This morning, I woke up to the news that the Dutch gymnastics federation has suspended one of its top coaches and halted training for its international women's teams after it received allegations of physical and mental abuse. I already knew that several former gymnasts in the Netherlands and UK have come forward in the past weeks to speak of experience of emotional and physical abuse - this and the Netflix documentary Athlete A inspired me to pick up 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴.⁣
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Head over Heels is a timely story of Avery, a former a competitive gymnast who lost the chance to compete in the Olympics after sustaining an injury. After breaking up with her boyfriend, she returns to her hometown where she is approached by Ryan, a former crush and fellow former gymnast, who invites her to help train a new Olympic hopeful, Hallie. Training Hallie forces Avery to reflect on her own experience with her emotionally abusive coach Dimitri and the depression she dealt with following her failure to make the Olympic team.⁣
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I really enjoyed the relationship Avery develops with Hallie and how she helps Hallie to advocate for herself and find ways to support her mental health. Ryan and Avery’s relationship felt honest and realistic to me, albeit at times Ryan came across as a bit dispassionate.⁣
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I highly recommend this book if you are interested in a book about gymnastics, female friendships and romance with a timely dark subplot about the toxic culture of competitive gymnastics. ⁣

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

First things first: I love gymnastics. Well, let’s be more accurate: I love watching gymnastics and have since I was little. I tried my hand at the sport but it wasn’t a great fit for a lot of reasons (read: my love affair with carbs), but watching it is so great. Which means that Rachel Denhollander is one of my new heroes and I’ve been following the case of USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar, and the Karolyis very carefully.

This book is a fictionalized version of those events, told from our protagonist’s perspective. The names are changed, obviously, and some of the details are as well - but if you know what she’s talking about, you’ll see it. The author tells us that she is an insider to this world, and you can tell. Her love of the sport and her need to introduce others to it is evident and grounds the book in a reality I found absorbing.

The premise is thus: Avery Adams is an Olympic hopeful whose dreams never came true and she’s been floundering ever since. She moves back to her hometown after a breakup and takes a job coaching another hopeful, Hallie. Along the way, Avery helps Hallie find her confidence, deal with this book’s Nassar, prevents Hallie from working with the book’s Bella Karolyi, and… falls in love.

The crush she had on the hottest boy in the gym is fulfilled when that boy turns into Hallie’s main coach. Ryan is a fabulous love interest - clearly into Avery, great at his job (hello, competence kink!), and an all around good dude who knows how to apologize when he’s wrong and how to step up when he’s right. Their happily ever after was just as satisfying as Hallie’s conclusion and this book was a delight.

Highly recommended for reading by the pool or on your couch; it’ll grab you and take to you another world for a bit, and isn’t that the point of a really good book?

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I loved this book. I was a gymnast for twenty years and spent several years coaching so reading this felt like coming home. While I was never an elite gymnast, reading it his and about gym life and training was so familiar.

I really enjoyed all the layers of this story. Hallie’s gymnastics career, Avery and Ryan’s relationship, the difference a good coach and a bad coach can make on entire lifetimes, and the dark side of the sport- the mental pressure, eating disorders, verbally abusive coaches, and sexual assault. Following the sport closely, you can see where most of these influences came from.

Head Over Heels also captures the complexity of the sport- especially in the last few years. How you can dedicate your whole life to it and love it more than anything, yet recognize that things need to change, that there is a better way. I loved Avery and Ryan’s supportive approach to coaching Hallie and it really emphasized that he role coaches should fill, especially in a sport like gymnastics.

There were parts of the book I wish were expounded upon so we knew more before the conclusion, but overall I was satisfied with the ending.

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein
3.5/5

This was an enjoyable and interesting read. I greatly appreciated the larger theme of the novel regarding the treatment of gymnasts alongside the #MeToo movement. While now it is widely known throughout many sports that there is abusive and toxic treatment of athletes, this book is the first that I have read that explores this topic from the point of view of an individual from the gymnastics world. Orenstein’s research, as well as personal experience with the sport, was done wonderfully and I greatly appreciated that this is a work of fiction but also reflects important and timely current events throughout the world as well. I enjoyed the ending (no spoilers!) and the resource that Avery begins to develop for young gymnasts - I tried to do some googling to see if this exists in the real world and I came up short, so Orenstein should start this!

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the story of Avery and her relationship with the young athlete she helps. However, I felt that the romance aspect of this novel seemed to fall a bit flat – yes we know she has had a crush on the guy for ages but I just personally felt a bit neutral about their relationship. I wasn’t really rooting for them as much as I just wanted to hear how the results of the Olympic trials went, or how Avery developed as a person. Not that I didn’t like Ryan, he seemed great, but I more so wanted to hear about the other aspects of the story rather than the dash of romance added.

I would recommend this book to people who are missing the Olympics this year, or want to read a romance that has a bit more depth to the plot.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-book.

I have always loved watching women’s gymnastics in the Olympics and just finished reading Aly Raisman’s book about a week ago so this book was perfect and exactly what I hoped it would be!

You’ll be immersed in the world of gymnastics in Orenstein’s latest! I loved the focus on the different aspects that come along with being in such a dedicated, hyper focused sport while also including a super sweet love story.

This isn’t necessarily the most original story but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless and flew through it in a couple of days! I look forward to even more books from this author.

I loved this story. I flew through it and finished in less than 24 hours because i just couldn't put it down. The story flowed perfectly and though it's listed as a "sports" story, it tackles some big issues in the gymnastics world.

When opportunity knocks for Avery Abrams, a former gymnast, she takes it. The day her old friend (a/k/a crush, Ryan) calls and offers down and out Avery a job coaching Olympic hopeful, Hallie, Avery agrees.

Years after losing everything that meant something to her, Avery’s life finally has purpose. Training Hallie. It’s just a bonus that she gets to spend everyday with Ryan. Everything is going great, personally and professionally, until Ryan considers taking a job with Powerhouse and Avery’s former emotionally abusive coach Dimitri, and taking Hallie with him.

What’s a girl to do when everything she has worked so hard for is about to go up in flames?

“Head of Heels” by Hannah Orenstein started out sweet and had promise. Unfortunately for me it lost it a bit as the budding love story between Avery and Ryan quickly fizzled due to the way that he treated Avery. While I enjoyed the relationship between Avery and Hallie, there simply wasn’t enough of it for me to feel invested. In the end, my favorite part of this novel was the friendships between Avery and Sarah and Avery and Jasmine - they were portrayed very honestly and I felt that both were the strongest part of the novel. While I didn’t buy into the romance, I enjoyed the friendship and think that if you love the idiosyncrasies of gymnastics, you’ll love this novel.

This was a buddy read with Kaceey.

Thank you to Atria Books and Hannah Orenstein for the arc.

Published on Goodreads on 7.26.20.

First off, you have to keep in mind that this book is personal for me so my rating might be different from yours. I mean I used to be a gymnast, DEFINITELY not elite, and I still live in a small town in Massachusetts. I also have been following along with the sexual assault cases, and I’ve also been aware of the coaching methods from Olympic coaches: Béla and Márta Károlyi. Orenstein does a really good job of writing a light-hearted romance while referencing the dark underlying of the gymnastics world. I knew a fair amount about this going into it, but she really delves into the mental and physical struggles these athletes get put through.

Side Note: I think if you watch the documentary, Athlete A, on Netflix it will give you a better understanding of the gymnastics world and make you appreciate this book way more. It’s quite emotional but very informative and has things you might not know about the way our gymnasts are treated.

As for the romance, it wasn’t the most important feature of the story. The understanding is that Avery needed to deal with these pent-up emotions and struggles of the past before she could completely have the relationship she wanted. Although, the romance was still cute and light-hearted and I enjoyed the way it progressed.

Synopsis: Avery Abrams trained her whole life to be on the Olympic gymnastics team, after a freak accident at the Olympic trials, she faces an injury that ended her career for good. Her teammate and best friend, Jasmine, went on to the Olympics and lived out Avery’s dream. She then betrayed Avery in the worst way by marrying their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri.
A few years pass, and fresh off a breakup with her football star ex-boyfriend, Avery flies back to her hometown in Massachusetts where she gets an offer to train a new promising gymnast. The other coach Ryan, an ex-Olympian, turns out to be a crush from the past. Sparks fly between them, but as the coaching continues, a huge scandal reveals itself and has an effect on the entire gymnastics community.

This was a much deeper read than I was expecting and I am really happy about that. I do have to note though how odd it is to read a book that should have been released right before the 2020 Olympics that are now postponed! It was really nice though to get a chance to return to the world of Gymnastics this summer. The author does what I thought was a fantastic job describing the gymnastics moves and techniques (I am not a gymnast though so I could be wrong). While the romance is certainly an important part of this story, the more important stories are of the young girls who are abused, physically, emotionally and in some cases even sexually, in this sport and what needs to change. I really loved how the author tackled the issue! I also loved how the main character really grew and developed throughout the story. Over all I thought this was a really great read and anyone missing gymnastics this summer should check it out!

Head Over Heels is a sweet read that gives you the Olympics and gymnastics vibes you are missing this summer!

Avery is a former gymnast, Olympic hopeful who suffered a career ending injury. She is single and moves back to her parents' house. She is offered an opportunity to coach an Olympics potential recruit which also has her working alongside her teenage crush.

I enjoyed the gymnastics part and thought these parts were described well. I thought the romance wasn't developed as well and the characters weren't as convincing. I appreciated that there were other story lines but thought the abuse one was a direct correlation to recent news and thought this could have been a bit more original in how this came into the story and how the character it affected experienced this.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein is a fun read about Avery, whose future in gymnastics and life at large have stagnated in the years since her career-ending injury. Once an Olympic shoo-in, she's now jobless, aimless, single, and moving back to her parent's house.

When an opportunity presents itself to coach a girl with 2020 Olympics potential Avery reluctantly accepts but finds she may enjoy the challenge more than she expected- especially since it involves working alongside her teenage crush.

The romance in the book wasn't entirely convincing for me, and at times the characters were not especially personable, but I really appreciate the depth to the storyline and how it touches on the abuse that's been uncovered in the sport over the past few years as well as the pressure the athletes face and how that can impact their mental health and body image. I like that Orenstein gave us more than a love story, but do wish the pacing had been a little more consistent and the characters had been a bit more convincing.

Part romance novel, part women's' fiction -but with more substance than is typical from those genres, Head Over Heels is a perfect summer read-especially if you're suffering Olympic withdrawals.

Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was a highly anticipated read for me, and it did not disappoint. I flew through this book and really enjoyed the writing. I love when a book includes current events such as the "Me Too" movement. Of course I loved the romance but I also really enjoyed the hard topics that were discussed. From mental health, sexual assault, and body shaming, I really felt like this book covered it all.

Typically, I am more drawn to the romantic relationship and seeing where it leads to. However, with Head Over Heels, I found myself more interested in the dynamic between the coach and the athlete. The gymnastic dynamic is one I find super interesting. With no olympics this year, this is the perfect pick me up. This book is different than others I have read recently. Everyone should check this out!!

Thank you Atria Books for this ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for the chance to read this novel! I really enjoyed the mIn characters and plot line was great!

This was such a fun and lovely book. It was well written and filled with hard topics that have come up recently in the news surrounding gymnastics. I watched Athlete A on netflix shortly after reading this and found a lot of similarities. Cute love story though wound into the book.

When I learned that this story was inspired by the gymnast who were sexually molested my that Olympic coach, I knew I had to read it.
I love a good romance every now and then, but it is even better when it has a larger theme associated with it.
This story is also unique because it centers around the 2020 Summer Olympics, which is now postponed due to COVID-19.
The romantic journey between Avery and Ryan actually takes a bit of a back seat in comparison to the training of their potential Olympian, Hailey.
If you think you will get bored reading detailed passages of a floor routine and explanations of gymnastic terminology, then this might not be the best pick for you.
I was a bit intimidated by the length sections of the book devoted to the training and the competitions, but by the end of the novel I was rooting for Hailey and on the edge of my seat to see if she would qualify for the Olympic team.
Another element of the story was the mentally and emotionally abusive coach that Avery had to come to terms with as an adult. Her childhood friend, Jasmine, ends up marrying that monster, and the side plot that develops could have been a story in itself. So many part's of Jasmine's story are glossed over because there just wasn't enough room in the book to fit it all in. But her plight gives Avery a passion and drive to help young gymnasts fight off abuse in their sport.
A lot of things were packed into this novel including the romance. I wish some elements could have been fleshed out a bit more, but the book kept moving at a brisk pace, so you stayed engaged. There are very few romance scenes, so if that is something you are looking for just be aware the romance doesn't get very many pages in comparison to the gymnastics.

I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't one of my all time favorite novels. If you ever competed in gymnastics as a kid, then you will probably relate to this tale much more than I did.

This was a very sweet and fun romance read!

Avery Abrams had trained for the Olympic gymnastics team her entire life but sadly one performance ended her dreams. Newly single, and back in her hometown, Avery agrees to help train a new Olympic hopeful with the help of a hunky coach, Ryan. While the two connect a scandal threatens to rock Avery's world.

I had never read an gymnastics romance before, and admittedly I'm not an incredibly huge gymnastics or Olympics fan but I still found this to be a cute and fun romance. I think I'm learning that sports romances, or sports books in general don't often hold my attention, but this book surprised me with how effectively it wove sports related concepts with the non-sports aspects. I feel like there was a good balance in this book that gymnastics fans will enjoy but it also won't turn off those who don't love the sport as much.

I really loved Avery's character. I think Hannah Orenstein did an excellent job creating an incredibly relatable character. I felt for Avery throughout the book as she tackled her emotions regarding gymnastics and her past. I love when characters are written so realistically that I actually end up sympathizing for them.

This book also was not too "raunchy" in the steamier sections, which goes along with my taste for romances. I love a good graphic scene every once in a while, but in general I find I tend to enjoy romantic, sweet or playful romance scenes, which I think Head over Heels succeeded in doing.

Overall I thought this was a really fun and sweet read that I would definitely recommend.

Head Over Heels is one of my favorite books this summer! In the wake of the 2020 olympics being postponed this gave me my gymnastics fix. Hannah Orenstein is definitely working her way up my auto buy list. I recommend this one!

This was a cute book, and I liked the gymnastics aspects of it, but just felt the relationship of the main characters fell a little flat for me.

I completely flipped (I promise, this is my only pun) over this sweet rom-com set in the world of competitive gymnastics.

Avery is looking for a fresh start after her love life implodes and heads back to her home to live with her parents. Avery was a hometown hero who was moments away from making the Olympic team when a devastating injury kept her sidelined and ruined her career. Back at home, Avery reconnects with an old crush who enlists her help to coach the latest rising star from her childhood training gym.

It's the perfect choice for anyone missing the high-stakes drama of Olympic gymnastics this year. By the time I finished reading it, I felt like a true gymnastics insider ready to do color commentary on TV. Finding a story where you are rooting for all the characters to achieve their dreams is refreshing and fun. Recommended.

This was just an adorable and sweet story, perfect for these times when you just want to read something to make you feel good. I wouldn't call myself an avid gymnastics/Olympics fan but I definitely loved the tie in to the sport and the touching upon the serious topic of abuse within the sport. I just thought it was perfectly addressed and written while also having the romantic substory which was super sweet.

4 stars.