I love gymnastics and the Olympics, so when I saw this book and the fact that it was written by Gold-medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, I figured I’d give it a try.
I had low to no expectations going into this book. I assumed it would be a fluffy YA contemporary, and that’s exactly what it was. The story wasn’t anything unique, the plot formulaic. That being said, I thought it was cute. I liked her friends, family, and the love interest, and I thought the passages talking about the behind-the-scenes of the gymnastics world was really interesting.
My main critique for this book stems from the overall conflict of the book, which is that Charlie is hiding her involvement with gymnastics from everyone outside of her family and fellow gymnasts because she doesn’t want to be treated differently at school. Maybe this is something the author actually went through, but for me it felt like contrived conflict that went on far too long. At a certain point, you’d think that she would realize that she’s causing herself more upheaval by her duplicity than she would by just being open.
I also felt like the ending was a little rushed. Even so, I enjoyed this book. It’s not a new favorite or anything, but it’s a nice palette cleanser as I’ve read a lot of intense and emotional books recently.