Book Review: “Head Over Heels” by Hannah Orenstein

“Head Over Heels” by Hannah Orenstein (2020)

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

Page Length: 320 pages

Synopsis:

The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: After training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri.

Now, reeling from a breakup with her football star boyfriend, Avery returns to her Massachusetts hometown, where new coach Ryan asks her to help him train a promising young gymnast with Olympic aspirations. Despite her misgivings and worries about the memories it will evoke, Avery agrees. Back in the gym, she’s surprised to find sparks flying with Ryan. But when a shocking scandal in the gymnastics world breaks, it has shattering effects not only for the sport but also for Avery and her old friend Jasmine. (description from Goodreads)

Review:

Head Over Heels follows the story of a gymnast who is down on her luck. After a breakup of a four -year relationship with her ex-NFL boyfriend she heads back to her hometown. Being back home is comforting but a struggle at the same time. She loves being around her family, but is also reminded of her past failures. She wasn’t able to make it to the Olympics due to an injury and because of it (over time) she’s lost interest in the sport.

Avery is reunited with her crush, Ryan, as they are working together as coaches to train Hallie (a gymnast) for the Olympics. They work well as a duo and have lots of fun. The attraction is clear between the two but also they don’t want their blooming romance to be distraction during coaching. They have conflicting feelings on how they should move forward with their relationship.

Not only does Avery get to bind with Ryan and develop relationship that is turning into love, but I also loved her connection with Hallie. She was in the same position and because of past with her coach Dimitri she wants to make sure she comforts Hallie and motivates her. They form a sisterly bond and Hallie can lean on her for support.

By Avery being a coach she is forced to face her past trauma and try to cope with it. The more we become connected to her story, we learn about her body confidence issues and self -doubt. Avery is struggling with depression and it’s a continual journey for her to move forwards. I liked her motivation of working to be better (mentally/physically) at her own pace and her drive to make the field of gymnastics a better place for upcoming gymnasts.

Orenstein gives an intimate look at the world of gymnastics. I am only familiar of some parts of the sport, but I appreciated that she takes the time to explain it in detail. There’s a lot of work and training procedures behind the scenes that I wasn’t aware of. The novel does delve into heavier topics such as sexual abuse in gymnastics. It difficult to read about, but spotlights awareness on a reoccurring problem within the field. She also brings up issues with racism, sexism, and coaching within the sport.

I was expecting this novel to be very lighthearted but it deals with a lot of heavy topics such emotionally abusive relationships. But the author manages to balance it out so that it is not too heavy. Overall I felt that this was interesting romance novel that deals with sports and mental health. I liked that it brought attention to more serious topics within the overall narrative.

TW: Depression, Emotional & Sexual Abuse

Final Verdict:

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.