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Rating: 8.5/10

Review

This is a delightful slice-of-life sports romantic drama that beautifully blends friendship, personal growth, and heartfelt romance. I highly recommend it and might even rewatch it myself—it's definitely a top pick for romance fans. The leads, Tang Xue and Li Yubing, have fantastic chemistry, and their friends-to-lovers journey feels authentic and believable from start to finish.

Spoilers

I initially struggled to get past Tang Xue's childhood bullying of Li Yubing—I completely understood why he transferred schools to escape it. It felt odd later when the truth came out that he had been deceptive about his reason, and Tang Xue's father (and others) treated Li Yubing like the villain. Her behavior reminded me of a kid pulling pigtails to hide a crush, mixed with jealousy over his better grades. At first, it was hard to move past, but the flashbacks revealed plenty of positive moments where Tang Xue actually supported and helped him, which helped redeem it. I appreciated that she eventually recognized how wrong she'd been and that she had bullied him, though I wish her father had acknowledged her responsibility more instead of essentially blaming Li Yubing for his daughter's actions.

I was also disappointed that her father and others kept pushing the idea that Tang Xue's past crush was the "better" choice for her. She could have shut that down by explaining to her dad how the guy's rejection devastated her, leading to her emotional distress and eventual injury. I don't think he deserves full blame for the injury, but he does bear some responsibility for poor timing. Her father preferring him over Li Yubing was a factor of not knowing the real past between his daughter and him. So it felt very unfair to Li Yubin and Tang Xue could have cleared that up quickly had she chosen to.

But the biggest issue that diminished the romance for me was when Yu Yan was going through an emotional crisis. Tang Xue rushed to support him and let his mother extract a promise not to tell anyone. In a healthy relationship, she would never have agreed to keep such a major secret from her partner. That was bad enough. But a step worse—she ignored Li Yubing's calls and texts, and outright lied about her whereabouts. To me, that behavior wasn't excusable; it deeply hurt him and validated his reasons for feeling jealous. He said he was sorry first. That was disappointing as I felt like she was almost entirely to blame for that situation. And she never truly apologized for it, even though he'd early on expressed discomfort about her smiling too warmly at other guys. It made me worry she might dismiss his feelings in the future, lowering my investment in their relationship a bit. (That said, Li Yubing could have helped by telling her outright that Yu Yan had confessed his feelings and intended to pursue her despite knowing they were together.) It was emotional cheating, she was spending time and having fun with another guy who so obviously had romantic feelings for her. It was noble of her to help her friend but that does not overshadow the fact that she was willing to hurt Li Yubing and disregard his thoughts and opinions.

The ending wrapped things up nicely with happy resolutions, though I was a little disappointed we didn't see Tang Xue's Olympic performance—it's a minor nitpick, as the balance between closure and open-endedness felt just right overall. The side romances were adorably cute and added so much warmth. I loved that the corrupt chairman who deliberately injured Li Yubing finally faced justice and was turned over to the police. Li Yubing's teammate and close friend Jiang Shijia's long-simmering romance with Tang Xue's speed-skating rival Xia Menghuan was especially sweet—he'd liked her for so long that their payoff felt incredibly rewarding. The romance between the pursuing doctor and Tang Xue's close friend was also super cute; he put in so much effort to win her over, and I melted when she finally acknowledged her feelings by saying she was his princess but would treat him like her prince. Tang Xue standing up to Yu Yan's mother (who initially told her to stay away from her son) was satisfying, and it was heartwarming to see the mother grow through their relationship and become more supportive of Yu Yan. Even the two coaches reuniting after their past was adorably touching.

Overall, I really enjoyed Skate Into Love, but the unresolved aspects around the childhood bullying and Tang Xue's lack of accountability for the lying, secrecy, and emotional infidelity during the Yu Yan situation hold it back slightly for me. Li Yubing ended up apologizing for his (justified) jealousy and lack of trust, when she'd been blatantly dishonest.