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A review by yuna
Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli
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