3.5 rounded up to 4

Casey feels a bit stuck. She's taking a gap year to take care of her mother while her best friends go off to university. She spends her nights at home watching TV instead of going out. And to top it all off, she just caught her boyfriend cheating on her. The answer to all her problems comes from the unlikeliest of sources: Imogen, the woman she caught with her now ex-boyfriend. Imogen asks Casey to go to a roller derby, and Casey soon finds herself emersed in the sport.

Read if you like:
-NA
-Discovering the Real You
-Roller Derby
-Strong Mother/Daughter Relationship

I love the symbolism of the title: Learning to Fall. Falling the right way (so you don't hurt yourself unnecessarily) was Casey's first roller derby lesson. But it also applies to Casey's life lesson of stepping out of her comfort zone. This book was billed as a YA romance. I'd say it's more new adult than young adult and while there are romantic elements, it's more about believing in yourself and being comfortable in your own skin. I also loved all the roller derby action in this book. It made me feel like I was really there. And it made me want to throw on my own kit and get out there on the track.

A queer coming of age/coming of self story with a heavy roller derby influence? Sounds like a book I'd pick up. Casey is floundering under the pressure of figuring out her uni plans, how to be a carer for her mum or find someone who can do it as well, and generally unsure of her next steps when she stumbles into an entrance to roller derby. In learning, she falls for a teammate (who doesn't?), and discoveries new parts of herself.
The mental health aspect was well done, but sometimes felt dismissed. I wish one of the characters wasn't put aside for so long.
I think this would be a great teen read.

Pub Date: May 13th, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and 8th Note Press for a copy of this eARC.

I want to thank Netgalley and 8th Note Press for giving me the opportunity to read Learning to Fall by Peach Morris. The story kept me pretty engaged. If you're a fan of the movie Whip It, you'll want to give this book a read. The story follows Casey, who is just kind of stuck in life. She doesn't really have anything going for her. She deferred her first year at university to care for her mom and get caregivers set up for the following year. Casey's biggest issue is she suffers from debilitating anxiety and doesn't have the skills to better herself. She's terrified of change and terrified of the future. Enter Imogen, a spunky woman Casey runs into under crappy circumstances. Imogen is wild and free. Imogen sees something in Casey and introduces her to the world of Roller Derby. While it takes her a little while to learn the ropes, Casey is a natural. During her time on the team, Casey learns a lot about herself, including her love of roller derby. I enjoyed reading this story, I gave it 3.5 stars and recommend other read it, especially if you have a soft spot in your heart for the movie Whip It.

If, like me, you assumed this book was a sapphic romance, you need to know right now this is not a romance. This is a coming of age story featuring a queer main character. Don't go in expecting a romance between Casey and Imogen, you'll be disappointed. Their romance is part of the story, but it's not The story.

That being said, I really enjoyed the book and I'm kind of glad for my mistake because I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. Coming of age and college age characters can be hit or miss for me, but this was really well done. Casey acts and feels like a young adult and not a teen as she navigates responsibilities and fear of the future, her anxiety and newly discovered queerness. And of course, all of that is wrapped around her deep love for roller derby. If there's a romance here, it's definitely between Casey and the sport. It was great to follow her arc as she "grew up" and figured things out, from family dynamics to friendships, from her anxiety to her finding herself and her confidence.

I adored the found family aspect of this book and would love more stories in this universe. I want to see how Imogen's doing (she broke my heart...), and I want to know more about Venom, and I'm always down for more Mel. She's the friend we all want.
Add to that the great representation (that isn't shoved down your throat either) both of LGBTQ+ individuals and of illness. Obviously, from the author's note at the end it's not surprising but it's still worth mentioning.

I know nothing about roller derby outside of "contact sport with mainly women on roller going around a track" and the author obviously knows a lot about the sport. I think people who know the sport well will really enjoy the vivid descriptions of all the training and then competition but for novices there's enough explanations given that I wasn't completely lost on what was happening. Could I picture everything? Not really, but enough that I got the gist of it and didn't miss any important part of the story. And I now need to track down Whip It and watch it because I want to see roller derby.

All in all, a nice book with a good mix of found family and growing up without either being too much or too moralist. It felt realistic and I could believe those people actually exist. Plus, I always appreciate young adults acting like young adults.

I enjoyed this book! I’m always a sucker for a coming-of-age story and I liked the way Casey grew throughout the story. I was expecting a romance, and while there is a love story, this is not a romance novel.

I also really enjoyed the roller derby scenes. I loved how inclusive and supportive her team was and I liked feeling immersed into this world and her team.

The story explores the topics of mental health (including panic attacks), chronic illness, and alcoholism.

Thank you to 8th Note Press and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book!

Learing to Fall did an AMAZING job of showcasing and explaining Casey's anxiety, and much of what she said and did reminded me of my own anxious thoughts. She felt like a real teenager, fearful for college, worried about her disabled mother, and trying to take on the world while being too nervous to step into it. I love how it advocated for community, therapy, and self-acceptance. Also, I've never read a roller derby book before but it was so fun!

I found the plot to be sort of all over the place sometimes, unfortunately, which seems to be this book's biggest weakness. Side plots are left unfinished or wrapped up as an aside, some characters speak like stereotypes and don't feel real, and we don't know much about Casey until the second half of the novel.

I think this is a book I wish 18 year old me could have read; Casey is inspirational in her purusit of roller derby and overcoming great things while still not being "cured" of her anxiety. Also, maybe I would have learned to skate and realized I'm bisexual way earlier! Definitely reccommend this one.

Thank you first off for letting me read this as an arc book.

I truly enjoyed this book. Learning to Fall is a great coming to age book with a lot of emotions and sensitivity topics.

Casey is learning more about herself. Her journey in learning more about herself brings a lot of ups and downs. Her struggles feel real in so many ways.. Casey has to figure out how to transition from being in high school to taking a year off to ready herself for uni. She has to learn to navigate a new life and build on what she has already.

I love the writing style and the flow of the book. Learning about roller derby and the way it works was really cool. In all this book is a great slice of life book to bring you into someone else's world.

Learning to Fall by Peach Morris is told from the perspective of Casey, an anxious 18 year old who is on a gap year while taking care of her disabled mom. One day at the gym, Casey sees a roller derby practice and is immediately enthralled. With the help of Imogene, a girl that Casey kind of knows, as her guide she discovers the world of roller derby and parts of herself she didn’t know existed.
I liked this book a lot. Casey’s experience of finding a community within a sport and as a result feeling comfortable to consider new things about herself reminded me a lot of my own experience when I found rugby. The roller derby scenes and descriptions were great. I have no experience with roller derby and I could follow along very well with the action.
Casey was relatable and I loved knowing her inner thoughts.
While this book had some romance between Casey and Imogene, I really appreciated that it actually felt more like a story about self discovery.
This book was a solid mix of sports and character development, a great read.

Thank you Peach Morris, 8th Note Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm a sucker for Roller Derby and found family and LEARNING TO FALL succeeds at giving me both! I loved Casey's relationship with her mom and teammates. Venom and Mel were particularly fabulous! Her concern about leaving for university, and the impacts that will have on her own life and her mom were so relatable. Casey's struggle with her panic disorder felt a bit rushed, but overall I loved that this story is truly about Casey becoming who she's meant to be.

Went into this thinking it was ‘just’ a romance, and whilst the romance was beautiful it was about so much more !!! The anxiety and chronic illness rep was unexpected for me but really appreciated, I loved Casey and Mel and all the other derby peeps !! Will be buying this physically when it’s released and will definitely be rereading !

4.25 stars

As someone who is queer, fascinated with roller derby, and struggles with anxiety disorders, this was a really relatable read. I loved the way Casey fell in with the derby crowd and especially her friendship with Mel. This is definitely a story of Casey learning how to skate and to manage her anxiety with a side focus on a queer awakening.

I am so conflicted about Imogen. There were times where Imogen and Casey are super cute together and I rooted for them, but by the end, I did not want them together. I loved Casey's mom, and Mel is so great, but I couldn't stand the rest of Casey's family. I really enjoyed all of the roller derby aspects.

This is a solid debut from the author, and I look forward to more from them. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Picking up this book I was excited for a sapphic romance surrounding the world of roller derby, while it’s not as spicy as I thought it could be, I definitely loved the story and resonated with Casey. I love the development of Casey falling in love with roller derby while discovering her own sexuality and mental health. Overall a really good read and I’d suggest it to anyone! Thank you for allowing me to be an ARC reader!

I really enjoyed this book, I thought the way Laura was written was amazing, I have M.E but I’m also a carer for my wife, I thought it was great how it was spoken about high and low energy days because most people don’t realise this is the case. The feelings of Casey having to leave her mum and panicking about it great.

The roller derby, I LOVE the concept of the sport and if I could I’d love to play as I think it sounds amazing. I also enjoyed learning about the different rules and how the author really went into the details of it I found that great.

Overall a great book! And I loved the way the main characters love for roller derby happened in such an unconventional way and the learning to understand her sexuality.

Thank you so much for approving me for this book. I requested it because I thought I’d like it. I mean, come on, a queer coming of age story featuring roller derby? Yes, please!

Unfortunately, Learning to Fall fell flat for me and I had to DNF it.

My biggest issue was that the writing felt very juvenile to me. Yes, I realize this is supposed to be YA, but also - the main character is supposed to be 18-19. Her dialogue felt like things someone a few years younger would say.

Additionally, I feel that writing should be more showing rather than telling. Sadly, it seems the writing in this book was the other way around, We are told way more than we need to about Casey, rather than learning the information through her actions.


I’m sorry, I feel really bad,

This was a really sweet story highlighting the importance of having queer spaces especially in sports and I think that was very well done.

Casey was such a lovely character to read about. From her anxiety to her overthinking, it was so realistic and highly relatable that I couldn’t help but adore her.

Imogen was a good character, however I feel like her arc wasn’t explored well enough for me to fully connect with her. Even though her struggles with growing up in a homophobic family were portrayed in a very realistic manner, I felt how that impacted her struggles with alcohol was kinda glossed over.

I wasn’t fully sold on Casey and Imogen’s romance either up until their first date where I finally felt some chemistry between them and thought they were really cute.

Casey coming to terms with her sexuality, getting help with her anxiety and finally finding herself surrounded by so much support, beautiful friendships was really heartwarming. Seeing her find solace in a sport she loves surrounded by people who love her was the highlight of the book for me.

This was ok, I think there are better books in the genre of LGBTQ, coming of age, romance. I liked the roller derby element, and that made it stand out, but overall it was not a favorite for me. I would still recommend in reader's advisory.

First, a huge thank you to NetGalley and 8th note press for this ARC. Honestly, I had a very difficult time with this book. I really liked it at the start - the initial scene that sets the plot in motion was entertaining and the roller derby and found family were well done and had me enjoying the story. My main issue with this book was the writing. I had a difficult time with some of the writing and as a highly anxious person myself I think it was difficult for me that the story, which has such an anxious main character, is told in first person. Additionally I think this book would have tremendously improved by being told in 3rd person because the other issue I had was that almost everything is told to you and very little is shown. Additionally, I struggled with the addiction subplot since I feel like it didn’t get the time or attention it needed to be included well.

much like the author of this sapphic YA sports romance, i too was greatly impacted by the film Whip It when it came out (as well as being extremely disappointed in the straightness of it all). obviously this meant i had no choice but to give this a read.

this was good for a debut novel, i enjoyed the sports of it all and appreciated the HFN plus Found Family rather than HEA ending for the MCs. i also was going crazy at how this is such a common type of relationship for sapphics when they’re younger or newly out. and obviously the awkward sapphic yearning and miscommunication was extremely accurate and relatable. and it made me want to strap on the skates and jump in so badly despite the fact i am an ambulatory wheelchair user and definitely not fit for such a brutal sport!

i do feel like i maybe needed more from this story, and definitely felt upset that some of the parts regarding the way the rest of the family treated the topic of the MC being a carer for a parent. i think i would have liked some of them to realise the error of their horrible words and realised the pressure they were putting on her when she was already struggling.

it also broke my heart with the realistic representation of how often alcoholism is missed in young people in britain due to the normalisation of the binge drinking culture and how long it takes to access any sort of mental health services when you need them.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✖️

Thank you to NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review <3

Unfortunately I didn't finish this book. The writing style seemed too juvenile for the ages of the characters. I felt like the opening could have been a strong start to create conflict, but that part of the storyline was immediately resolved (like, in the same scene). I think the roller derby aspect had potential to be interesting, but I found myself skimming the over-explanations of the rules so that we can learn through the main character, as it wasn't very engaging.

I did read the Author's Note at the end and this story is very personal to her. I'm really happy for her that it's getting published and I know it will find it's audience (it just isn't me, and that's okay!)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7464675407

This felt very YA. But not in a terrible way. It was good. I was interested the entire time and I definitely think I’d read more books by this author. I love the plot and the openness of the book.