I loved this book, this being the third story I have read concerning the 1936 Olympics and one of those is my all-time favorite book ever, this one is now up in my top 10 all time favorites. There are so many things about this book that just won me over, first is the way the story is written, I so enjoyed learning about the events of these girls when they were growing up, the hurdles, challenges and sacrifices they made to get to where they wanted to be and live their dream. I especially adored Louise and my heart broke for her. Betti had a heart of gold and overcame so many challenges. Helen, thank heavens she found running to be her niche.
I find it so interesting how the three authors I’ve read describe the Olympic events of 1936 and how the athletes viewed the Hitler regime. It is difficult to understand how so many things were staged and overlooked by so many people. If you enjoy reading a great book taking you on a heartfelt journey meeting several star women athletes striving to attain a place in track and field, this is the book for you!! I cannot recommend it high enough. Great job, well done Ms. Hooper.
And one of the best parts of the book, the way she tidies up and lets us hear the rest of the story and learn how these young ladies lived out their lives. I so appreciate when an author takes the time to do that.
I was very excited to be allowed an ARC from HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for my honest unbiased review. This one earns the highest 5 stars.

Elise Hooper in her three historical fiction books, has refreshingly covered people or events that aren't oversaturated in the genre. This story, while overlapping to some degree with World War II, is primarily about women participating in the first Olympics women were allowed to compete in. Instead of focusing on a single character like her previous two books, this book instead tells the story of three women from very different backgrounds and the obstacles they faced to be able to compete in the Olympics. Betty, the golden girl, has to recover from life-threatening injuries she suffered in an airplane crash. Helen has to overcome poverty and a lack of support from her father and classmates. And Louise has to overcome the endemic racism that limits her abilities to compete despite her talent. The story is fascinating, and while it's interesting to get to learn about the history of three different women, the depth of the characters falls a little flat to me. I don't know if it's because Hooper is trying to interweave three different stories, or if she can't quite draw out enough of how they felt about the challenges they faced to make the reader relate to each woman. All in all this was enjoyable, but Learning to See stills stand as my favorite book by this author so far.

I just completed reading "Fast Girls " and really enjoyed it. This was in pre-war times and centers around women athlete runners competing for the Olympics. I learned a lot about these times with how the girls had to be extra determined to compete in a "man's world" and some had the extra challenge of dealing with racial discrimination. The book was nicely paced and rich with historical background. I really liked that it was based on true characters and was exciting to learn about each of them and how they performed. The book included telegrams and newspaper articles to help give the feel of the era. I appreciated getting this opportunity to read this wonderful book ahead of the actual publishing date in July. My thanks to NetGalley and publishers HarperCollins for the honor of reading this book. My opinions expressed are my own.

As a runner, a woman, and a lover of history, I enjoyed this novel and the way that Elise Hooper brought the earliest female Olympic athletes' lives to light. I am personally indebted to the women who paved the way for me to run myself, and found their dreams to be much like my own. So in that way, I found this novel very well written and realistic. However, there were so many women profiled that it was hard to get attached to anyone. Also, the dual narrative of racism that African American athletes faced presented a secondary layer that was a bit complex. I would have loved to delve more into that story, but it sometimes felt overshadowed by all the other parts that were included. So all in all, this was an important book and one I am truly glad to have read. But it was like drinking from a firehose at times so that needs to be noted as well. It's worth the read though!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complementary e-copy to read. All thoughts are my own.

Fast paced story about about track and field female athletes, and their journey to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The story focuses on the athletes; Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens. Each face their own hurdles as they compete to make it to Berlin, only to find that once in Berlin their challenges continue. The actual races are well written, I found my heart speeding up as I raced to the finish to see who had won. An inspirational story about these pioneers in Track and Field, and I would highly recommend.

Fast Girls was a thoroughly entertaining read, I enjoyed learning about these remarkable women. I did not know the stories of Betty, Louise, and Helen before reading this book and as I learned more found myself rooting for them throughout the chapters. Their athletic achievements in a time when women were not encouraged to be active and athletic were remarkable and kudos to Elise Hooper for bringing their stories to life. I was compelled to learn more about them after finishing and enjoyed the afterword. This is more than just an inspirational story about female athletes; it is an inspirational story about strong women who deserve to be known and recognized for paving the way for other women to achieve their dreams.

Thanks to William Morrow/Harper Collins, Book Club Girls and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Fast Girls was one of my most anticipated books of the summer, so I was thrilled when it was chosen as a Book Club Girl Early Read! I pretty much read it all in one go, I was that enthralled with it.

I was on the track team in high school -- ran the 100, 100 high hurdles and was one of the first girls in my county to pole vault (not very well) and I occasionally run half marathons now so it was wonderful to read about some of the trailblazing women. (I could totally see this being made into a movie, like A League of Their Own).

I love how Elise Hooper brought these women to life -- there were a few parts that were a little clunky, but overall she did a wonderful job of telling their stories. I appreciated the afterword with more information about these women.. When you think about it, the 1936 Olympics were fascinating with regards to being in Berlin and the political climate, proposed boycott, racial issues and I think this book showed a lot of that through the eyes of these women.

I immediately started looking up more on these women and on YouTube there is a video of the 1936 4x100 women's relay and watching that after reading the book, I LOVED seeing these women!

Fast Girls was an enjoyable read about the first women Olympians in track & field. The characters' stories were all interesting, however, I felt that there were too many stories to keep track of, and focusing on so many of them halted the momentum of the novel. This was especially difficult with the tertiary characters and trying to remember if I had met them before. I felt I would really start to get invested in one of the women before we were onto another one's story. At over 500 pages, it was also too long - I feel like some of the mundane details of the women's lives could have been left out and some plot points seemed to serve as shock value instead of advancing the plot or shaping the women in any way. This novel did make me want to do my own research into early women Olympians and I could tell the author had done her research before writing the story. Probably more of a 3.5 for me but rounding up because I did enjoy it.

Enjoyed this book about a few women Olympic sprinters in 1920s and 1930s. Liked the details from the period, understanding what the women dealt with in terms of sexism and racism and other hurdles they had to overcome. The women at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin had to deal with Nazis and Hitler. All very interesting. Seems like much of the main storylines was based on fact which I liked.

An excellent read from Elise Hooper, Fast Girls tells the story of the real life, little-known women who paved the way for female athletes in the Olympics. I especially appreciated the Afterword that tells what happened to these women after their Olympic competitions.
Note: rape, incest, lesbian relationships

Elise Hooper's "Fast Girls" is a wonderful and informative book. Upon finishing the book, I googled the women that were portrayed in the novel and was amazed to see their pictures and how little I knew of their history. Thanks to "Fast Girls" not only was I entertained with a great story, I also learned about these women's courage and determination to run and win.

At first it was hard to keep the characters straight, but after I read more it was easier to track who was who. This is an interesting story about people I had never heard of. As someone whose only knowledge of the Olympics is from the televised events, this backstory was interesting.

An interesting title and premise. However, the book is not what it seems to be and it is mostly fiction with very few facts.

I enjoyed this book, but I just didn't LOVE it. I thought the writing was simple and the way that the author set up each "tragedy" allowed me to realize what was going to happen way before it actually did. I thought the characters were interesting, but I just felt like something was missing throughout this book. I wasn't pulled in, and didn't felt as if I needed to keep reading. A lot of other people seemed to love this book, so maybe it was just me.

I ran track and cross-country in junior high and high school and those team mates remain amongst my closest friends today, and Chariots of Fire was my favorite movie. So this book very much appeals to me. Elise Hooper does a great job of bringing some historic figures to life while amalgamating others in a justifiable fashion, which she's explained in the Afterward. The writing may have been a trifle clunky in spots but the fascinating representation of historic events and athletic action fully compensate. Bottom line: it is incredible what these young women achieved, especially considering what they had to overcome in order to do so, from racism, sexism, fascism, poverty, to literal bone crushing injury. Hooray for Hooper giving them the recognition they deserve!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy, Fast Girls will be released July 7, 2020

I really enjoyed this book. I felt the heartache for these girls as they tried their best to achieve their dreams despite a society that thinks they should just be homemakers.

The story of the 1936 Olympics from the female athletes' perspective is any important one. I approached this book with great anticipation. But the execution was less than I was expecting. The format of jumping back and forth between athlete stories felt choppy. Just as I was becoming engrossed in one, the chapter ended and went on to another one. The experience/plight of the female athletes of color was compelling enough to warrant a greater share of the story. The casual seeming rape of one of the characters as a fifth grader by her male cousin, followed later in the book by the statutory rape of the same character by a female teacher, just was upsetting. Perhaps what I needed here was a more fictional approach, or strictly non-fictional approach. I just think that the balance truly needed in this historical-fiction book was not achieved.

"Fast Girls" is an engaging historical fiction novel detailing the challenges and obstacles that several girls on the Olympic track team suffered on the road to competing in the Olympic games for 1928, 1932 and 1936. These challenges included personal shortcomings, race and gender discrimination, catastrophic physical injuries as well as political issues surrounding the Berlin Olympics in 1936. With deft prose, the author creates in-depth characterizations of each girl, portraying them in such a way that the reader feels invested in their fate. Although I’m not a particular fan of sports, I still found this book engaging. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, strong characterization and a well-paced story.

Fast Girls tells a remarkable story based on the lives of three young women: Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens, and Louise Stokes, who were aspiring professional runners and who ultimately worked their way towards a place on the 1936 US Olympic track team for the Olympics in Berlin. Author Elise Hooper draws readers into an absorbing novel about the lives, trials, and successes of each of these women as they overcame obstacles, worked towards their goals, supported each other, and ultimately made history.

Hooper has expressed that she is interested in stories about women in history who many people may not have heard about. She knew that she wanted to tell this story when she heard the true story of the three Olympic track stars that Fast Girls focuses on. Through Fast Girls, we learn about the lives of those athletes at a time when the country was generally highly sceptical of the idea of a woman’s ability to participate in professional athletics.

From the start, readers will feel invested in each girl’s story and how it will develop. Hooper has created three very distinct and memorable characters and the writing flows seamlessly from one character’s story to another’s as they alternate in different chapters. This is a book that is hard to put down, as each girl’s story is unique and interesting to follow. Readers are also fully immersed in the time and places that are described, during the time when women first became involved in Olympic level track and field in the United States.

Betty Robinson was initially discouraged from running. She was told by her school principal that she should not join the boys’ track team. However, her parents fought for her to be able to run, and she ultimately qualified for the Olympic trials for the 1928 Olympics. Betty was involved in an accident, after which it seemed as though she would not be able to participate in the Olympics again. However, Betty is an overcomer and a woman who is truly passionate about running.

Louise loved running; she loved the way it allowed her to stop overthinking and be focused on running alone. She was initially hesitant to commit to the sport and spend less time with her family, however, because of a terrible accident in the past which occurred when she left her siblings alone. Louise wanted to run professionally, but also worried about earning money for her family, who don’t have much. She ultimately became one of the earliest black women professional runners and US Olympians. Louise constantly faced her fears in her personal life and as she competed to run in the Olympics.

Helen lived in the countryside and initially wanted to hang out with the boys at her school, though she was warned not to. One day, she overheard a conversation and learned that her father never wanted her: he wanted a boy. From that moment on, she was determined to feel valued, to make her family and others proud. Her journey was impacted by her experiences with figuring out who she was and why she was different from some of the other girls whom she knew. Helen found a sense of identity through running, as she was fast as lightning and respected for what she did.

One compelling aspect of this book is that each of the three girls had to overcome some form of adversity on her way to the Olympics. Betty had to overcome an injury which had the potential to keep her out of running entirely. Louise had to overcome the racism of her fellow runners, her 1932 coach, and more. Helen had to overcome her own inner uncertainties about her identity as well as her father’s lack of support.

When these women and other women Olympians finally do meet, they offer each other remarkable support and friendship. Hooper paints a memorable picture of the way the women on the team stuck together, helped each other through difficulties and supported each other on their way to success in Olympic running.

Fast Girls discusses meaty topics like feminism, racism, and sexual identity as they impacted the women who ran in the Olympics. Betty’s experiences after initially winning gold in 1928 show what a hard time it was for women to start out in running. One person whom she wrote to wanted to prevent women from continuing to run, saying that running would cause them to have a “masculine physique” and that the women runners should focus on childrearing instead.

It is infuriating to read about the way women runners were treated. In 1936, an article was printed in which its author wondered whether women would be able to handle professional running if they were also mothers, or whether it would distract them. As well, the 1936 team faced threats if they behaved in an “unladylike” way, for instance, drinking at night. Louise had to face the hurdle of being initially excluded from competing because she was black, and from different treatment as a black runner. The world was not used to seeing female runners, but the United States was even less used to seeing black female runners on their Olympic team.

Eventually, as the Berlin Olympics draw close, we learn of talk that athletes considered boycotting the games due to rumors of Hitler’s actions in Germany. Fast Girls does not shy away from describing the fear and controversy surrounding the US team’s participation in an event hosted by a country responsible for terrible bigotry and unthinkably terrible policies towards Jewish people and which was rumored to be planning far worse actions in time.

It is easy to become absorbed in the stories of each of three women and their friends as they journeyed towards their goal of reaching the Olympics. Each must overcome a great deal in order to get to where she wants to be. Each has a compelling and unique story that will keep readers turning the pages of Fast Girls. As well, Fast Girls is a compelling work of historical fiction in that it does not shy away from delving into difficult and sometimes troubling issues in the world and that the runners faced at the time.

A fascinating story about the perseverance of 3 young female athletes who overcame all obsticles to participate in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. At a time when being a female athlete was unheard of, these young women followed their hearts and great desire to compete as a respected athlete. Their stories are amazing. Elise Hooper has written a book that tells a great story. This book would make a wonderful movie someday.

I am grateful for the opportunity to review this book in advance of publication. My review is my own and is in no way required by the publisher.