Head Over Heels

2.25/5 starsThis is a hard one to rate, because while the romance in this book was absolutely dog shit, one of the most lackluster and chemistry-lacking romances I've ever read, the rest of the book was interesting. It tried to create a discussion on the culture of elite gymnastics and the abuse that has surrounded it. However, thinking back on it, I don't ever felt like it really dived into the brutality of elite gymnastics and mental health. The representation was kinda superficial? It could have opened that door a bit more, even if it's a hard topic to approach. But instead, I felt like I was told about the issues instead of being shown. They didn't affect the main character, but the side character (Hallie, the best part of this book), but we never get to see how Hallie deals with this other then a few scenes of Hallie obviously needing a therapist but no one really doing anything other than giving her a pep talk. And these issues were based off real events. We all know what happened, but if you need a reminder, the US gymnastics team doctor (who's name I won't mention, because I don't want to give that disgusting excuse for a human any more attention then he deserves) sexual assault over 100 athletes. For years. This is not something that something that should be written about and fictionalized to be a subplot for a romance novel. It wasn't handled poorly in this book, but it could have been much, much more impactful and tasteful. The book [b:Break the Fall 45993634 Break the Fall Jennifer Iacopelli https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563188107l/45993634.SY75.jpg 68996280] may be a YA book, but I still think the same topics were less sugar-coated then they were in this book.

The cover art and marketing is deceptive. This is not a romance. In fact in a generally unimpressive book, the romance was the most lackluster aspect. The characters were bland and there was very little plot. The heroine's love interest was extremely irritating. I didn't believe in their reconciliation and felt the heroine was making a mistake. That is not how you should feel after reading what is billed as a feel-good romance.

The message of the importance of mental health and sexual assault awareness for young gymnasts was important. The book however, was not very captivating.

I would give it a 3.5 tk four. The romance in the book was lack luster. Barely any chemistry. But the growth of the female lead was wonderful if feel points that could have been dramatised for effect wernt taken advantage of. Its nice but not that nice. But the content on gymnastics as well as their mental health as well as the silent abuse was spot on. There needs to be more books like this engaging people on the world behind the medals and the glory. The ture hardships of these athletes