5/5 stars. An important read that touches on the culture of abuse in sports especially for young and female athletes, with a focus on teamwork, sportsmanship and even a bit of romance.

Break the Fall is a YA Contemporary about gymnastics, sexual assault survivorship and friendship. It stars a young Korean American who, after suffering a spine injury, is competing to represent the USA in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. But when she makes it into the team, she learns about a horrifying truth: that their USA Olympics Coach has been sexually abusing a fellow team member.

This book touched my heart and it made me feel so sad about Dani, the character who steps up and voices the sexual abuse she has been undergoing for a year. But it also made me SO MAD, because it’s a reality–the abusers with power always try to oppress their victims to make them feel as if it’s the only option. And I’m so glad Dani sends this rapist to jail.

We watch Dani’s story unfold from Audrey’s perspective and it’s not an easy road. Their olympics team gets divided as they are thrown into an uncertain future where they lose their coaches and their gym just 3 weeks away from the Olympics, and some of these members even dare to cast blame on Dani. But the book powers on to show how important it is to believe and support victims of sexual abuse. Support and believing does not erase the horrifying events, but it does help and encourage victims to keep on going and to make the abusers PAY. Support and justice is always needed, and I loved how the main character and most of the team members do just that.

Break the Fall is also a book about pursuing your dreams and hard work. Our main character, Audrey Lee, now deals with Chronic Pain and is ready to say goodbye to her gymnastics career after the Olympics end. Her power and strength to keep practicing gymnastics is so admirable because she does it despite her intense pain that can barely be controlled by Cortisone shots.

Oh, and I must also mention that the gymnastics events felt so vivid and detailed, it truly felt as if I had a front row seat watching Audrey, Dani, Chelsea and Emma practicing and doing what they love best–ruling the gymnastics world. Now I wish I could actually cheer them on in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics! (And isn’t this book’s timing just PERFECT?!)

To wrap things up, I must mention that Break the Fall is a book that should be high up on your TBR! I smiled, teared up, and was constantly in awe while reading. We need more books just like it. ♥

TW: Discusses sexual abuse/assault (not graphic)