I loved this book. I remember reading it years ago on wattpad and falling in love with Axel and Whitney. Reading it again knowing it is being published and becoming something more is so exciting. I am so glad I was able to read this and give a review as this author is incredible and the story told was just as heartwarming as I remember it.

This book follows the fitness and romance journey of Whitney who meets a hot guy named Axel who ends up being her personal trainer at the camp she signed up for. She experiences heartbreak, love and friendships. Overcoming feelings and torment that she never thought she would while making the changes she wants. Following Whitney's journey allows for the readers to embrace and relate to the feelings she is experiencing. It was really heartwarming to see the growth that was shown throughout this book and the mended relationships that came to be.

This book is slow burn and SO worth it.

Review: Boot Camp - Gina Musa

I was lucky enough to receive this book as an ARC.

I read this book when it was first written on Wattpad and when it was self published by the author. I was so excited to receive the ARC!

Boot Camp is a heartwarming and inspiring coming-of-age story that beautifully explores themes of self-discovery, personal growth, and the transformative power of determination.

Whitney Carmichael is not your typical athlete. When her best friend inadvertently inspires her to confront her fears surrounding physical fitness, she embarks on a journey that takes her to a five-week summer boot camp. From the first grueling mile-long run to the dreaded rope hang, Whitney's doubts and struggles are relatable to anyone who's ever felt like the "odd one out."

Adding to Whitney's challenges, Willow, a person who made her life difficult during their school days, joins the boot camp. The story beautifully captures the essence of personal growth and resilience as Whitney confronts her past and learns to overcome her obstacles. Along the way, she forms a connection with her trainer, Axel, that takes her on a journey of self-discovery and transformation.

Gina Musa's storytelling is both engaging and relatable, and she masterfully captures the ups and downs of Whitney's journey. The characters, including Whitney's sweet and sympathetic trainer, Axel, are well-developed and add depth to the narrative. The exploration of Whitney's evolving feelings, friendships, and self-acceptance is beautifully depicted.

Boot Camp is not just a story of physical transformation but a journey of emotional and personal growth. It is a reminder that giving up is never the solution and that with determination and resilience, we can overcome our fears and doubts to achieve greatness. The lessons Whitney learns about herself, love, and friendship are both heartwarming and valuable.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys stories of self-discovery, resilience, and the power of personal growth. Boot Camp will leave you inspired and motivated to face your own challenges with determination and a positive spirit.

Rating: 4 / 5⭐️’s

This was okay, I guess. I think it should have been dual pov because something was definitely missing from the book. Whitney was a good character but I just wanted more.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Boot Camp by Gina Musa is a very enjoyable YA debut.
As soon as I saw the cover for this title, I knew I needed to read it!
Boot Camp is such a cute, addicting YA novel. I thought the pacing was just right, the writing was beautiful and I enjoyed getting invested in the characters.
I loved everything about this book and can't wait to read another one by Musa in the future.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC to read in exchange for my personal opinions. This was an enjoyable YA realistic fiction, told from the POV of a post-high school, pre-college girl who feels like she can't measure up to her ultra-athletic family's expectations.

After yet another humiliation from her high school tormentor, Whitney voluntarily goes to a fitness boot camp for the summer. Who would show up to the same camp, if not the very bully who led her to go in the first place? Will the exercise-avoidant Whitney survive camp alongside someone who made her life so difficult for so long? It certainly doesn't help matters when she is assigned the hottest personal trainer in the whole camp!

Super cute YA novel that was fun to read, easy to relate to, and reminded me of my own childhood dramas and teenage angst.

I absolutely devoured this book. The writing was wonderful.
I loved the story and the empowerment behind it.
It touched on so many tough topics that teens go through and really showed the reader how life can change if you put in the work.
I was inspired.

Enemies to Friends.
Friends to Lovers.
High school/college.
Sprinkle of romance but more focused on personal growth.
The FMC was *chef's kiss.

While predictable, this book was cute and enjoyable. It wasn't a put me down/cant stop reading novel, but it definitely a good escape and enjoyable read.

I loved this book! I think many of my students can relate to the pressure of trying to compete with older siblings or parent expectations. The story covered the topic of bullying, also, and how that can have a lasting impact on a person's confidence. I enjoyed watching the characters all grow throughout the book and the ending couldn't be more perfect!

Whitney feels like the outsider in her own family thanks to her dislike of physical activity. She's determined to turn things around and enrolls herself in a summer boot camp. Much to her horror, her high school nemesis—the girl who seemed to derive pleasure from bullying her—Willow, is at the camp too.

Between getting fit, making friends with fellow campers, and crushing on her personal trainer, Whitney battles with Willow's presence. It isn't long before she learns things about herself and Willow that she never knew and the world opens up to her in new, brilliant ways.

Boot Camp will make you feel like you're right there alongside Whitney, cramping and sweating and feeling exhausted. The fitness scenes and camp experience are well written and it was interesting to see her self-perception change as her self-esteem improved over the course of the story. The handling of her caustic relationship with Willow was well done and the crush that developed between her and her personal trainer was sweet.

This was a fun summer read!

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The main character in this book was very relatable to me, and I really enjoyed seeing her growth throughout her journey and commiserating with her along the way. I didn't find myself particularly convinced of the love interest however, and I found him to be quite bland which made it hard to feel invested in their story together. The books redeeming qualities were definitely some of the banter, relatable conflicts, and the fun ending, but overall I would have loved a little bit more from the romance side of things. It was definitely enjoyable!

I enjoyed this books focus on body positivity and her fully wanting to feel better about herself and not solely as others were teasing her (though that does happen to). The guy didn’t sweep me off my feet and make me hope to have my own one day like many other romance books do. At 22 reading this I didn’t feel slightly old as they are 18 and I’ve moved more toward people in their 20s/30s finding love but think for a younger audience this is a great book to make yourself feel good. As someone in the UK who has never been to an American camp I’m not sure how accurate it was portrayed but sounded fun (other than the burpees!)

First off, this is set in Connecticut so YAY for small state rep! The author really brought those muggy summers on the coast to life.

This book follows Whitney, an 18 year old who has just graduated from high school. After being bullied one too many times by the school’s resident Mean Girl Willow and also tired of being the odd woman out in her family of fitness fanatics, Whitney decides to attend a fitness summer camp.

This was a sweet story about body positivity and accepting yourself. I really enjoyed the camp environment (this would be the perfect summery read), even though a lot of the exercises they were doing sounded awful (burpees!).

The romance was fine. He was fairly generic, but I liked that Whitney always felt that she could be herself around him which is so important.

Overall this was a very sweet contemporary read. 3.5 stars, rounded down.

Wow, what a great book about knowing you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. Whitney decides to attend a five week fitness program because she feels if she were more athletic her dad might spend more time with her. At the camp everyone is given their own personal trainer and Whitney thinks her trainer, Axel, is quite handsome. Trainers and campers cannot date so that’s out, or is it? Whitney finds Willow, someone who bullied her, is at the camp too. As the campers do rope climbing, team challenges, a mud obstacle course, and more Whitney finds she likes the exercise. She and Willow talk about things that were said. Could they become friends now? When the founder of the camp makes an offer to Whitney, what does she say?

Boot Camp portrays the fantasy of any girl growing up that does not feel good enough to be seen, but is given a chance by the camp god that all the other campers desire. The book exposes a girl with a lack of self-confidence due to a lifetime of being picked on by a school bully as well as feeling unworthy of her family full of fitness enthusiasts. She takes all these unwelcome feelings and decides to take part in a fitness camp, which is where she finds her own confidence and closure from the bully she dealt with in high school as well as with her family prior to going away to college. This book turned out to be a quick, feel-good read that most readers can relate to.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book

Whitney is not athletic, unlike everyone in her family and her best friend. Ava (her best friend) manages to drag her to a 5K and it’s there she finds out about camp Campbell, a five week program meant to help with fitness. She wasn’t able to finish the race due to being so out of shape.

Summer break began soon after and Whitney’s older sister and her boyfriend Levi come home. Her dad has them all go to the tennis courts and while Whitney holds her own for a certain amount of time, she ends up getting hit in the eye with the tennis ball. She spends most of the next three days in her room, and on the third day, she makes the choice to apply to camp Campbell.

At camp Campbell, she knew that Cindy (someone she hates) would be there, but she gets the shock and annoyance seeing Willow (another person she hates) is there. The first chapter shows no interaction between the two, but instead Whitney deals with an athletic test where she puts all of her will into.

Later that day, she finally gets to meet her personal trainer, Axel Chandler. He proves to be Whitney’s match, ready to train her to the max. Throughout the next few days, he tries to reach her the ropes, and she finds it’s harder than she ever anticipated, despite her having good arm strength.

The first team challenge comes quick, and Whitney is paired with her new friends Martina and Aspen and her enemy, Willow. The first challenge is a mile race and Willow is the fastest on the team, But Whitney manages to put some momentum in and takes one for the team.

Throughout the next few days, she finds herself growing a little crush on her personal trainer, and she even finds a slight improvement in her strength. She manages to complete the ropes with the right form, something she wasn’t able to do on her first try.

Soon enough, the second team challenge creeps up on the campers. The first challenge consists of the rope climbing, which Whitney managed to complete with Axel. Willow and her best friend Adriana face off first. Then Whitney faces off another camper, Joanna. Whitney imagines Axel training her with the ropes and uses that to her advantage, managing to beat Joanna. Next are the hurdles, which Whitney hasn’t trained much for, so Joanna beats her to the finish line. Her new friend and teammate, Martina, takes the cake for the weight lifting challenge. The last and final challenge is a ‘dead hang’, where the campers have to hold on to a pull up bar for forty seconds. Martina and Aspen (half of the green team) fall off before the forty seconds are over, but somehow Whitney manages and Willow does as well.

Whitney and Axel continue to get to know each other, and Whitney only falls harder each training session. But as her affection grows, we see more of her low self confidence and the image what she thinks is perfection haunting her. She envisions her sister, Poppy, who her father has always favored.

The next team challenge is an obstacle course that includes tires, running, climbing, and mud. Martina volunteers the green team to go first, and they manage to complete the course. Given, only Willow and Whitney make it out of the mid unscathed, since Aspen and Martha fall into it. The next part, the hardest of all of the challenges, is a twelve foot wall. They all work together but during the last obstacle, Whitney falls and takes out her pent up rage on Willow, who helped her up. The punishment for the violence that ensued is cleaning the kitchen with the staff, but Adriana, Joanna, and Noelle (Willow’s friends) dump a smoothie all over the floor and expect Whitney to clean up since it’s her punishment. One of the staff, Brandy, cleans it up instead, sending Whitney to clean the tables. Willow is sweeping the floor and Whitney notices how much she hates it. The two exchange places and they end up talking and getting into a playful banter, even going as far as apologizing for their fight the day before.

The next training session with Axel comes and they practice boxing to help Whitney channel her anger.

The next day, the trio of girls go to NY and have a full day of fun, but their train ends up being late, so late that they won’t get back to camp until 10:30. After Whitney and Willow’s fight, the owner of the camp, Bob, told her she couldn’t be late on a Sunday, emitting fear like she’s never known before. They end up getting back around 11:00 and crash the personal trainer’s party, where they reverse the rules and accuse them of underage drinking, despite Isla (someone Whitney despises and Aspen’s trainer) barking at them.

Skipping forward a bit, the female trainers and campers face off in a round of soccer. Due to Isla’s arrogance, Adriana is ready to take them down, as is Whitney. Whitney is elected as the goalkeeper. During the game, Isla fakes an injury when one of the campers barely touched her and the campers almost get a penalty, but Axel steps in and tells Isla to stop embarrassing herself. The game stops afterwards after Whitney asks if anyone even cares to play anymore. None of them do and they all leave.

By this point, Whitney opened up to Axel and the two of them have a much more honest and open relationship. Whitney finds Axel can be playful as he tosses her in the water, but she ends up being caught by a wave and being dragged to shore. Axel being the sweetheart he is gets her a good, juicy, greasy meal to make up for it. The two share a meal that to Whitney, feels a lot like a first date.

The next yoga session with Cindy turns out differently and Cindy decides an icebreaker was needed. Everyone made joking questions until it was Noelle’s turn, and she blew up on Whitney, accusing and humiliating her. Whitney ends up leaving the room.

With only eight days remaining of camp, Whitney doesn’t realize how much work Axel has planned for her, or even her two best friends for that matter. After finding out Martina is bi, she finds Martina and Aspen kissing, but Aspen runs away, leaving Martina the pain of rejection. The two ignore each other (mostly) and Martina sticks with Whitney while Aspen joins two other campers, Kennedy and Neha.

Whitney finds Willow dancing in room 100 and the two share a compassionate and friendly moment where they open up to each other and let loose. The two of them make up for all of the bad experiences they had with each other and Whitney feels much happier and lighter. That doesn’t last though as right after her session with him, Isla comes up and kisses Axel. He chases after Whitney when she bolts and explains Isla kissed him, not the other way around. He (indirectly) admits to her he shares her feelings but that nothing could happen between them. She ends up calling her mom hoping to go home, but her sister answers instead and tells her to power through the last two days.

The last team challenge comes along, which is a 5K race. She starts off strong and at a decent pace, knowing she’d need the energy to keep going. She finds she doesn’t need encouragement from anybody but herself, and that powers her on. She pushes on and manages to finish the race.

After lunch, Bob brings Whitney up to his office to have a word. She finds Axel already there. Bob immediately gets into it and asks if she would be a trainer at camp Campbell next year. Bob gives her a month to decide.

That night, Martina is sulking and there’s a party outside. Whitney forces them to go to it. Most of the party, Whitney thinks about Axel and the rejection he gave her. After she and Willow talk, she managed to let go of some of her feelings and have fun, but since she volunteered to stay back and grab the last of their waste off the beach, she finds Axel. He explains his relationship with Isla to her. The two share their first kiss and spend time together under the moonlight.

The final day approaches and campers are ready to leave. Whitney says goodbye to all of her friends and shares a slightly tearful goodbye to Axel, but before leaving she asks him to be her plus one to her sister’s wedding.

Before leaving, Whitney sees Noelle all alone and goes to talk to her. She gives Noelle her forgiveness and wishes her all the best, which gives the younger girl a much peppier attitude.

Now that she’s home, Whitney begins morning jogs everyday. On her way out on the fifth day back, she runs into her dad. She has him come on a morning run with her and the two of them talk. Whitney admits how his treatment of her affected her and her well-being, and he apologizes.

The wedding pops up and Whitney finds herself waiting for Axel. He finally arrives and meets Whitney’s grandmother Jean. The ceremony ends quickly and Axel gets down on one knee and asks Whitney to be his official girlfriend. Of course, she says yes.

In the epilogue, Whitney announces she’s a certified personal trainer and heads off to her first job, reuniting with Axel and ready to take on the next chapter of her life.

I’m gonna be totally honest, I really relate to this book. While my family isn’t made up of all athletes, I do get comments on my weight and about how quickly I run out of breath on walks. I find it hard to motivate myself to exercise, a lot like Whitney displayed in this book. On top of that, I definitely have had my fair share of family drama, with my sisters, my mom, and my dad. This book hit home for me.

100% a great read. I would recommend to absolutely anyone who enjoys reading. The way the characters and the camp itself were displayed was absolutely amazing and in depth and I couldn’t help but fall in love with each and every piece of this book.