To get it out of the way, this is not the most well-written book. Gordeeva isn't a writer, and professes no interest in writing throughout this book. That must be where co-author E.M. Swift comes in... and let's just say dude should have stuck to sports writing. This is a memoir. 

But what's really interesting about this book is what peeks out at you from between the lines. Life during the Soviet Union, the dynamics of the Soviet-era sports club, Russian culture, how young athletes are treated, the isolation of being the youngest skater in a group, Gordeeva's naivete, the strange dynamic of her relationship with Sergei Grinkov... it's all fascinating and a better biographer would have expanded on these things but instead as the reader you just get little peeks at what seems like a deep underbelly. I hope someday someone takes a closer look at this story (and what comes after) and writes an amazing book.