3.5 stars

I’ve been obsessed with the Olympic games – gymnastics, in particular – since I was a young girl. Every four years, I find myself glued to my television, cheering on Team U.S.A. When I found out Head Over Heels was a romance centered around a gymnast training for the Olympics, reading it was a no-brainer.

With some sports romances, the sport is barely tangential to the plot. This book, however, immerses the reader in the world of competitive gymnastics – the training regime, techniques, rules, equipment, and competitions. It’s a well-researched subject that’s a dream for super fans.

Despite the cute cover, this isn’t a fluffy contemporary romance. Avery is burdened with depression and the lingering effects of emotional abuse. It’s tangible. However, deep down is a fighting spirit that I admired. I liked the way Avery bonds with Ryan over their shared experiences as former elite gymnasts. I also enjoyed how they work together as a team to train Hallie. Theirs is a sweet, although not necessarily electric, attraction. This is mainly due to the indecisive nature of their romance. It feels forced.

In Hallie, we see a teenager with great ambition and grit. She is able to take on the grueling physical and mental demands required of athletes competing at her high level, while still maintaining a sweetness that’s endearing. I celebrated every accomplishment and mourned each setback.

I would have rated the book higher, but some developments in the latter half are too rushed. Ryan’s decision-making is questionable and hasty. Avery’s reunion with her former best friend, Jasmine, needs finessing; although, I did enjoy their relationship. The drama lover in me wanted to see additional interactions with Avery’s former coach and a more satisfying resolution.

Overall, I enjoyed this book more as a work of contemporary women’s fiction than as a romance. Head Over Heels definitely renewed my love for gymnastics and my appreciation for athletes who train most of their lives for one shot at grabbing the ultimate gold.

This is such a fun, timely coming-of-age story that hits on a lot of important themes but doesn’t bash you over the head preaching about it. And I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what Avery was going to do next and how she’d respond to a situation and how she’d grow as a result. I just really, really liked it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book by all accounts appears to be a romance, from the title, to the cover and even the description. However, while the element of romance is very much there, you get a very thoughtful novel that takes on the reality of what women’s gymnastics really looks like.

We meet Avery on her way home, after being dumped by her boyfriend. She has gone through a tough stretch after injuring herself at the Olympic trials years ago. When she gets home, she is offered a job to help coach an Olympic hopeful. After consideration she decided to take this position.

Cue Ryan, the coach. Ryan and Avery met years ago when they were both training for the Olympics. He has had a successful career as a gymnast and is progressively moving into the next role into his life.

We quickly learn Ryan has had a long term crush on Avery and they start a relationship in secret so they do not hurt Hallie’s chance of making the Olympic team. Hallie is the 16 year old phenom and has the discipline to go all the way.

Where the novel goes into a deeper story, is when we find Hallie has been going to a doctor that has now been accused of sexually abusing his patients. Avery feels a bond to Hallie, because she did not have a smooth training experience when she was an Olympic hopeful. Avery supports Hallie in a way that no one seems to be able to.

Avery has been reeling for years of what happened to her, and she will do anything to make sure Hallie stays safe and healthy. During this time, Avery grows significantly as a person. You come to find out that maybe her break-up was the best thing for her.

This book has some more heft than your typical romance. You will find yourself rooting for all three protagonists and even some supporting characters. This book feels extremely relevant and gives an extremely positive spin that if you have the right support system, you can persevere.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I was young, women’s gymnastics was exploding in popularity. My elementary school started an after-school gymnastics program. It was just for fun, but my friends and I enjoyed it. This was long before all the scandals, the serious injuries and eating disorders that would come to cast a shadow over gymnastics. Or maybe we were all just young and naive and not aware of any of that back then. We were all just thrilled to be able to actually walk on a balance beam without falling off or being able to do a back flip. But that was long ago and a much simpler time.
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I enjoyed reading this book and it’s unfortunate the Olympics were cancelled this year. This book dovetails nicely with the excitement of an Olympic year, but it also addresses the sexual abuse scandals that have tarnished this sport. The main ch🤸‍♀️aracter is Avery, who trained her entire life to make the Olympic team. But an injury derailed her dreams while she watched her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, find gold medal glory. I like romances if the characters are well-written and the female character is independent, funny, tough but kind. I loved Avery and rooted for her and enjoyed this book that is both fun and serious.

I tried so hard to like this book but it just did not click for me. It was a very fast paced book that I easily read which was nice but the the gymnastics scenes were too clunky, the romance left me feeling disconnected and really just felt it was awkward and the friendships between people just fell flat for me. I did like Hallie and the scene where she goes to yoga was very well done.
Thank you for the opportunity

If I can’t watch the Olympics this year due to COVID-19, getting lost in Hannah Orenstein's book is a close second to getting to enjoy my favorite Olympic sport. For any Olympic gymnastics lovers, I highly recommend this book!

Avery was nearly an Olympic athlete until an injury ruined her gymnastics career. Now, nearly seven years later, Avery is still struggling to get her life together. After dropping out of college, partying too much, and breaking up with her NFL star boyfriend, Avery moves home. Once home, Avery is approached by Ryan, a former gymnast as well, who asks Avery to help him train a young gymnast, Hallie, and hopefully get her to the Olympics. Accepting the job, Avery sets herself on a course of healing, personal and professional, that has been a long time coming.

This book was so unexpected. I dove into this thinking “of course Avery will fall in love with Ryan,” and while the romance aspect of this book exists, there were so many other more significant layers to the story. Orenstein honored the #metoo movement in gymnastics well in this book as well as the physical and mental strain the sport puts on its female athletes.

Other than including important social issues, this book is all about healing. Avery works hard to overcome her depression and broken past while forging new relationships with Ryan and Hallie and repairing old ones with her friend Jasmine.

The passion Orenstein has for the sport of gymnastics shines through in the descriptions of gymnast routines, deep understanding of the psychology of the sport and its athletes, and careful attention to the impact the #metoo movement has while remaining authentic in her writing.

While the tagline for this book classifies it as romance, I think it gets it all wrong. This book is more contemporary women’s literature than it is romance and it was honestly a pleasant surprise when reading and I thoroughly enjoyed each minute!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I did not end up finishing Head Over Heels. I read up to about 20%, but sadly I was not connecting with the characters in the story. Thank you for the opportunity.

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein was a novel I truly enjoyed. This book definitely was a lot different than her previous works, and I have seen such a difference in her writing - while this one took on more serious themes of emotional abuse and #metoo movement. This was a very important topic that I did see in the headlines about the gymnastics world, and the ongoing emotional and physical abuse from the people they most trusted and relied on. I felt that Orenstein wrote about this with such grace and compassion for the characters, and the amazing writing really hooked me in. This read more as a women's contemporary fiction rather than a romcom.

I loved the protagonist. Avery was a competitive gymnast and an Olympic hopeful who lost the chance from an injury. She starts school at UCLA and meets her boyfriend, a famous football player with whom after four years had a very devastating breaks up with her. With nowhere to go, Avery returns to her hometown and back to her parents' home. While there, she was offered a chance to coach an Olympic hopeful and rekindles a second chance romance meeting Ryan again, who was also in the gymnastics circuit when Avery was competing.

I think that when Orenstein was writing this, the issues of COVID and the cancellation of the summer Olympics in Tokyo was not even a consideration, so you may have to just accept that in this fictional world in this novel. It sure made me miss the Summer Olympics very much.

I have to mention in this novel and give kudos to how Orenstein in this novel captured the gymnastics world - the writing was very well researched and captured the details of the technical aspects of the elite gymnastics competition. For me personally, I enjoyed it immensely and I certainly appreciated the research that went to writing this book.

I thought the romance was great. It focused on Avery and Ryan's relationship and their career as coaches to an up and coming Olympic gymnast. The characters were very relatable especially for those wanting second chances not just in love but in life as well.

I enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it as a women's contemporary fiction read that tackled important themes and subject matter. A great read I really enjoyed that captivated me into the high stakes world of competitive gymnastics.

Enter the world of competitive gymnastics with chalk bowls, butt glue, tracksuits and hand grips - welcome to Head Over Heels.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!
For anyone who enjoys watching gymnastics, especially during the Olympics, this rom-lit is for you.
Avery is a former competitive gymnast whose dream of making the women's Olympic team was dashed by an injury during trials. Years later she returns to her hometown after a breakup, and is recruited to work at her former training gym by former fellow-gymnast/crush, Ryan.
Together they coach Hallie, an elite gymnastic prodigy with her own Olympic aspirations.
Head Over Heels is more than a relationship story - it doesn't shy away from the issues faced by high-level athletes including emotional and sexual abuse, body image, pain and letting go of dreams to make way for new ones. It's an interesting read on so many accounts and it's obvious the subject matter is well-understood by author Hannah Orenstein. Recommended!
For release on June 23, 2020.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of Head over heels by Hannah Orenstein for an honest review. This is my first book by the author and I must say I was impressed. I requested Head over heels after seeing a friend's review, and being a fan of gymnastics since I was young (I had a dream of being a gymnast) I was looking for something that was just a bit more than a light romance and I found it in Head over heels! Avery was on the brink of being an Olympic champion when her dream was dashed by an injury. Now coming home she hopes to start a new life and gets a call from an old crush, to help train his young gymnast. Can she help Hallie, and have a relationship with Ryan at the same time? The story brings out current issues of mental and physical abuse from coaches, body issues, self-esteem, and sexual abuse from physicians. While these issues are just a small side plot to the main storyline these are real issues in the world of gymnastics. I thought they were handled well in the book to increase awareness of the issues, but not to overload the overall storyline. I totally enjoyed the story, and look forward to reading other books by the author!

"I h-h-hate that I'm the kind of person who gets so thrown off course by stupid, dumb feelings." GIRL, SAME.

My second book by Orenstein and just what I needed right now! I used to be fascinated with gymnastics when I was younger. At one point I even thought, "hey, I can do this!", proceeded to try and do a back flip, with absolutely no training of course, and am lucky I didn't break my neck since I did land on my head. The discipline these girls have at such a young age is quite impressive. Orenstein brings us into the behind the scenes portion with Avery - an Olympic contender who lost her chance due to an injury and an asshole coach. And stemming from the all too true case of Larry Nassar, touches also on the abuse these girls also had to endure. PHEW!

Now, incorporated into all of this of course is the romance between Avery and Ryan. Although, we expect the typical romance arc that we are used to in this genre, I absolutely appreciate that this wasn't an instalove type of romance but a budding between two people who actually knew each other way back when.

My favorite parts though were Avery's relationship with Hallie and watching that grow. I don't know if it's the isolation that's gotten me more emotional or not, but I did find myself attached to Hallie and her growth. But.... I also need to know something else dangit! 😉 I'M INVESTED. This contemporary romance was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing what Orenstein has for us next.

Head Over Heels is exactly what I feel for this novel! Wow! First of all, I need to research if Hannah Orenstein is a closer Olympic gymnast because this book was SO spot on with the details and terminology, the author must have an intense gymnastics background.

HoH is the perfect novel to get us through since we are not getting the 2020 summer Olympics, which are the only games that I watch, and ONLY for gymnastics! I loved picturing my favorites like Nastia and Shawn as some of the competitors in the book, and actually picture Simone during a lot of Hallie’s performances.

I loved the romance too, and thought it was weaved one perfectly to not overshadow the technical part of the book; both pieces worked simultaneously to make for an enjoyable read.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

am a huge gymnastics fan and this story is ripped from the headlines. Young girls being mistreated, hurt by doctors. This author did an excellent job telling a story to these actual events. I was instantly interested in reading this book once I read the synopsis!

I enjoyed the characters - Avery...a young woman who's dreams to in the Olympics was ruined by injury. She's been floating through life since. She's recently dumped and has returned home. The home where her life as a teenager, a gymnast are everywhere. She's stuck, her life stagnant. Until Ryan calls to offer her a job.

Ryan, also a gymnast as a teen was Avery's teenage crush. He's calling her to ask her help, looking for her expertise to help him train an up and coming gymnast.

The slow burn of the romance between these two was almost too slow for me. I wanted more from their relationship - more spark, it fell a bit flat for me.

My other concern was the author's use of such specific terms when it came to the gymnastic maneuvers. I found myself needing to google different tricks and I lost my place in the book - down the rabbit hole of YouTube.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but it was slow at times.

As a lifelong lover of the Olympics and gymnastics, this was a book I could not wait to read! It didn't disappoint. I enjoyed the story and characters' journeys. I really could relate to the main character, Avery, when it came to trying to find your footing after a life long dream is taken from you. While it fit A LOT into it's pages, I still enjoyed it. It has one steamy-ish scene and a sweet romance, but mostly deals with really important topics surrounding elite gymnastics.
TW/CW: discussion of molestation/sexual assault, verbal abuse, negative body image, body shaming
Thank you to Atria Books for my early copy!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Hannah Orenstein for the opportunity to read this wonderful book - 4.5 stars rounded up!

This is the story of Avery who was on the verge of competing in the Olympics for gymnastics when she had a career-ending injury. From there, her life spiraled downward. All she had known was gymnastics and that was gone. After a breakup with her boyfriend in CA, she returned home and moved back into her childhood bedroom. A chance at coaching another future Olympian at her old gym gave Avery a new start. Then a scandal broke in the gymnastic world with consequences for all involved and threatens Avery's new relationship as well.

My reading preference usually tends a bit darker, but I'm all about a good story - and this is a good story. Hannah Orenstein is obviously familiar with the gymnastics scene and touches on the abuses the girls put their bodies and minds through to compete at a high level. But this book also talks about abuse on an even worse basis (the Larry Nassar scandal). Friendship and forgiveness are also great themes in this book - how to put old grievances behind and move forward together. You'll find yourself rooting for all these characters! But it also has serious tones and is motivational and inspirational. Bravo to all involved!

I tried so hard to get into this book but for the life of me, I just couldn't. As a former gymnast, I really expected to just love this book but it just fell short for me.

You know how some authors can write a romance with the perfect blend of lightness and depth? It doesn’t always work, but when it does it’s THE best and the author knocked it out of the park here. Avery is a former competitive gymnast who lost everything when she was severely injured and several years later she’s back in her hometown, living with her parents after a breakup. Poor girl, right?! The one bright spot is her new coaching job at her old gym alongside Ryan, a fellow gymnast who she’s always had a crush on. I loved Avery and Ryan was alright too 😉 he was a little wishy washy for me but redeemed himself in the end. Avery was fantastic enough to carry the whole story, she’s fierce and endearing and I was rooting for her so hard. This was a keen look into the cutthroat and demanding world of gymnastics and there were some serious issues explored (abuse, #metoo movement etc).

I’ve read all three of the authors books and I’m such a fan, she writes fresh, modern romances full of wit and heart and I agree with my friend Kailey, this is her best yet! And if you’re like so many of us who are bummed about no Olympics this summer this is the perfect antidote, especially if you’re a competitive gymnastics fan.

This was my first Hannah Orenstein book and I had a great time reading it. I loved the dynamic between Hallie, Avery, and Ryan. It was pretty cool to see their coach/athlete relationship and how it developed over the course of the book

My favorite part of the book was seeing Avery come into her own. I always appreciate when I start off with a character who is kind of down in life, but makes a huge come back by the end of their story. And Avery definitely does that. I enjoyed her romance with Ryan. I thought they were cute, but I wasn’t super invested in them the way I like to be with romance books. I was more interested in Avery’s connections with the other people in her life- Hallie and Jasmine especially. Still, the relationship was cute and I appreciated the way they grew together after some hardship.

The book is kind of info dump-y in the beginning and especially in that first chapter. As a reader I felt kind of bogged down learning years of history in such a short time. A lot of the gymnastics terms went over my head (I know zero things about the sport), but I think the author still does a pretty good job of explaining those things and it doesn’t distract from the story if you don’t understand the terms.

Overall, a pretty good book.

I loved this book and it was another that I finished in like a day. I have always been a huge fan of gymnastics and have read about how they train. I took gymnastics as a kid but my lack of coordination kept me from getting very far! 🤣 I enjoyed reading about how Avery rebuilt her life after her breakup with her football star boyfriend. I wasn’t a huge fan of Ryan at times but that was my only pause in the book. Everything else about this book I adored. ❤️ Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

"Head Over Heels” is a contemporary romance, set in the modern world of competitive women’s gymnastics. Ryan, an ex-olympian is coaching Hallie, a young and upcoming star, and when he realizes that one of the sports’ retired floor exercise stars, Avery Abrams, is in town, he hires her to help Hallie with her routine. Avery had a hard exit from the sport, and carries some demons from the past. When she is brought face-to-face with a few of them, she has a chance to begin to recover.

Clearly, Avery could have used some good therapy time after the end of her career. Instead, she carted her misery around for over seven years, ruining her own life and relationships in the process. Fortunately, one of the messages of this book is that the sport of women’s gymnastics is changing for the better, and there is hope for improvements in the next generation.

The glimpses into elite gymnastics were interesting, and the relationship development was satisfying.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.