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jeanettesreadingcorner's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
“What if we all wear teal eyeshadow?”
“Teal?” she asks, after a moment, wrinkling her nose. “It represents sexual assault awareness. I could give everyone an awesome cat eye too to make it really pop.” Emma stares at me for a second. Finally, a slow smile appears on her face. “That’s actually a really good idea.” •••
“We heard what you said, and it’s perfect,” Chelsea says, and Dani nods, suspiciously wiping quickly at her eyes.”
- Jennifer Iacopelli, Break the Fall 🤸🏻♀️💙
————————
Hi, readers!! Here is my book review for Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli. I really enjoyed this suspenseful and empowering book. An amazing YA sports romance book!
- It’s so good! It’s relatively fast paced and it makes me want to keep reading every time. It’s so hard to put down this book!
- The romance between Audrey and Leo is so cute. The chemistry was there from the beginning and I ate it up. I love that the romance didn’t take away from the plot and storyline. Leo is so kind and funny, so supportive and respectful to Audrey. Their first kiss scene was perfect!
- The way Audrey, Emma, Chelsea, and Dani support each other was amazing to see. It makes the reader feel like they are part of the team too! Including teal into their makeup looks was simple but impactful. Teal is on the cover as well which is so fitting for the story. What happens to the girls is written in a realistic and sensible manner.
- I felt weird and creep vibes from Christopher Gibson from the beginning.
“Teal?” she asks, after a moment, wrinkling her nose. “It represents sexual assault awareness. I could give everyone an awesome cat eye too to make it really pop.” Emma stares at me for a second. Finally, a slow smile appears on her face. “That’s actually a really good idea.” •••
“We heard what you said, and it’s perfect,” Chelsea says, and Dani nods, suspiciously wiping quickly at her eyes.”
- Jennifer Iacopelli, Break the Fall 🤸🏻♀️💙
————————
Hi, readers!! Here is my book review for Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli. I really enjoyed this suspenseful and empowering book. An amazing YA sports romance book!
- It’s so good! It’s relatively fast paced and it makes me want to keep reading every time. It’s so hard to put down this book!
- The romance between Audrey and Leo is so cute. The chemistry was there from the beginning and I ate it up. I love that the romance didn’t take away from the plot and storyline. Leo is so kind and funny, so supportive and respectful to Audrey. Their first kiss scene was perfect!
- The way Audrey, Emma, Chelsea, and Dani support each other was amazing to see. It makes the reader feel like they are part of the team too! Including teal into their makeup looks was simple but impactful. Teal is on the cover as well which is so fitting for the story. What happens to the girls is written in a realistic and sensible manner.
- I felt weird and creep vibes from Christopher Gibson from the beginning.
————————
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Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault and Adult/minor relationship
amy_sutt's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This story is about the US Olympic team from the time they win their spots to go to the Tokyo Olympics to just after they compete. They are rocked by a scandal right from the very get-go when one of the gymnasts is dropped from the team after an alleged positive drug test. Shortly thereafter, there is a further scandal and this results in the entire coaching staff being barred from the gymnasts as well as some other impacts.
This story rotates around a Sexual Abuse scandal, I'm saying that up front so no one is surprised. I didn't know it was going to be such a foundation of the story and, while I'm not triggered by this topic, I know many are.
The gymnasts face many challenges and their ability to focus on their gymnastics and mental preparation is really tested in the weeks leading up to the Games. All of the things that led them to be talented enough to make the team, may not be enough to succeed at the games.
I was emotionally invested in the journey these girls went on. At times, yes, I was annoyed about the emotions but remembering that even elite athletes can just be emotional teens sometimes too. Once it got to the Olympics, it was really dramatic and kept me up past bedtime to finish the story.
The gymnasts face many challenges and their ability to focus on their gymnastics and mental preparation is really tested in the weeks leading up to the Games. All of the things that led them to be talented enough to make the team, may not be enough to succeed at the games.
I was emotionally invested in the journey these girls went on. At times, yes, I was annoyed about the emotions but remembering that even elite athletes can just be emotional teens sometimes too. Once it got to the Olympics, it was really dramatic and kept me up past bedtime to finish the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
There is an ongoing thread about sexual abuse by the coach on teen gymnasts. Generally, there are no descriptions of specific acts, except in one small note within a scene between 3 other gymnasts in Tokyo. There is a lot of the emotional follow-up of one of the victims as well as the team splitting after in how they react to the allegations (some victim shaming).yashitak's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really like this book. It included many aspects of Audreys life that I never knew existed. Something that I thought should have been given more attention to was the relationship between Audrey and Leo which was supposed to be a focus of this book. In addition, I felt that since many people dot do Gymnastics the moves were a little bit confusing but was not something that I needed to know to move forward on the plot it just would have been nice to know a bit more. In addition the truth that they uncover about Emma was clearly foreshadowed in a line that Coach Gibson said to Audrey so it was a little predictable. Otherwise this book was just perfection and told the tale of Audrey's journey through the olympics perfectly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape
michellezezhang's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
yuna's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Oof. The good--the gymnastics and the competitive drama was good (tho I have no gymnastics experience so can't comment on how accurate or not it is, but it read well).
The "romance" subplot had no chemistry to me.
The bleh was the BIPOC rep. Felt like set dressing, Audrey reads like a white girl who's only KorAm when it suits the narrative for a buzzwordy sentence. This felt like a white author writing a biracial, half-white character for diversity points. I hate using 'authenticity' to evaluate how realistic something sounds since it's often used to gatekeep BIPOC experiences, so I'll just say that my KorAm self was really put off by how the BIPOC characters were handled.
First person POV is subjective, and this is something that I think got better toward the end but was cringey at the beginning--read a lot like an adult trying too hard to sound like a teen.
The "romance" subplot had no chemistry to me.
The bleh was the BIPOC rep. Felt like set dressing, Audrey reads like a white girl who's only KorAm when it suits the narrative for a buzzwordy sentence. This felt like a white author writing a biracial, half-white character for diversity points. I hate using 'authenticity' to evaluate how realistic something sounds since it's often used to gatekeep BIPOC experiences, so I'll just say that my KorAm self was really put off by how the BIPOC characters were handled.
First person POV is subjective, and this is something that I think got better toward the end but was cringey at the beginning--read a lot like an adult trying too hard to sound like a teen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
abmcarthur's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
hbrown's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
charlottereadsthings's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Jennifer Iacopelli's young adult novel, Break The Fall, follows a girl calles Audrey who is on track to win big at the olympics. But that dream is put in danger when it's discovered that their coach has taken advantage of one of her teammates.
Given the recent revelations from real world gymnastics associations and sexual assault allegations, this book hit even harder. But what I found interesting was the framing: the story initicially focuses on the allegations against the coach but that quickly moves to background noise as the focus is pushed to the girls trying to get their big win. At first I wasn't sure about this, but the futher I read, the more it made sense. The story is about the girls rising up and achieving greatness, reclaiming their stories and therefore the narrative.
Iacopelli's passion for Gymnastics really comes through and it's clear the love she had for this story and the olympics.
However, I found the story really start to stagnate because, apart from Audrey's back injury being a "will it won't it fail" moment, there wasn't much else going on.
Given the recent revelations from real world gymnastics associations and sexual assault allegations, this book hit even harder. But what I found interesting was the framing: the story initicially focuses on the allegations against the coach but that quickly moves to background noise as the focus is pushed to the girls trying to get their big win. At first I wasn't sure about this, but the futher I read, the more it made sense. The story is about the girls rising up and achieving greatness, reclaiming their stories and therefore the narrative.
Iacopelli's passion for Gymnastics really comes through and it's clear the love she had for this story and the olympics.
However, I found the story really start to stagnate because, apart from Audrey's back injury being a "will it won't it fail" moment, there wasn't much else going on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Emotional abuse
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
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