I don't usually pick up sports-related memoirs as they don't typically interest me, and I know next to nothing about figure skating, so Spinning almost wasn't on my radar at all. The only reason I picked it up is that I learned it involved queer rep, and I'm actually really glad that I did.

Spinning offers such an insightful, though clearly somewhat traumatized take on what it's like to grow up as a kid who's all-in obsessed with a particular sport, hobby, etc. It's clear that Walden holds a lot of resentment for the sport and the atmosphere it created in her life, but at the same time, I didn't feel like her stance ever seemed unjust or overly bitter. As a kid who wasn't able to be in any sports like this, I remember sometimes feeling jealous of the kids who had their "thing" that they always did, but after reading this memoir, I'm a little bit grateful that my parents weren't the sort to let me half-kill myself over something like this (as it's made pretty abundantly clear that Tillie's parents, her mother especially, turned a wholly blind eye to the ridiculous toll figure skating took on her body and mental health at times).

I also thought the bits about her coming out process and her first girlfriend were really tender and sad, but valuable — they weren't very heavy-handed in the storytelling process, but it was still lovely to see that side of her and even to think back on my own experiences with coming out. I think nearly any queer person could read this and relate to Tillie's experiences, whether it's the friends she lost, the friends she was pleasantly surprised by, or the struggles of re-building bonds with her family members after their reactions came about.