I will admit that while the gymnastics side of things held an interest for me, I was more pulled to this book because of the scandal mentioned on the back cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find that while the scandal was very important to the overall story, held equal billing with the actual gymnastics. As Jennifer Iacopelli has a history in sports journalism (unsure if that’s the correct wording), there was a lot of actual sports. It was complex and detailed, but not to a level that I, a sports non-enthusiast, found it hard to follow. The writing certainly helped here; while the author used technical terms for the stunts being performed, the writing flowed in such a way that you simply got swept up and wanted to ‘see’ the results. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know what a “double Arabian” was.
The best part of this book - who am I kidding, it was all so good - so, one of the best parts of the book was the portrayal of friendship between the girls in the USA squad. While there were tears and fights, it felt real and not contrived. The other thing that almost had me in tears was the strong feeling of solidarity during the actual Olympics. The characters pulled together as a group of young women, despite the fact that they were literally competing with each other.
This is my first foray into the books of Jennifer Iacopelli, and I loved it. I was glad to see a diverse cast of characters, and decided to read up to see if it was #ownvoices. It’s not, but I did find this quote from Jennifer “...I didn’t begin to understand my own privilege until I went off to college and I didn’t truly recognize how deep it ran until the We Need Diverse Books and Own Voices movements really started to gain traction. That’s when I started to learn about the importance of representation and ways I could support the cause without making it about me. It’s a tough thing to realize that at 30 you still have a long way to go, but I’m doing my best.”
While I am reading from a position of white (passing) privilege, I appreciate that more authors are taking the time to make sure their casts are diverse - because our society is diverse. I know some people have firm beliefs about what white people should and should not write about, but I think Jennifer Iacopelli managed to have a markedly diverse cast without trying to assume anything about the cultures or to appropriate them in any way. By all means, speak to me, tell me what you think! We only learn by our ideas being challenged.
Content warning: mentions of sexual assault (none on page or particularly graphic - one insinuation of oral sex), mentions of doping, coarse language - ‘“deserves to have his testicles eaten by mountain lions -” “Crows...It’d be slower.”’
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
Side note - the cover ties in with a colour referenced in the book and I heart it!
Posted by Li
Catalogue link: Break the Fall
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