Learning to Fall by Peach Morris is a heartfelt and introspective exploration of self-discovery, healing, and personal growth. The novel follows the journey of a young protagonist who faces emotional turbulence and external challenges that force them to reexamine their life, relationships, and identity.

Morris’s writing style is both accessible and lyrical, drawing readers into a world where vulnerability is embraced, and the complexities of human emotions are portrayed with great sensitivity. The pacing of the novel allows readers to experience the protagonist’s evolution at a natural rhythm—slow, but rewarding as the character finds their footing amid uncertainty.

One of the key themes of Learning to Fall is the idea of resilience. The protagonist’s struggles with personal loss, mental health, or identity crisis are not glossed over but rather delicately handled, creating a raw and authentic portrayal of what it means to face adversity head-on. The book’s strength lies in its ability to balance these heavy themes with moments of lightness and hope, offering a sense of catharsis as the character learns to navigate the ups and downs of life.

The supporting characters are thoughtfully crafted, each contributing to the protagonist's journey in meaningful ways. Whether it’s a mentor figure, a close friend, or a romantic interest, these relationships bring depth to the story, illustrating the importance of connection, support, and understanding.

However, while the narrative is engaging, some readers may find the novel's pacing a bit slow in places. The introspective moments, while insightful, could feel repetitive at times for those who prefer a faster-moving plot. Still, for fans of character-driven stories, this slower pace allows for a deep dive into the protagonist’s psyche.

Overall, Learning to Fall is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant novel about personal growth and healing. It invites readers to reflect on their own journeys of self-discovery and the transformative power of resilience. Peach Morris has crafted a compelling story that will resonate with anyone who has ever had to pick themselves up after life has knocked them down.

really fun romance with some awesome themes and good characters. Imogen was a WONDERFUL love interest and our protag was great too! 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

3.5 stars rated up. YA/New Adult, UK-based, roller derby F/F coming-of-age type thing. It’s intense, lovely, and (guessing from the Author’s Note) comes from a very personal place, which strengthened what could otherwise have been a merely frothy piece of niche sports entertainment.

There’s quite a lot going on for Casey, the MC, who at barely nineteen is the main caregiver for her mum and is struggling with anxiety over various issues ranging from the prospect of having to move out and go to university, her sexual identity, her caregiving responsibilities, social interactions and, well, literally anything under the sun that could trigger a person with undiagnosed anxiety, which… you know, quite a lot of things.

The roller derby is front and central, and the book absolutely shines with love and passion for it. There is quite a lot of it, in quite a lot of detail, so do take that into account if you’re not into sporty books. I rather enjoyed it – I thought there was enough detail to get a good idea of how it works, and how utterly bonkers it is, lol. My favourite thing about it was how much the narrative centres roller derby as a safe space for queer folks and as a source of found family, fierce friendships and support. There are some wonderful side characters and lots of good rep (trans, non-binary, POC, disability) and the sense of community among the roller derby players was one of the strongest suits of the story.

Casey’s anxiety was well handled, but it does get rather intense towards the end of the book, so things got very heavy at times. There’s also other heavy topics like shitty family dynamics, alcoholism as a coping mechanism, and chronic illness/disability (Casey’s mum has chronic fatigue syndrome). The love story is lovely and real and a central part of Casey finding out who she is, but don’t go in expecting standard romance conventions.

Thanks to Netgalley and 8th Note Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wonderful story of finding oneself and found family through roller derby. Casey was so relatable, and I really appreciated the anxiety representation. And Mel was amazing, the kind of friend and surrogate big sister figure I wish I could find in my own life.

I highly recommend this for queer fans of Whip It. Just be warned that this isn’t a romance novel, despite the title and cover. So manage your expectations for the romantic subplot accordingly. I have mixed feelings about Imogen because struggling and needing space are okay, but ghosting the people you care about isn’t.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

When Casey catches her boyfriend in bed with someone else, her summer plans go up in smoke—but she almost immediately finds something much better. Before she knows it, she's training for a sport she didn't know existed, and taking spontaneous day trips, and expanding her social circle beyond what she could have imagined. But those things can't stop her anxiety at the thought of leaving her mother behind for uni in a year, and they can't tell her what to do about the feelings she's caught for a teammate.

I don't want to play roller derby (I like my osteopenic bones intact), but gosh it's fun to watch, and fun to read about. I knew from the first couple of scenes that this was going to be a good one: so many books that open with the POV character catching their partner in bed with someone else immediately spiral off into drama and bad decisions, and I loved seeing Casey be so...rational about it, I guess. Not *happy*, but rational. Seriously underrated, that.

Other things that are nice to see: how matter-of-fact Casey is about taking care of her mother. Chronic illness that's presented in a way that just *is*—not a good thing, and sometimes a source of worry, but not a source of drama. A romance that goes in unexpected directions. I don't want to say too much about the plot or the various sources of tension, because they're better unfolding as you go, but this is an excellent addition to the slowly growing library of roller derby books out there, and an excellent debut.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

I love love loved this book. The roller derby friendships and vibes felt very real and the sense of community was palpable. It also gets huge points in my book for how the romance unfolded and ended. I want more of this in YA always.

Before I get into my review of “Learning to Fall” I’d like to thank NetGalley and 8th note press for the eARC.

I had a really fun time while reading this book and I loved the characters and storyline. As a deeply anxious person who also loves to roller skate, this book was a quick cozy read.

This is a great YA book with the way it talks about very deep and real topics (check TWs before reading!)

But overall, if you love the movie “Whip It”, this book is hands down for you!

So much roller skating… too much roller skating…

Casey is taking a gap year before going off to college and is taking care of her mother. She finds her boyfriend cheating on her and doesn’t really care that much. She ends up seeing the girl he was cheating with at the gym and talks to her. She learns about roller derby and decides to try it out. It ends up being something she really enjoys and soon she joins a team and makes a lot of new friends, as well as gets a new crush…

This book had an interesting concept, I’ll give it that. I really liked the idea of a roller derby book because I’ve never read or seen one of those and I thought it would be interesting to learn about roller derby…

There was A LOT of roller skating. Too much, if you ask me. And it was all “tell” instead of “show” which made me skim over so much because none of the roller derby talk was sticking in my brain and I got bored.

Another thing is, I feel like this book was missing an introduction… I liked the first chapter and the set up with her meeting Imogen, but besides that it was missing something. We didn’t really get a good introduction to Casey or her life. It went straight to roller derby. There was barely anything else in this book besides roller derby, except the brief hangouts with her teammates.

I appreciate how the author incorporated anxiety, panic attacks, disabilities, and mental health/abuse issues and topics.

The writing style is very YA, but they’re supposed to be college aged. And yes, this is a YA book, but the dialogue felt very unrealistic most of the time for the character’s ages.

I don’t have a lot of comments about Casey as a character besides what I’ve already mentioned above. I wasn’t a big fan of her, but she was an okay main character.

The rest of the characters were okay as well. Imogen kind of got on my nerves, but she definitely brought up some important issues that were discussed in this book. I did really like Mel. She was a good friend to Casey and she was funny. The one character I did not like at all was Billy, Casey’s sister. Luckily she’s not in it much and I don’t think we were supposed to like her most of the time, anyway.

I think this book had a lot of potential and I wish I didn’t have to rate it so lowly, especially with this being the author’s debut. The book had a lot of great concepts, but they were not executed very well and I personally got bored and skimmed over a lot of stuff. There is a lot of great diversity and important issues talked about in this book, though!

And, I read the author’s note at the end of the book and this story is very personal to the author!! I’m sure it will be relatable to other readers, but unfortunately it wasn’t to me.

2.75 ⭐️’s rounded up to 3.

Thank you NetGalley and 8th Note Press for the ARC ebook of Learning to Fall in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited for this book, but unfortunately could not click with the story. I too watched Whip It many tines and thought it would be badass to be a roller derby girl… went to games, studied the rules & never went for it. So needless to say I was ready for this sapphic derby book! Overall it was a quick fluffy read about a 19yr old girl finding new passions while questioning her sexuality. She struggles with anxiety and balancing the uncertainty of going to University soon and leaving home while she also cares for her mom (chronic illness). I found the narrative of her not believing in herself and her friends cheering her on repetitive, but I finally got some satisfaction on where I think she was headed by the very end.

The roller derby action…. I can’t help but feel a large percentage of this story was straight from a “roller derby for dummies” book and I wish the author would have spent a little more time fleshing out the relationships/interactions with the characters. There were many amazing side characters that had great potential to further help the story line. I appreciated the emphasis on the beauty of the community, that it’s a home for those who’ve felt like they don’t belong. A safe haven for LGBTQ+ to thrive in sports. The diverse representation was there and I know this book will find its audience, it just wasn’t for me.

I loved this romantic self-exploration themed around roller derby. I learned a lot and felt connected to all of the characters.

I genuinely can’t begin to explain how much I loved this book!
Not only was it a sweet and wholesome story about finding yourself and your people but it explored mental health, living with disabilities and addiction in a true and thoughtful way - like these were a part of the characters lives but never ALL of the characters lives.
Casey was a great protagonist and despite this being only a short book her character development was well paced and believable. Loved the references to ‘Whip It’ and the parallels of the ending (and I 100% agree it should have been a queer love story)
Right, got to go now and find the nearest roller derby team to watch.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
# Pages: 196 (ebook)
Publication Date: 05.13.25

“I’ve never felt before. Skating and being around all these badass people make it feel like my blood is fizzing, like I’m standing on the precipice of something exciting and scary and dangerous.”

🛼 YA Contemporary Romance
🛼 Sapphic Romance
🛼 LGBTQ+ Rep
🛼 Roller Derby
🛼 Found Family
🛼 Self Discovery
🛼 Anxiety Rep

Book Blurb:
- A YA debut about found family and queer awakening, set in the lively world of roller derby, perfect for fans of Whip It and Heartstopper.
- “Meet Casey. She doesn't know it yet, but her life is about to change. A chance encounter ends up with Imogen inviting her to see some live roller derby where she finds herself surrounded by fearless women and non-binary players who aren't afraid to speak their minds-- and body slam each other.
Some crushes just hit different.”

“Learning To Fall” by Peach Morris was a cute and quick read. They really helped to show that it’s okay to love who you love and try new things. Even if those new things are scary at first. The character development and world building was good. I feel like the characters are likable and easy to relate to.

The romance isn’t the primary focus, which in this case, works out great. It allows you to really get yourself into Casey’s shoes and experience all aspects of her life. Including her mental health and the anxiety she felt a lot. She faced a lot of heavy topics and it was done well.

Overall, I think Peach Morris did a great job. I do recommend this book and I think it’s perfect for queer teens looking for a safe place to explore. I look forward to more work from Morris in the future.

Thank you netgalley and 8th note press for this ARC read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An ode to found family, growing up and trying new things, this YA novel will appeal to queer folks who need a safe space to be themselves without shame.

With that said, I had a hard time believing the age of the main and side characters. Had it been a lower YA book, it would have made sense. But what was the point of making the MC nineteen years old and her closest friend twenty-three? The players are supposed to be adults but it didn’t feel like it at all. Besides, the writing style didn’t help because it was very poor, and made it feel even younger.

Once I grew accustomed to the writing style, I must say that the roller derby part of the story was very compelling. I love when authors create a montage of the MC growing stronger and more confident in their skills throughout the pages, and that’s exactly what we have here.

I also liked the anxiety representation, even though it becomes quite prominent at the end of the book (it is understandable but still a bit heavy after spending the majority of the book mentioning it in passing).

The sapphic romance is cute and messy, and I liked the resolution, because for a while I was scared that their issues wouldn’t be addressed.

Overall, it’s a fun and fast-paced read that tackled really well the queer-safe-space aspect of roller derby.

4⭐️

“Learning to Fall” by Peach Morris is a quick, sapphic sports young adult novel.

I was instantly drawn to the cover of this book, and luckily, the story itself didn’t disappoint.

I absolutely loved every aspect of this book, from the queer found family to the way it represented mental illness.
I liked the romance between Casey and Imogen, and at the same time, I appreciated how, at least in my opinion, it wasn’t the main focus of the story.

I really connected with Casey and her characterisation. All her fears and concerns really shaped her into a well-developed and realistic character.

In conclusion, I was totally captivated by this author’s debut, and I can’t wait to read their other works in the future.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Aaaaaaaa.

I wanted to love this. As a gay derby gal I desperately wanted to love this. But so much of it felt cliched, shoehorned in or kind of empty? Plus name checking an actual team that folded? A bit shady… did the author check with the Nottingham Hellfire Harlots before using their name in the book? Seems like the kind of thing you should really ask permission for first especially when other teams are fictionalised.

There were also some really peculiar quotes like “Derby practice…” “I was confused, we don’t live in Derby”. Palm, meet face. You can make it clear that someone knows nothing about the sport without so much exposition dumping. There was a lot of “telling” the reader rather than showing, which also left me a bit cold.

The book did tackle heavy topics like sexuality, gender identity, mental health, chronic illness and alcohol abuse, but it felt like each thing was being shoehorned in for the plot. That being said I loved Mel so much, she was a perfect character and I liked that the fact she’s trans was entirely incidental.

The book did get better as it went along but I found the ultimate ending pretty predictable.

It’s a nice, entertaining and fluffy read and I do wish the author all the best and I hope she keeps writing and honing her craft because I do think there’s loads of potential and talent there. However, despite being about two of my great loves - roller derby and queer awakenings - this just read like any other sports romance book on the market. It’s candyfloss in book form, very sweet, but little substance to be had.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 61% (chapter 17 out of 25)

Words cannot describe how desperately I wanted to love this book. I was so beyond excited to receive an E-ARC and put all my other books on hold to binge read. A sapphic romance novel and roller derby?! The dream for any Whip It fan! Which is why I am so devastated that this book just does not work for me for a handful of reasons.

The characters: Are about as flat as can be. I wasn't hating Casey, our MC, for the first 40% of this book and actually could really relate to her as an anxious, introverted people pleasure and former baby gay. But the author fails to really do much exploration with her character even as we see Casey grow. Her growth on page feels as though we're just hitting that milestone because we're nearing the end of the book instead of because there's actual change and growth.

There's really no exploration into Casey's queerness outside of "I have a crush on Imogen." which is really a shame because the supporting cast of characters is such an unique range of queer, nonbinary and trans characters who could've offered insight and mentorship to a baby queer.

There were also some strange character moments that often too suddenly or happened out of the blue. For example there's ONE chapter where Imogen is pissed off and being really mean to Casey with no explanation given in the moment or leading up to it. And by the next chapter....it's just....resolved? Same with a lot of Casey's relationships outside of her crush; a lot of tension, general meanness that is just suddenly...."okay" after a few chapters.

The plot: or lack there of really. Of the 61% of that I read, 90% of the chapters felt like we were recycling scenes. How many scenes of the group getting drunk, Casey thinking "oh yeah I may be queer", Casey crying because people just don't get her passions, do I have to read over and over before something meaningful happens? I can see what the author is trying to do, showing a progression of Casey coming out of her shell or using these scenes to allow Casey to have reflective moments. But there is no depth to it. There's nothing more than surface level blandness.

The pacing: just....yikes. This ties in with the reasons I feel like the plot didn't work; repeating the same 3-4 events without investigating or exploring more in depth or providing good dialogue makes the pacing of Learning to Fall incredibly tedious. Especially once you hit the 30% and you start to see the pattern.

I'd give this a 2.5 (being generous) for the few moments of queer joy that I really loved and the good representation for chronic illness. Overall this was a big disappointment for me though

ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley.

3.75 stars rounded up. Learning to Fall is a young adult debut novel set in the UK. It's about finding your true self and learning to cope with mental health issues. It has a love story plot on the side but the novel is more about coming to terms with yourself and falling in love with a sport and the community it comes with. And it's about roller derby. There's chronic illness rep (wide character), bipoc love interest, trans and non-binary rep (side characters) in the novel. There are a lot of difficult and serious topics in the book, like alcohol abuse, mental health issues, and toxic family dynamics.

For me there was a bit too much roller derby in the book. For someone who has seen Whip It (2009) but basically does not know anything else about the sport, all the practice and scrimmage and game description were a bit boring. But most of those bits helped to build Casey as a character.

It was a good read and the novel was well written. Really well done debut. It would be great read especially for a teen reader.