This book was great! Super informative about gymnastics and gymnasts as well. I grew up doing gymnastics but never really thought about the sacrifices olympians had in order to get to where they were. I figured this was more of a romance book, but it really wasn't. It was more about a young person finding themselves after losing the only thing they ever knew- competitive gymnastics.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a free review copy of Head Over Heels.

Hannah Orenstein has recently become an author whose new work I look forward to reading.
I really enjoyed her prior novels, Love at First Like and Playing With Matches and was looking forward to reading Head Over Heels.

This books is a little different from the two others I read by this author. Orenstein dives head on tackling the world of elite gymnastics, Avery Abrams was an elite gymnast with the dream of being on the US Olympic team, but when a devastating injury ends her career, she finds herself sidelined and adrift. When her professional athlete boyfriend breaks up with her, Avery returns home to lick her wounds and hide out for a while.

Being back home takes an unexpected turn when Ryan, a former competitor and new coach at the gym in town, asks Avery to help him train an up and coming gymnastics star. Old memories resurface and Avery is forced to confront her former best friend and teammate, who is now married to their former, emotionally abusive, coach.

I enjoyed this book and thought the author balanced the romance with the more serious aspects of being an elite athlete.

I appreciated that the theme of this book was gymnastics. However, unfortunately, I was unable to finish this book as the writing style didn’t seem to work for me.

If you love women's gymnastics or sports in general, this is a great read for you!

The plot is not complex but the characters are endearing. I appreciated the inclusion of some of the real life issue facing gymnasts and women in general without getting too heavy. This was a fun book to read on a lazy weekend.

Head Over Heels was an incredibly enjoyable read that featured a cute storyline, cute characters, and more depth than I originally anticipated. I loved following Avery’s journey of self-discovery as she found her new role in the world of gymnastics. This would be a great book to read during the Olympics! Highly recommend!

This was so fun!! I LOVED how it dealt with the Olympics and gymnastics!! I liked how it was lighter but it was still emotional at scenes and left you with that uplifting and happy feeling. It dealt with real issues that people face, especially athletes and I really appreciated that and seeing how it was overcome. I loved Avery and Ryan and thought their chemistry was really sweet. Though I do wish the romance in this was a little bit stronger, I still enjoyed the book as a whole and appreciated the added depth to it.. it was very easy to read and I enjoyed all of the characters!

This is a cute rom-com and I really enjoyed it! It may be a bit predictable, but in such a good way. I loved that the book brought more awareness of abuse in gymnastics. It's a fun light-hearted read for anyone!



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3.5 Rounded Up.

I received a reviewer copy of Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein from the publisher Atria Books from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Verbal Abuse, Career Ending Injury, Depression, Abuse of Minor.

What It’s About: Avery Abrams spent most of her life training to compete for the United States at the Olympic in gymnastics, but a devastating injury ended her athletic career and led to a spiraling of depression, leading to dropping out of school and even losing her best friend who did compete. Recently broken up with and with nowhere to go Avery joins fellow former gymnast Ryan in training a new and upcoming gymnast.

What I Loved: I loved reading this book during the Olympics. I love the Olympics and I love gymnastics and also have been trying to balance these two things in the face of systemic sexual abuse in USA gymnastics. The same is clearly true for Orenstein who loves gymnastics but horrified by the abuse. This book does not shy away from the abuse, yet this story is so optimistic and empowering that I truly enjoyed it. I loved watching Avery recover as she trains a new talent in floor.

What I Didn't Like So Much: I didn’t love the romance, there is a point that happens here that I think would have a hard time working afterwards but this is me. If I wanted anything, I wanted more. I wanted to find out how the Olympics went, I wanted to see what was next for Avery, I wanted to see more feminist moments (to be clear, there are plenty and this is just a wanting of more), and I wanted more of the books.

Who Should Read This: People who love gymnastics but want to see it held accountable. People who love gymnastics. People who love sports romance. People who love a good comeback.

Quick Summary: Devastated from a career ending injury, Avery finally gets the chance to make a comeback.

Who doesn't love watching the gymnastics at the Olympics? I don't think I know anyone who would say no to watching the skill and talent required to be a top athlete in the sport. The romance aspect of this book is a little too will-they-or-won't-they, but the handling of a delicate situation was done well. It's a very timely story in the world of gymnastics and I am happy to have read it.

Thank you so much for this title! I really enjoy Hannah's books and I am really looking forward to the next one. Thank you again!

I'll start by saying that I bought this book because it's a July selection for Book of the Month. It wasn't my top choice, but the preview was interesting enough that I thought it would be worth buying. I am not interested in most sports, but I have loved women's gymnastics ever since the 1996 Olympics. I follow collegiate gymnastics and women's gymnastics is my favorite competition of the summer Olympics. It is one of the minor tragedies of the global pandemic that we're not getting to enjoy the Olympics this summer. This book in a very tiny way filled a little bit of that void for me.

That being said, this book would probably not have held my interest if I were not interested in gymnastics. It's a good book, but it's pretty straightforward. There's no intricate plot here or major twists to be found. The characters themselves are not overly complex, either, but it's such a light read does it really matter? The book does deal with some current issues such as abuse of young female athletes and the #MeToo movement, but it neither adds much to the plot or contributes anything new to the real-life conversation.

Still, I enjoyed this book for what it was. It's light and fluffy and exactly what I needed right now in a book. It only took me a couple of days to read it and I don't regret the time spent! If, like me, you enjoy gymnastics and/or watching the summer Olympics, you will probably enjoy Head Over Heels.

This is one of the books I go to when recommending cute rom-coms. It’s predictable but still so entertaining. I also loved that the book focused around gymnastics. I am not a huge gymnastics fan but I am aware of the abuse athletes have received in this sport. I think Hannah Orenstein did a great job of bringing more awareness to these issues while still delivering a entertaining read.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

Timely, charming, and heartfelt, Hannah Orenstein sticks the landing with her third rom-com, Head Over Heels!

A witty and delightful read. HEAD OVER HEELS is a perfect read if you want to escape for a little while. As with her previous novels, Orenstein's humor is what shines for me.

This was a great romcom! I really enjoyed the story. Not only did the main character find herself again she was able to help others.

A cute romance about gymnastics. It was fun to read about the sport that I hold close to my heart, and though this wasn't super steamy, it was still a cute romance.

I want to just say that I LOVED the gymnastics aspect of this book. So full and heartwarming. Unfortunately, the love story for me was one dimensional and just... off, which caused me to give the story 3 stars! I’ll elaborate more with my review when it comes!

As always thank you Atria and Netgalley for providing me with this review copy.

Avery was an Olympic gymnast hopeful, who had a sudden, tragic injury that kept her from qualifying. Years later, she’s just been dumped by her football star boyfriend in LA, so she returns to her hometown in Massachusetts. She feels purposeless and has still not been able to fully move on from the disappointment of not going to the Olympics. Enter Ryan, a former gymnast turned coach she knew in her teen years, who offers her a job helping coach Olympic hopeful Hallie. As she begins to fall for Ryan, she also struggles to overcome her past insecurities and stand up against the cruelties she and other young, female athletes faced at the hands of doctors and coaches, whether it be emotional or sexual abuse.

This book had more depth than I expected, focusing on the abuse that many young, impressionable, female athletes receive. While not graphic, it discusses the emotional abuse from some coaches - body shaming, name calling, etc - and sexual abuse from doctors. It mirrors the publicity happening today with the discussion of doctors being able to take advantage of vulnerable athletes for years.

The romance was on the lighter side and Ryan irked me a bit. I felt like things wrapped up a bit too neatly in that department. But overall, it was well written and informative, I know next to nothing about gymnastics so a lot of the terms used were new to me.

When I initially read the premise of this novel, I thought it was going to be the same as The Bronze, which I only watched for ten minutes before turning off. So I'm thankful that this novel was nothing like that movie, since I enjoyed Hannah Orenstein's previous novels and picked it up solely based on the fact that she wrote it.

While I've never been into gymnastics, I did enjoy the movie American Anthem when I was a kid. However, I never pay attention to the Olympics. Having said that Head Over Heels was an interesting look at competitive gymnastics. I liked the dynamic between Avery and Ryan, as well as between Avery and Hallie. Avery was relatable in a lot of ways, even though I have almost 20 years on her. Hannah's detailed use of description allowed me to really see Hallie in her competitions, as well as all the characters and settings.

The story dealt really well with a current issue in the field of gymnastics and handled the topic as sensitively as possible.

While it took more time for me to get into this novel, I enjoyed it after it picked up the pace. I look forward to seeing what Hannah comes up with next.

Movie casting suggestions:
Avery: Zoey Deutch
Ryan: Patrick Schwarzenegger
Jasmine: Nathalie Emmanuel
Hallie: Reylynn Caster
Dimitri: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Sara: Kelli Berglund