Historical fiction has always been a favorite of mine. It is wonderful to learn about history through the lens of individual stories. This book immediately appealed to me, especially as this year was supposed to be an Olympics year. I appreciate the high level of research the author put into this work and the varied stories she is trying to tell, in a way that is real and authentic, but also cohesive and interesting for a reader. That being said, I did not finish this book, There is some difficult and somewhat graphic abuse early on, and I just found myself not wanting to pick up the reading again. Maybe someday I can go back to it, because it was well-written, it was just difficult for me to fully engage after finding some of those early chapters so difficult to get through. 

Thank you to the author for her authenticity of telling the stories, even when they are difficult. Thank you also to the Harper Collins for the chance to read, and to NetGalley for the platform of readership/feedback.

This was an interesting read about the women Olympians from 1936. Elise Hooper walks us through their lives leading them to the Olympics. The book ends abruptly with the end of the Olympics. The author does attempt to give a concise summary of the women's lives after Germany.  This afterwards I do not feel does justice to the complex lives of these athletes. I was compelled to do an internet search about each of them to learn about the things that they accomplished post-1936 Olympics.

The author's writing style reminds me of Jennifer Chiaverini.  I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a brief glimpse into women's Olympic history during a time that if loaded with information on Jesse Owens.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It combines athletics and historical fiction. Based on the lives of several female athletes who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, this novel illustrates the dedication these women displayed under conditions of sexism and discrimination. It covers the years leading up to the 1936 Olympics as well as previous Olympic Games in which some of the same athletes competed.
The novel is well-researched and beautifully written. It tells an engrossing story. The atmosphere the author created in writing about Nazi Germany before World War II and the Nazi environment at the Olympic Games was both fascinating and horrifying.
This is an excellent book. I would recommend it to fans of sport and those interested in this period of history.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advance reading copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

4.5*
Most people know the story of Jesse Owens and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. There’s also the wonderful book The Boys in the Boat that chronicles the amazing crew that won gold against Hitler’s rowers. Now Hooper shares a fictional account of the real, young female track and field team who also competed in 1936 Germany. Finally, the women take center stage.

This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote and this book fits nicely in with the furtherance of women’s rights. But the book covers even more than simply the rights of female athletes. The racers featured here include some who ran in 1928, including one who won gold in Amsterdam but found her career sidelined by a plane crash. There also are Black female athletes who in 1928, were faced with blatant racism when qualifying to run. So, in 1936 with the Olympics held in Berlin, little has changed for the female runners. Yes, they have been reluctantly given permission to compete, but there are still roadblocks facing them. Attitudes about women and unfeminine attributes of track and field, continue to swirl around the athletes. Compounding that with the negative beliefs concerning African-Americans, the Black women runners are forced to face even more obstacles. 

Hooper paints a realistic portrait of women fighting for the right to complete. Besides anti-female sentiments and racial prejudice, there’s the issue of political pressure not to compete in a game hosted by Hitler. The Berlin setting is eye-opening with a haunting, creepy atmosphere. What is remarkable here are the women athletes themselves. Their determination and dedication to their sport shines in this story of the real women who fought to compete. The support they demonstrate for each other, despite being competitors, is heart-warming. They earned their place on the team and still had to fight for the chance to run. Kudos to Hooper for telling us about the courageous women who lead the way for future athletes. She has highlighted a group of young girls and young women who proved that women are a force to be reckoned with and should get a share of the attention always given to their male counterparts.

This historical fiction novel  looks at the challenges the women that competed in the first several Olympic that allowed women to compete in track and field. Being allowed to train is just the beginning and even making the team doesn't guarantee that they would be able to compete.

This was a very intersting and insightful novel.  The author did a wonderful job of showing the desparity, racism and discrimination that took place in the 1930's.  The story of the girls and the paths that lead them to the 1936 olympics and the hardships that they had to overcome was done in a thought full and engaging way.  The issues that the author wrote about are as revelant today as they were then.  She showed that no matter the history we are all still trying to overcome all the obstacles in our paths.  The 1936 Olympics were a pivotal time in world history.  If only people and the world had paid more attention to the signs that were there maybe the events to come would have been slightly different. The fact that these amazing women have almost been forgotten about in history is shameful and this book brings new female role models for young athletes. Each of these women had to face numerous hurdles in there athletic careers and in life.  This book is revelant today in more ways than one, a book that everyone should read, and everyone will learn from it.

A fictional account of women and their groundbreaking role in OlyMpic history.  A well written story of women who run track and their efforts to become part of the United States Olympic team in the 1940s.

Fast Girls • Elise Hooper 
Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollins for the free ebook in exchange for my honest review 
⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2/5)
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“Beyond the stadium was a whole world filled with girls who had no idea how fast they could run if given the chance.”
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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
 Thumbs Up:
Interesting plot. I have never read about the 1936 Olympics in fiction before! 
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👎🏻Thumbs Down:
While the book gives lots of good background on the runners, it doesn’t get to talking about the 1936 Olympics until the last quarter of the book. Since that was the main point of me being interested, I didn’t like having to wait that long to get to that part of the plot. I felt it was a great premise that let me down in the execution of the story. 
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🤓For readers WHO:
Enjoy HF and sports history
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👉🏼This is what’s WHAT:
This book follows the members of the 1936 women’s Olympic team that takes place in Nazi Germany. It gives their background stories and discusses what occurred at that olympics. 
•
⏳WHEN I read this book:
I liked learning about how these athletes paved the way for women and POC to be taken seriously as athletes. 
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🚨WHERE you should watch out:
Sexual assault of a minor, inappropriate sexual encounter between a minor and an adult, racism, sexism 
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📍WHY you shouldn’t read this one:
I’d skip this one as a WW2 story unless you’re really interested in the sports aspect of the story! I thought this would discuss the Nazi-American rivalry at the olympics more than it did. 
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📚HOW I read it:
eARC thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollins

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper is a Historical fiction for World War II and female athlete fans alike. Hooper explores the beginnings of the admission to females into Olympic track and field, culminating in the trials and tribulations of the first American 4x100 relay teams at the Olympics. Hooper touches on the experiences of some of the first African American female athletes to make it to the Olympics for the American team. Notable historical figures such as Jackie Robinson, Dee Boeckmann, and Babe Didrikson, appear across the story of four ladies from different walks of life as they encounter the joy of running and battle their way to try for Olympic glory. While not an edge of your seat, gripping story, the novel leaves the reader nostalgic for the freedom that comes from running and pushing your body to the limit. I would had this book to readers who enjoy World War II historical fiction and readers who enjoy reading about women breaking boundaries.

Loved how much I learned about our world's history through this story of the Olympic games. It's still a miracle how women in the past paved the way for women in sports. The black runners had not only their gender hurting them, but also their race. It gave me such joy to watch them flourish.
Hooper used a deft hand when writing this story as she wove fiction and history together. Nothing makes me happier than  learning while I read. I liked how she formatted the story as it kept the plot moving forward. 
Well done!
Links to follow.

Fans of historical fiction may want to read this newest title by Elise Hooper.  Ms. Hooper also authored The Other Alcott and Learning to See (about Dorothea Lange).  Both are in my TBR pile.


Ms. Hooper's newest novel tells the stories of the first women to compete. in what is now called track and field, in the Olympics.  Three main characters are featured along with many others.  The three are Betty, Louise and Helen.  They are not like one another in personality, where they live, in their challenges or in their families but they are all talented athletes.  Ms. Hooper brings them and the time period to life in this novel.


The beauty of historical fiction is how it brings the past to life in a way that involves the reader.  This book does that well and I recommend it.  This title may be a good one for high school aged girls as well.  As they more freely compete in athletics, they may be interested to know what it was like for girls like them in the past.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Fast Girls tells the extraordinary tale of three lesser-known  female Olympians from America who bravely pursue their dreams to compete in the Nazi-sponsored Olympic Games in 1936. These were the first integrated Olympics!  This book has everything a great historical fiction should have! I think I need to make this book a selection for the book club that I co-host! 

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fast Girls is a wonderful book! It’s the inspiring story of girls who competed in the 1936 summer Olympics, held in .Berlin, when Germany was under .Nazi rule. The reader learns about the long road athletes take to become Olympians, and the many challenges they face.
I loved this book! I wanted to stand up and cheer for the Fast Girls!

I am a big fan of Hooper and an even bigger fan of historical fiction.  While I understand the need for this book to be almost 500 pages to cover to details of the many characters' rise to the Olympics, I could have done without the open door female romance (I personally felt it could have been covered in a more tactful and closed door way).  The women's resiliency to fight the odds against them was inspiring, and I was glad to hear their stories.  I do wish the beginning could have been consolidated in the details, with more focus on the actual Olympics.

This was a slow read for me. It is hard for me to explain. When I did sit down to read it, I found that I enjoyed the story and my interest was held. However, I had to force myself to pick it up to read. Overall, I found the book engaging enough to finish. I liked how the author wrote from different point of views from different characters. Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, so that may be while I struggled a bit with it. I would recommend this book to people who are historical fiction fans.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My thanks to Elise Hooper, William Morrow Publishing, and Net Galley for this opportunity.

Fast Girls takes a look at the dawn of women’s competition in the Olympic Games, and focuses primarily on women track starts. Although it is a work of historical fiction with some fictional characters, the main four characters are based on real people, and it is shameful that I have never heard of them.

These courageous women were among the USA athletes that competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the same year that Jesse Owens competed. Most people know of him, but most probably do not know of Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, Tidye Pickett or Louise Stokes. These last two women had to battle not only the hurdle of being women, but also had to fight racism as well.

This story was very well written and researched. The afterword did a good job of tying up some lose ends, as I ended the book feeling like I wanted more resolution in the storylines.

I am not a huge historical fiction fan but I really liked this book! When we think of the 1936 Olympics many of us think of Jesse Owens and not much else. Elise Hooper did a great job of telling three different women's stories. I definitely recommend this book!

Synopsis: Author Elisa Hooper weaves fiction with the history of the 1920's and 1930's to create a beautiful work celebrating the triumphs and portraying the hardships of three of America's first female Olympic sprinters. Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens come from very different backgrounds, but all have one thing in common -- they run, and they run fast. Each has to overcome what seem like insurmountable obstacles if they want to compete in the Olympics: Louise, competing as one of the few black runners - and even fewer female black runners - must face racism and bigotry at almost every turn just for the chance to race; Betty, the All-American "golden" girl, must dig down deep to find her physical and psychological strength after a near-fatal plane crash; and Helen, plagued by an emotionally abusive and poverty-stricken home life, finally finds someone who believes in her.

Thoughts: Historical fiction readers and sports fans alike can appreciate Hooper's fictional spin on what was a trailblazing time for women's sports. I found myself casually researching the amazing history behind each of these athletes as I was reading because I couldn't get enough of their stories. I appreciated the summary of Betty's, Louise's, and Helen's lives after the ending of the book, as well as Elise Hooper's outlining of where she took liberties and the brief explanation of how she formulated the fictional aspects of each woman's story. And the newspaper clippings, news reports, and personal correspondence between chapters added such an interesting layer to the entire book. Historical fiction is not usually my genre of choice, but this was a fascinating read and I will gladly pick up more of Elise Hooper's work.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exhance for an honest review.

I liked the story behind this book and found the main character inspiring - I love reading about sports and the setting and transformation of the time appealed to me. However, I found the way the book bounced around between time periods and narrative methods a bit confusing. The book time-travels quite a bit and it isn't always easy to connect different scenes to one another. Overall still a worthy & inspirational read, though!

Fast girls... Fast read... I loved everything about this book! The author did an excellent job of showing me how it felt to be a female Olympian during a time that was difficult for female athletes! I appreciated the friendships, the struggles, and the successes!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this and give my honest opinion!