian. I benefited from just having the nicest people in the industry working with my stuff.”
Outside of Finding Her Edge, Iacopelli has released Break the Fall in 2020 and her Game, Set, Match book series has been rereleased.
Finding Her Edge is currently streaming on Netflix.
Read the full article here
