Skip to main content

Head Over Heels



In Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein, the main character's, Avery, emotional arc demonstrates resilience, determination, and compassion, all of which young women should learn to have. 

*DISCLAIMER* This novel is a NEW ADULT book not a young adult book. Please know that I am rating this book for the older readers of this blog. This book is not for anyone below ages 15 or 16. While I loved the break from classics this book gave me, it does have adult language and content. Please do not read this book until you are older if you are not comfortable with mature content. I will refer readers of this post to a professional age rating when this book ages a little. It was released very recently, so there are no age ratings yet. This is my two cents, but I will get a professional rating very soon. **

This is the first time I have reviewed a strictly adult book on this blog. I just want to be careful. I know that young women and girls from 9 or 10 to age 17 read this blog. I have to be extra careful and sensitive. I do not know every girl's and their parents' comfort zones when it comes to mature content in literature. I, as an original and online writer and creator, have to be super careful with what I recommend to girls. I want to be a blogger you can trust for good and honest reviews. This is as transparent as I know how to be. 

Summary
Avery Abrams is struggling - has been for some time now. She's literally washed up. She has just split up with her hunky, NFL quarter-back boyfriend, but more importantly, has split with his apartment in LA that she courteously organized the spices in, so shouldn't that leave her entitled to half the place? She knows that it doesn't. 

She returns to her hometown in Massachusetts feeling nostalgic of not only her ended relationship but also her gymnastics career that concluded so suddenly all those years ago. In a series of flashbacks, Avery Abrams, star athlete, shew-in for the Olympic team, steps up to perform her floor routine she had done one thousand times. Her mentally abusive coach, Dimitri, waiting on the sidelines, the judges staring at her over thick rimmed glasses as she salutes, and Avery's feet bouncing into bounds and to her opening pose set the scene. The music begins, and she heads into her first tumbling pass that she could do in her sleep thanks to years of practice. It's different this time. She under-rotates causing her to slam the spring-floor. Avery feels a shredding sensation in her knee as she craters the ground. That's it. Her career is over. She would be on "Top Gymnastics Fails" videos instead of talk-shows, chatting about her gold in floor. The memory of her childhood friend Jasmine taking her place as the star of the Olympic team and marrying the coach they hated rushes back when she steps into her parents' living room where time has stood still. 

Avery gets the chance to coach a rising star and potential Olympian at her former gym, Summit. Hallie (that's my name too, but I'm a blogger and reader not a gymnast by any stretch) has mega-power, but lacks flare, style, and poise - Avery's specialty during her gymnastics days. Even better, Avery and Jasmine's crush, also a gymnast, Ryan is the one who asks her to help him coach Hallie. 

Can Avery get back on her feet and into a coaching job in the sport she left tragically? Will Hallie make the Olympic team with Ryan and Avery's help?

Review
This book was a wonderful break from the classics-train I've been aboard. This book is perfect for a long car trip, a couple days on the beach, and your couch at home. It's an escapist novel. Olympic fans were devastated with the news that this year's Games are cancelled. This book puts you back into the action. The training, the sweat, the intensity, the will to win - it's all there. I liked this book's spirit and ability to show young women how to bounce back (no pun intended). Avery's success in the gymnastics world comes from coaching and not her participation on the floor. 

I like this book...for older readers. This book's targeted audience is older girls. In my opinion, this book is for girls above the age of 15 simply because of the adult language and content. This is not to say that this isn't a fun, lighthearted success story that puts you in a great mood. The characters are well developed and interesting. It's just a book for older girls. Most of the young women, while mature and intelligent no doubt, shouldn't read this book yet because it is for adults. 

Also, I got this book from my very first Book of the Month box! A post about that is coming soon!

Please leave me a comment, email me, or visit me on Instagram if you have any ideas, suggestions, or books you want me to read and review. As always, happy reading!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Author Spotlight: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley At my school, I am a Library Leader. (Library Leaders promote reading in the middle school and recommend books for the younger grades.) The Library Leaders had the fortunate opportunity of eating lunch and meeting with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. We got to ask her questions and just talk with her. Mrs. Bradley also spoke to the whole seventh and eighth grade in assembly about her research. 1)      When/How does she write? Mrs. Bradley writes in the morning, but this depends on her chores for the day. She got into her routine when her children, now graduating college and out of college, were small and went to school. She would always wait until her husband took them to drop them off at school. She likes for her writing space to be very quiet. She prefers typing when she when she writes as to writing. (This may be pretty common; I do not know what the common format among writers is today. I just thought I would include eve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Long Way Down

A Long Way Down Written in verse, A Long Way Down by J ason Reynolds is a novel about making a moment’s decision. *DISCLAIMER: The story deals with grief, mild cussing, and gun violence. Plot Summary: Will doesn’t live in a so great part of town. This African-American teen’s brother, Shawn, is shot and killed by a member of gang member in a near-by part of town. Will decides to follow ‘The Rules’. (‘The Rules’ are passed on through generations of members of this community and they are: 1. DON’T CRY 2. NO SNITCHING 3. ALWAYS GET REVENGE.) Will decides to kill the gang member who killed Shawn. He HAS to follow ‘The Rules’. He gets on the elevator to go down to the Lobby and the elevator stops at every floor. People that have been shot in the past and were in his life get on the elevator at every floor. This thriller is written over one minute and nine seconds. Author Praise/Critique: Jason Reynolds is a very talented poet. The book is very visually pleasing because ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Reading and writing, reading and writing, reading and writing: that's what I hope to keep doing all summer (with some swimming and seeing friends mixed in there too!). Here's another review! This is Stuart Turton's The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle,  and it's a doozy.  SUMMARY THE RULES OF BLACKHEATH Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin... Evelyn Hardcastle WILL die. And every day Aiden Bishop WILL try to identify her killer and break this neverending cycle he has somehow found himself in. But every time a new day begins, Aiden inhabits the body of a different guest at Blackheath. Some of Aiden's hosts will be more helpful than others. Some of Aiden's hosts are more capable than others. Some of Aiden's hosts start to overcome Aiden's true personality. Then again, who is Aiden? A...
Post a Comment
Read more