I have followed the women's gymnasts who spoke out against their abuser and USA Gymnastic's role in it. I deeply admire these women and therefore went into this book hesitant because the author is not someone who has had this experience yet attempting to write about it. I regret to say that she treated it as a plot point while barely exploring the emotional ramifications and causes. She did more when writing about verbal abuse and domestic abuse but I still felt it wasn't dealt with well enough. This book was marketed as a rom-com, but to me the romance was one of the worst parts. There was no spark between the couple and I was more interested in learning the rules of gymnastics than I was in their boring relationship. Don't read this book for romance and don't read it to think it handles these tough topics well. I honestly can't recommend this book because there are so many better books out there to pick up instead.

Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein is a great romantic comedy. The sports romance was done well. I could feel all the vibes radiating off of both characters. What I loved most about this book, was the way the ex-gymnast now assistant coach took a little girl's fear of her doctor. A doctor who gave the little girl a weird vibe that sent chills to the assistant coach. The story had moments where my heart broke for the characters. There's moments where I found not only the abuse from adults who treat gymnasts but those who also teach them. Negative verbal abuse is just as harmful as the physical abuse. I enjoyed seeing the characters' reaction and how they handled it. They also took steps to prevent and make sure those under their care would be safe. A heartfelt story based on real things that happen in one of the most popular sports known to the world. The protagonists were easy to like. I also felt like slapping the heroine's ex-boyfriend and former coach. But the way she handled it all was amazing. The book felt real. The plot at first wasn't fast but it was steady. Then as I got deeper, which I did thanks to the incredible scenes, emotional journey, perfect characterization-I was hooked. This is a must read for all. It's a clean read. I loved it.

I have loved ALL of Hannah Orenstein's novels, and Head Over Heels is no exception, but her latest is definitely a departure from her earlier work. I have enjoyed watching her writing evolve, over the course of these books, and this is, by far, my favorite so far. The story is very timely and relatable, the characters are well-developed and engaging and I could hardly put this one down. Highly recommend!

I adored this book! I needed something light and fun and this was everything I wanted. Just a perfect escape.

Trigger warnings for people - (this book takes on the difficult topics like depression and sexual assault.)

Written from the perspective of Avery Abrams who was a high performing gymnastic frontrunner at the Olympics for the US Team. Yet when an injury throws her out of the running and displaces her from any further competing she is crushed and broken. The next few years she heals and yet never really does. The crushing expectations from her parents, coach and peers was all she knew, and after having that lifted she feels its absence and she sinks into depression and purposelessness. She has a lot to untangle in her mind about her time in training and as a gymnast, only reaching this realization after her boyfriend breaks up with her and throws her out of their LA apartment.

The only place she has to go is back home and yet this event seems to shake her and wake her up from the stupor in which she had previously been living. Struggling to pick herself up and get herself a job and to move on, she gets a call from a guy who wants to consult with her on a new gymnast he's been training. Now a coach himself after being a gymnast, like her, she goes out of curiosity and as well as harboring a massive crush on this guy she knew in the past.

The rest you'll have to find out when you read this amazing book. It tells a tough but needed story about the ways women are often preyed upon and told to lie about it. The story, the characters felt so real and this story is not a new one. Throughout the course of the book, many girls come out and tell their stories about their sexual assaulters and how it effects them mentally and personally. The change that these stories bring is immense and it is truly heartbreaking and inspiring all at once. I cried reading this book because of how awful and real, this book is in real life. It comes at a time when we do not believe the stories of women who risk everything by speaking, we do not stand by them as a culture, and we do not wonder how their lives have already been destroyed by the behavior of men.

Head over Heels has so much to say, on strength, on purpose, on finding that strength even when we don't feel it ourselves. This book is an incredible show of women rallying together, standing together and creating an environment where others feel like they can speak up when something makes them uncomfortable or something does feel right. This should be our response to victims of sexual assault. And this book heralds the correct and empathetic response and I love it for it. I highly recommend this book! 5/5

Orenstein's novels are always a fun read, but with the added surprise of a complex topic underneath. In Head Over Heels, the hardships of the world of competitive gymnastics are exposed to view a world filled with slave-driving and abusive coaches, not to mention athletes.
Although Orenstein mixes this with a bit of rom-com, make no mistake: it will leave you with plenty to think about.

Avery was a shoo-in to make the US Gymnastics team until she injured herself at the Olympic Trials. After that, she partied her way out of college, dated an NFL player, and has now ended up back in her hometown. Will accepting an assistant coaching position finally help her get her life back on track?

As Avery finds herself coaching a new Olympic hopeful, she realizes she has to finally face her demons. This book is so much more than a sports romance featuring gymnastics. It delves into the darker side of the sport in terms of sexual assault and mental health. I loved the way all of this was handled and the strength Avery showed as she returned to the sport and the people that torn her down.

And, of course, there is some romance here too! It is light on the romance but I was okay with that. I still found myself rooting for the couple but my main focus was our young gymnast, Hallie. I was so invested and nervous for her!

This book is exactly what I needed right now. I didn't even realize how much I was missing the Olympics! I did gymnastics for years (before dropping out in favor of ballet) and I love watching it during the Olympics. This book is the closest I can get right now so I welcomed it with open arms.

It is wonderful to read a romance featuring the world of gymnastics in this year when the Olympic Games had to be postponed. Watching as Avery and Ryan really get to know each other while coaching a young Olympic hopeful is a delight, and serious issues including abuse and injury are also addressed. This is a perfect read for a year in which sports have been so limited!

I loved reading the behind the scenes of gymnastics. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its the perfect quick and light read. Not too heavy on the romance which is sometimes needed!

I was looking forward to reading this book as I have never read a book to do with gymnastics and the Olympics before. The premise was good but It did not follow through. I found that the character development was lacking and I could not connect with them like I wanted to. Also, I did not believe in the romance at all and found it rushed. However, I enjoyed the sport side of things and glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes of gymnasts and competitions.
I gave it 3 stars as I did like it just didn’t love it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

It was OK.

Thank you so much Atria Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy. Unfortunately I did not get to read this one prior to the pub date.

I did however listen to this on audio. I started and finished it in one day. The audio was pretty good and may or may not have saved the book for me.

Head Over Heels had a good premise. The story was good and the characters were likeable. The book also highlights some heavy but important topics. I just wanted to like it more than I did in the end. I don't want to say this book was boring because it's not. I just wasn't invested. The romance was kind of lack luster for me and the detail the author put in about the actual gymnastics portions kind of made me zone out.

Man this review is rough and I feel like a monster right now. OoOo here's another positive- the author writes us a CoVid free 2020 world lol. That was a nice escape.

Overall- Not bad but not great either. If you are a super fan of the Olympics or Gymnastics I'd say give this a go.

This book surprised me in a good way. I was expecting a light hearted romance, and it was so much more, with a deep and emotional storyline that ran throughout.

What I liked:
-the behind the scenes of the gymnastics world, this was so unique in a plot and I felt like I learned a lot
-the characters, especially, Hallie, the aspiring Olympic star
-the romance was cute and sweet

What wasn’t my fave:
-it was heavy in gymnastics terminology at time’s. I found myself skimming technical names of some of the gymnastics skills.
-Avery & Dimitri not communicating about their feelings, hiding feelings etc.


Still not sure how I feel about:
-using the sexual assault storyline. While this is an unfortunate reality in the gymnastics world, it gave me a bit of an unsettled feeling seeing it translated into a fictional story. Although a friend discussed it with me and did help me see another side, which is some people don’t watch the news or documentaries so it’s another way to shine the light on this horrific truth in this world. I do think the author wrote it well throughout and handled the topic with grace, and didn’t just use it for shock value, which I appreciate.

A lighter look at the underlying aggressions amongst men and women set against the entertaining backdrop of competitive gymnastics. I appreciated the normalcy of the harsh and abusive coaching? It was nice to read about at as an everyday topic. Not to say that it should be, but more to state that it is. Abuse occurs everyday and victims are everywhere so the writing surrounding that should reflect its pervasiveness.

This was SO CUTE! Gymnastics, love, great writing and characters! What a treat! Highly recommend picking this one up if you need a little pick me up.

I devoured this wonderful gem of a story!
I didn’t realize how interested in gymnastics I was until I opened this book!

Avery spent a huge part of her childhood training to be in the Olympics as a gymnast. She endured emotional abuse from her famous coach, Dimitri, where she was constantly forced to worry and stress about her weight. She made it far, but in one moment that was all taken away from her - her dreams and her career ended in mere seconds.

7 years goes by and she has just broken up with her football star boyfriend and has moved home to live with her parents. She gets a call not too long after moving back from a former Olympic gymnast, Ryan, that her and her best friend had a serious crush on way back when. He has reached out to ask if she’d be interested in helping coach a 16 year old gymnast, Hallie, with serious potential of making it to the Olympics. Avery at first, is hesitant, but then jumps at the opportunity.

I’m the meantime, sparks fly between her and Ryan, but she isn’t so sure she should even bother... or if her heart is in the right place after so much heartache. She also does not want to complicate things at work while coaching. Between all of the emotions, past issues arise in the gymnast world and people are shaken, wrong decisions are made, and people end up making mistakes.... you’ll have to read the rest of this awesome book to find out!

Head Over Heels is the first book I've picked up by Orenstein and needless to say, it's guaranteed to not be my last. This was exactly the romance I was needing in my life and the perfect book to begin wrapping up my summer reads with. It was SO good! If I were to sum this story up in just a few words, binge-able, charming, and inspiring would do the trick. I was hooked from the start and couldn't help but finish in just a couple of sittings.

After an unfortunate injury, Avery doesn't make the Olympic team she basically trained her entire life for. Add to that a serious breakup with her pro-football boyfriend, and she's hit rock bottom. Moving back home across the country, Avery has no idea how she'll move on and what life looks like from here. Until a call comes in from her childhood gymnastics crush with an opportunity to coach an upcoming Olympic candidate at her old gymnastics gym, that is....

I fell completely head over heels (see what I did there?) for this lovely group of characters we meet, the wonderful storytelling that was so well-paced (loved how this story was "broken up" and spanned over the course of a year), and the gymnastics element that the story centered. Going into this book, I really knew next to nothing about the world of a gymnast, and as somebody who always appreciates having my eyes opened to something new, I really appreciated that element, being exposed to the good, the bad, and the ugly of the sport. I was hesitant going into this one thinking I'd have to have an existing love for the sport to enjoy it, so let this be your heads up that that's not the case at all.

So much more than a romance (which was overall really just a sweet touch on the side) and reading more like women's fiction, this is a story of self-discovery, growth, and empowerment. It's an uplifting story of overcoming difficult circumstances and challenges, and facing your past and moving forward. There was simply so much to offer here with this story, and I can't praise it enough. (Trigger warnings for the sensitive and serious topics that were mixed in which involve emotional and sexual abuse, mental health, and eating disorders.)

Highly recommend to all my fellow romance and women's fiction loving book friends!

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the complimentary copy.

Do you watch a lot of gymnastics? It’s always one of my favorite events during the Olympics and I appreciated this chance to see a glimpse behind the scenes. Avery had been on a path to the Olympics seven years ago until she suffered a heartbreaking injury right before the Olympic trials. Since then she’s been figuring out what next and after moving away for years, she’s returned to her hometown. When she gets there she has an opportunity to work with former fellow gymnast Ryan on coaching Hallie - a 16 year old star.

I appreciated a lot of things this book made me think about - especially reading in 2020. What it’s been like this year for all the athletes who have worked their whole lives to be in the Olympics this year and what it means to them that it was postponed. And not only that but gyms were closed and it isn’t healthy for them to be practicing their sports often. None of this is in the book since it was obviously written before this year but it definitely made me think a lot.

However - I ended up deciding to stop this book at 60%. I know gymnastics is a really tough sport in terms of physical expectations on women and that is part of the real world. However seeing how it is still such a deep part of Avery’s thought process made this hard for me to read. I’m also not feeling invested in the story - I don’t fully feel the connection of the romance, don’t understand how Avery doesn’t have a single friend and seems to brush off her parents, and am not going to stick with it just to see what happens with Hallie.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free advance review copy.

{Thank you so much to Atria Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review}

Hannah Orenstein is back with another amazing rom-com! I really enjoyed her last novel, Love at First Like, but I ended up loving Head Over Heels so much more!

Head Over Heels takes place in the intensely competitive world of elite gymnastics. Avery Abrams has struggled to get her life in order since she suffered a career-ending injury while trying to qualify for the Olympics. Now, years later, Avery moves back to her hometown after a bad break-up and takes a coaching job at her old gym to help prepare a budding gymnast for the Olympics.

I am a huge Olympics lover (and I’m still not over the fact that we have to wait one more year-thank you Coronavirus) so this book gave me all of the Olympic feels I’ve been missing. I loved being swept away into the world of competitive gymnastics. It made for a really unique storyline alongside the adorable friends-to-lovers trope. I do wish there would have been more to the romance storyline since the gymnastics part seemed to take center stage. Overall, totally adorable especially if you love the Olympics!

4/5 stars!

Had 2020 played out like it was supposed to, all eyes would currently be on Tokyo, where athletes from around the world would be gathering to compete in this year’s Olympic Games. But while we’ll have to wait another year to binge-watch the Games, author Hannah Orenstein brings the tension and suspense of Olympic competition in Head Over Heels.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

This was a fun quick enjoyable read. There’s a tremendous mix of romance and female empowerment. The subplot involving the doctor was very relevant given the news regarding the gymnastics doctor for Team USA. It does make me miss the Olympics terribly.