With the Olympics fresh on everyone's mind and sports romances once again at the top of everyone's lists, what better time than now to read a sapphic coming-of-age story set in the chaotic world of high school roller derby? (Okay, no, it isn't an Olympic sport, but it's still a sport!)
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This is the story of Millie "Mighty" Novak, a homeschooled sophomore with asthma who just successfully graduated Skatertots and made one of the derby teams at her local skating rink. She's got a lot on her plate--her parents' newly announced divorce, her brother being gone at college, an acute lack of confidence, and new romantic feelings toward a fellow skater, to name a few--but her biggest goal is to shore up her skills and help her team to victory at the upcoming Soy Anything competition. Easy, right?
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Millie is a messy protagonist, and yet you can't help rooting for her as she fumbles through the chaotic situations life throws her way; even as she makes countless terrible choices, her pluck and determination keep her in the reader's good graces, and several people--including her coaches and her peers--call her out on them. The stress she feels towards dating, especially as her parents' split casts her own ideas of romance into doubt, is particularly resonant, as is her reckoning with the realization that her teammates are not quite as she had initially imagined. And her character development is handled smoothly, as her confidence, athletic skill, and awareness of others all grow in tandem toward a satisfying resolution.
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I will say, this is definitely a book for the younger end of YA, and some of Millie's dating decisions (and the speed with which she fell into a certain initial crush) felt over the top to me, but that may come down to personal preference. I also still don't know if I fully understand the mechanics of roller derby, but the book certainly tried its best to explain the rules for those of us not in the know.
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Two other cool side notes:
1. Love the asthma rep throughout; Millie finds herself using her inhaler in the face of both strenuous athletic work and general anxiety.
2. This book is joining the small but mighty (no pun intended) coalition of books that actually reference the Covid-19 pandemic, including that it never really ended; Millie takes Covid tests on-page when she gets sick, which is a nifty addition, and her coaches are adamant about the team members not practicing when ill, even with just a cold.
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The verdict? If, like Millie, you're interested in "badass sports for weird girls," or if you just want an easy read full of queer teens finding family in a team of fellow oddballs, this may be just the book you're looking for.
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Rep: fat bisexual MC with asthma, Latina SC, Black SC, sapphic LI(s), various queer SCs
TW/CW: internalized fatphobia, dating between 18- and 16-year-old, alcohol use, anxiety, divorce, blood/injury, toxic friendship

This YA queer romance features a young woman dealing with social anxiety and her parents divorce, but her deep resilience keeps her moving forward!

Honestly I really wanted to like this book, but I got bored around 20% through and ended up DNFing. It just was for me. I did enjoy the concept but the pass just didn't hold my attention sadly.

If you like to roller derby and sapphic novels this one was for you.

Despite the super cute cover, this wasn't my favorite ever unfortunately. I had a difficult time connecting to Millie and ill admit she was a little annoying which given is typical for a teenager her age but at times it felt a little overdone so I also just had a difficult time reading the story overall. I saw everybody say that it does hit a turning point and get better and I would consider coming back to finish it in the future since I believe it does but for right now it isn't for me so I'm gonna put it to the side. I absolutely think you should still read this if your interested! This was a personal thing and obviously a lot of other people enjoyed it and it will and has found it's audience. Regardless, thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC, this didn't affect my opinions at all!

This was a fun, mostly sweet queer coming of age story. I liked the characters and thought they were age-appropriate, which is always refreshing to see in YA books.

I didn't really know anything about roller derby going into the book. I feel like I would've enjoyed that aspect of the story more if I had. It was still a good read though. The characters and relationships (platonic and romantic) make it worth reading.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Cute YA sports romance - I did find Millie to be annoying at the start but as I read on, I grew to understand her character and was able to relate to her. As someone who did not know a lot about roller derby, it was great to hear Millie's description of the sport. Will be recommending!

thank you netgalley for giving me an advanced opportunity to read this book. i genuinely enjoyed the story of millie and how the story progressed,

The road to success is a work-in-progress, and Millie’s messy journey is a testament to that. Millie’s passion for roller derby burned throughout the book. While she was focused on derby and her life, her friendship took a hit in a messy way, adding onto the issues she was already facing.
Millie was flawed and quirky. Although she was slow and catching up with her peers, reading her self-discovery journey was motivating.

This book would appeal more to middle school (13+) audience than YA.

I never knew much about roller derby, but this book branched out from mainstream sports in fiction and delved into the world of roller derby through Millie’s story.

Millie is struggling. Her parents argue all the time- announce their divorce. Her older brother moves to attend college. Attending virtual high school allows Millie to avoid the relentless bullying from middle school.
With her parents pushing for social interaction, Millie finds her community in roller derby. Toxic friendships. Lying about her age to a crush. Massive lack of confidence.
With the help of roller derby, Millie finds strength in her body and her self. Wonderful story of a young queer girl.

3.5

First of all, I didn’t know much about roller derby before this book, but the author did such a great work describing each one of the scenes when they are practicing or competing, it really made me feel like I was with our characters, that i was a nervous and excited spectator watching them.

I enjoyed reading the journey of Mighty through this phase of life when you want to be a part of something, have friends, have fun, being a little bit selfish, lie, find your passion, being in love, learn from your mistakes and grow.

Her love and determination towards the goal of being a better athlete in this sport was inspiring and realistic, our minds sometimes kind of betrays us and starts making us overthink and compare ourselves with others, which can make us feel less worthy of what we want, so i liked reading how Mighty starts dealing with these. The scene where Ann tells her to be gentler with herself and believe in her team was one of my favorite ones.

And i LOVED the develop of her relationship with Strok, i wish we had more scenes of them together.

This was such a nice and refreshing book!

Mighty was definitely a tiny bit annyoying at first, with her self-hatred and comments she made about herself. But the way she grew from it and started to realize that she can be good at things...
What definitely set this book apart from others where the main character gets tangled into their own lies, is the character growth and Mighty's self-awareness. She knows that her lies, ones that she previously said without thinking about the consequences, are bad and she also knows that the longer she keeps it up, it's going to be just worse as time passes by. Mighty's aware as she overcomes her insecurities, that she needs to do something to make things right - and she does! I loved the fact that she decided to just communicate her worries about various things that were on her mind. from the try-out laps to the lie she told Spiny. She was also not afraid to apologize for her mistakes and that was honestly so nice to see (especially in a book targeted to teens).
Another thing I liked was the sense of community and friendship around the team, especially the characters closest to Mighty. I loved how her relationship with Stork progressed from the kind of annoyance and jealousy to a wonderful bond. Mighty's relationships with Pumpkin, Stork, her other teammates and her family were all nicely complex and felt so natural, while not taking away from the plot too much.
The pacing was fine too, only sometimes it felt a bit slow, but I don't think it took too much away from my reading.

Mighty Millie Novak begins with heart. Full of imposter complexes, Millie struggles to feel like she belongs on the team. She struggles to figure out how seriously she wants to take roller derby, to figure out where she stands in her family, and what friends she wants to make. It's always difficult to figure out how to merge our worlds, to be honest when our feelings have changed. My favorite element has to be the friendship difficulties. How we realize we've changed and how do communicate that?

4,25/5⭐️

First of all, thank you NetGalley and North Star Editions for the ARC.

TW: alcohol consumption and references to past bullying

"Mighty Millie Novak" by Elizabeth Holden is a quick YA sapphic coming-of-age story.


I liked Millie and her relationships with the rest of the cast of characters, and I also absolutely loved all the roller derby scenes and games.

However, in the beginning, I was a bit confused during more than one scene, due to my lack of knowledge of the sport.


In general, I had a good time reading Elizabeth Holden's debut and I will definitely read her next books!

Representation: asthma, anxiety, queer MC, sapphic lovestory, BIPOC side characters.

This book started off really fun. I had a blast getting to know Millie and her situation.
I only knew roller derby because of a Phineas & Ferb episode I saw as a kid. But other than that I had no clue. And I really like sport romances, so I was curious to see a YA with a sport I didn't know much about.
Do I understand the sport after reading the book? Partially. But I could not explain it to someone else, lol.

Halfway through, this book fell a bit flat for me. And that was mostly because of my wrong expectations. I hoped for more of a love story. Wether that be romantic love or friendship. It started to get a bit more complicated and I have mixed feelings. I hate conflict. But the conflict was necessary for character growth, I just did not expect this much conflict on so many fronts... Millie and Pumpkin weren't really good friends to each other and their relationship turned out different than I expected! And it was kind of refreshing?! The synopsis reveals quite a bit. But it still was a different story than I expected.
The split between her parents was mentioned in the synopsis but it got way more page time than I expected. That wasn't bad per se, I just was not prepared. Unlike the social anxiety which was never named on page. It was unclear to me if it was a legit mental health issue or just teenage insecurity. And that's not a bad thing necessarily. Every reader can interpret it how they want and take it in whatever way feels most validating to them. Speaking of disability representation; Millie has an inhaler for her asthma. It comes up from time to time but it's not a plot point and that was very nice!!

I guess it is kind of a story of self-love. Millie was bullied at school in the past, resulting in her currently doing school online. But the bullying had a bigger effect on her (self image) than she realized. While not going to public school has made her lonely, it felt like the safest option at the time. But her loneliness combined with the image and confidence issues have made her desperate to make friends and be liked. But she really grows in that aspect, with the help of kind people and I liked that!

Sadly the pacing was not great. Some parts were very easy and quick to read, while other parts felt really slow. That was the other reason the story got less enjoyable for me. It was easy to lay down and hard to pick up again. The resolution of the Spiny storyline for example felt rushed and could have used a bit more attention in my opinion. It felt crammed in whilst other parts like the 'crush phase' just dragged on. But I finished it. And while immediately after reading it I felt a bit disappointed, now, a few days later I actually appreciate what the author chose to do. The cover made me expect a more fluffy yet badass story. But I would not describe 'Mighty Millie Novak' as fluffy at all. It is a reflective story about friendship, relationships, self worth and happiness.

Set against the backdrop of the Roller Derby world, this book was a fantastic coming of age story about self discovery and friendship. Millie's character rang true to the those awkward teen years when you are just trying to find your place in the world. The romance was sweet and tender and I was rooting for Millie every step of the way. Will definitely be buying this book along to my tween who is just beginning to read YA books, and will love these characters.

This book was Dino Might! 🦖 🛼

"Social anxiety, her parents’ divorce, and tumultuous friendships won’t stop Millie’s
pursuit of what she wants–in roller derby and in love. But her own lies might..."

I knew nothing about roller derby before reading Mighty Millie Novak but I had so much fun with it! Millie (or "Dino Might" or "Mighty" for short) was probably one of the best written teen characters I've read in a while. Her anxieties and insecurities and the mistakes she made felt so realistic. Almost TOO realistic. At times, I was so invested in what Millie was going through and felt for her so strongly that I could feel myself getting anxious on her behalf--but in the best way!

As always, we love seeing bisexual rep, especially in a YA story. I adored a number of the side characters (especially Stork; we stan). The pacing was nice and snappy. The ending also had me emotional. 🥹 I think I need to go consume more roller derby media now. If you need me I'll be watching Whip It. 💨🛼

Elizabeth Holden has the gift of writing characters that are raw and feel like real people. I related to Mighty being a queer self-absorbed deprecating human. For someone who doesn’t know much about roller derby, this book was a fun read. Thank you so much to Net Galley, the author, and publisher!

I really liked this book but I felt it was very heavy on needing prior knowledge of roller derby to enjoy it. I play derby so it was good for me but if I didn’t I think I would have been frustrated
I liked the characters - Millie went through a lot and I can imagine teenagers being able to relate well to her. It did feel like a long book, but not unenjoyable

Roller Derby is something I love, this book made me so happy to read. I can’t explain it, they enjoyment from the very first page, right through till the very last page, every second of the book’ I loved Millie Novak!

I got an ARC of this book.

Looking at the cover after I read the book and it has large spoilers on it. That seems really weird to have on the cover. It isn’t like a small detail, but a very large one that is noticable. So that is a bit strange, but I am amused. The cover is something that immediately got my attention.

I am a derby fan. I go to as many bouts as I can (weird fact about this book. The bouts are called games throughout the whole book and the MC actively corrects people to make it game. It might be a regional thing, but yeah bout not game is common in my area of derby). I am friends with skaters and announcers. I was working on being a NSO, but health problems got in the way. I was more than ready to for this book. I NEEDED this book. I need more derby books.

Mighty is a dick. I couldn’t stand her. I considered not finishing the book, because of her. She was so immature and whiney and just a dick. If that puts you off, know that she does grow. She does realize she is being terrible. She does get consequences for her actions. So know, it is worth getting through her bullshit to see what happens. I know, she is 15-16, but oof. Still hard to read through. Stork as a MC would have worked so much better for me. She did take a little bit to grow on me. Gables also would have been an amazing MC. Hell, Ann and Cleo would have also been amazing. Pretty much everyone, except Mighty or Pumpkin. I am so glad I didn’t let Mighty drive me off. I am so glad there was a lot of learning for her and a lot of growth. She is by no means perfect by the end, but it felt like a realistic level of growth. It was age appropriate growth and just she really needed it.

The derby scenes were amazing. There was not a deep dive into rules. It felt more natural when those elements did come up. There was no info dumping. It might be helpful to read some rule infographics before diving in unless you have a handle on it (or watch any bouts announced by Thin Mint. Yes, I am a fan boy over an announcer. Trust me, they are WORTH IT). That is the only critique I had for that. It is clear that Holden loves derby and was able to translate that into text perfectly.

The romance was more complex than I was expecting. It felt like “shes gay, guess we belong together forever” for a while. Then twists and turns, and character growth. I really can’t state enough how intense the character growth was. It was a huge strength in this book. It showed just how much a person can grow when they are actually held accountable and given real information. Some of the feedback was gentle, like with Ann. Some was a lot more blunt, like from Cleo or Spiny. It was all accurate and it was really a punch in the face for Mighty. It was incredible.

Overall, Mighty is awful, but that is intentional. She grows. The romance is cute, when you get to the twist. There are so many toxic things, but they get addressed and it was wonderful. So glad there is finally derby romance that is affordable!