Hannah Orenstein

From the author of the Love at First Like and Playing with Matches, an electrifying rom-com set in the high stakes world of competitive gymnastics, full of Hannah Orenstein’s signature “charm, whimsy, and giddy romantic tension” (BuzzFeed). The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: After training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri. Now, reeling from a breakup with her football star boyfriend, Avery returns to her Massachusetts hometown, where new coach Ryan asks her to help him train a promising young gymnast with Olympic aspirations. Despite her misgivings and worries about the memories it will evoke, Avery agrees. Back in the gym, she’s surprised to find sparks flying with Ryan. But when a shocking scandal in the gymnastics world breaks, it has shattering effects not only for the sport but also for Avery and her old friend Jasmine. Perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jasmine Guillory, Head Over Heels proves that no one “writes about modern relationships with more humor or insight than Hannah Orenstein” (Dana Schwartz, author of Choose Your Own Disaster).

A Novel

Head Over Heels

Avery's past seven years have been hard. After a disastrous performance ended her Olympic dreams, her best friend went on to become a champion and marry their coach. Reeling from a breakup with her boyfriend, Avery returns home, where old acquaintance Ryan, now a coach, asks her to help him train a promising young gymnast. Back in the gym, she is surprised by the young gymnast's talent and sparks flying with Ryan. But when a scandal rocks the gymnastic world, Avery is not sure her new romance can survive it.

Rebecca Hurd

Great story, easy read, happy ending!! Exactly the book i needed at this moment.

isabella

* 3.5/5 
this was cute but totally forgettable. 
i forgot the characters' names already.

lexie

i liked that it’s not that focus on romance. i hate men.

Julie Burszan 

Fun how a romcom accidentally became a fantasy novel

Sarah

4.5⭐️. I really liked this book. At first I wasn’t really into it but after page 100 I was in love. I loved Avery and Ryan’s relationship.

isabella t mejias

A really cute story about finding yourself outside of the sport you knew as a child with romance sprinkled in

Clarice Berardinelli

marie

ending was fitting and nostalgic but i wanna know the results, too huhu

4.5

Nikki

despite not knowing anything about gymnastics, this book was easy to follow. i wasn't intimidated by the gymnastics terms, at all.

love love love this book! i love avery so much and i love reading her development in the entirety of this book. romance was cute until that part and then it felt like it was rushed to be resolved. imo avery forgave ryan too quickly, especially considering the gravity of what he did and what it meant to avery. (view spoiler)[it doesn't make sense to me how he couldn't trust what avery said about her former coach when she has been open about what he did and how it affected her, even years after she quit gymnastics. (hide spoiler)] and seeing how he was a coach to hallie??? we want more groveling ryan!!!!

my tip would be to please read this book as a women's fiction rather than a romance book.

Nicole Cousin 

So i really liked it. Honestly it was a very good book. I loved going through Avery's journey after feeling so lost, ending a relationship and not knowing how to feel ambition after she lost everything she ever dreamed. Even though it took a long time, and she kept bringing up her failure for half of the book, I totally understoof where she was coming from. 

I was hooked on wanting to know about the world in gymnastics, the drama with Dimitri and Jasmine everything with Hallie and the issues and struggle the teenager was facing. 

My issue with the book, is that its supposed to be a rom com. And honestly the romance was lacking in my opinion. I felt absolutely 0 chemistry between Avery and Ryan, and almost as if her falling in love came from nowhere. I almost felt at the end of the book, that they were better as friends and I would have been happier with that ending. (and that is saying a lot from me, because I think in romance novels they should always end up together)

Juliette

Such a good story. A quick and easy read too!

Becky

** spoiler alert **
           This was good. I really loved the exploration of Avery recovering from her time as an elite gymnastics and the impact on her mental health it had to have been so close to being in the Olympics, the thing she had trained her whole life for as a teen, and then to lose out due to injury. To lose her whole sense of purpose at a young age and how that affected her.

Gymnastics, the struggle, the discipline and the whole gymnastics culture was where this book was strongest. I felt Avery's struggle to be a fully functioning adult at 27. She was world weary after already having a career and was figuring out her next one. You could tell there was passion for gymnastics and that the author understood that world well. I enjoyed that to see Avery renew her passion for gymnastics in training a new Olympic hopeful and she got the chance to see that things are better. That what she experienced was wrong and that she could help support and shape another gymnasts future with her own actions. It was brilliant to read.

This book fell down on the romance for me. The whole time I was reading it was obvious to me the romance was the weakest part of the book. I was ok with that because this was about Avery and I liked that... but the chemistry with Ryan? It could have been stronger. I liked them getting together but I wasn't invested in them because I didn't feel that spark. But it was good to see Avery feeling passion for someone and wanting a relationship. I celebrated each normal life milestone because even though she'd had a life in LA her return home felt like her first time at being truly independent and making decisions for herself. Sadly, Ryan was out there disappointing me. He seemed like a really nice guy. He'd had success and became a really great coach. He cared about Hailee and I liked how sweet he was with Avery. He was a little uncertain and a total sweetheart. It made it all the disappointing when he didn't take Avery's word on something when it affected his professional career. He willingly ignored her and her experiences because it meant there was hope for greater success for him. I hated him a little then but I might have forgiven him... but by ignoring Avery he was then willing to take Hailee with him and place her in the situation Avery was in. He willingly ignored it and pretended things had changed. It just... ugh. He did change his mind and believe her eventually but only weeks later when he witnessed something. It just wasn't good enough. 

So yeah. An excellent celebration of the skill of gymnastics and their work and dedication and also a great story about the insane pressure these athletes are under and how it can impact them later on. I enjoyed it. It was a good book. But I was let down in places. Not so much that it ruined the book bjust a grumble I needed to put out there.

Summer Stanley

Well, dang. The writing felt very young and lacked nuisance. We spent too much time in Avery’s head in the beginning for me to get hooked. Too much was unrealistic: Avery and Ryan’s relationship progressed too quickly, one yoga class changed her life, she immediately befriended her random roommate 🤷🏼‍♀️
I kept reading because I obviously wanted the best for Hallie, although a lot of her story outside of the Olympic Trials got left without resolution. This was not my favorite. 

Very minor spoiler: Their “first time” was infuriating. 😡 Unprofessional, risky, and gross - gyms are disgusting

Tatyana

Stephanie Midolo

I liked this a lot, but it was very weird to read about the fully packed area at the Tokyo Olympics lol

Linda Quintanilla

I always love reading about a character redeeming themselves because no one is perfect. If they say they do, they are a liar. Everyone is flawless. It just takes time to figure out who you are. Sometimes, it takes longer such as Avery.Avery had it all in the beginning but one injury can destroy any sports ambitions. Sadly, it happens and it left Avery questioning everything about herself. It takes some time for her but she is finally getting herself back when she starts coaching. It may not be what she wanted but it’s something to start with. I really like Avery as a person. She is trying to be the best she is even though it may be tough. But I kinda don’t like the relationship with Ryan. He may be sweet in the beginning but I was tired of the back and forth especially when Avery reveals some truth about her old coach. I just expect some loyalty especially since Avery is always about the truth but Ryan did not have her back. I won’t reveal too much but I just got to say that I expected more.

Heather Harrington

** I received a copy of this via the publisher in exchange for an honest review **

Avery Abrams was once an elite gymnast who's Olympic dreams were shattered after an injury at a qualifying meet forced her into early retirement. In the almost decade since the incident, Avery has had to watch her ex-best friend Jasmine reach all the goals she trained her whole life for. Now, with no motivation or prospects on the horizon and a recent break-up, Avery has no choice left but to move back in with her parents in her Massachusetts hometown. When she gets a call from Ryan, another athlete she used to compete with, with a position helping coach a young gymnast with Olympic aspirations, she hesitantly agrees.

Despite her worries and bad memories of her own abusive coach, Avery finds a renewed energy the moment she walks back into Summit gym. She's also surprised to find that the more she helps Ryan train Hallie, the more her confidence seems to flourish and her self-esteem grows. The old emotional wounds she had from the sport she once loved begin to heal, and being around Ryan isn't so bad either. But when a shocking scandal wracks the gymnastics world, the ripples not only affect the sport itself, but Avery and her old friend Jasmine as well. 

I enjoyed this, but I didn't fully love it. All I really knew of the gymnastics world, I learned from watching the movie Stick It, so reading all about the tricks and intense training/conditioning that these athletes go through was really fascinating. It was interesting seeing this world through Avery's perspective, and seeing the differences in her training versus how Ryan was brought up in the sport. The story itself I thought was okay. I did expect the actual scandal to be a bigger part than it turned out to be, but overall I appreciated how it turned out. As for the relationship between Avery and Ryan, I found it a bit meh. I did also find this a bit clunky and the pacing to be off a bit in places. With that in mind, I'd still recommend if you're a fan of sports centered rom-coms.

Maria Eugenia Espinal

Avery Abrams is a former gymnast who was meant to become an Olympic champion but her plans were derailed by a disastrous performance that ended up with an injury that ended her career. After breaking up with her football-star boyfriend, she return to her hometown where she starts coaching a young aspiring Olympic gymnast, Hallie, alongside Ryan, her teenage crush. 

A scandal breaks out during the story that shows us that the author was inspired by the #metoo movement and the real life accusation (now, conviction) of sexual assault by the USA Gymnastics national team doctor, Larry Nassar. 

I really enjoyed this story and how the author talked about important topics like mental health, verbal and emotional abuse, and sexual assault. However, I thought the author’s writing was flat and lacking emotion, especially in regards to the romance between Avery and Ryan. My favorite character was Hallie who was the only one that felt authentic to me.

I give this book 🌟🌟🌟.5

Deborah Kerr

I wasn't particularly impressed by any aspect of this book, nor did I hate any of it (except for the romance)

It was a good book to listen to while I powered through my workday.

Taylor McNeely

** spoiler alert **
           Listen, I almost DNFed this book about 70% in because the absolute trash that was the main male character. He completely disregarded the main female character’s testimony to him about how her gymnastics coach verbally abused her for 5 years. I was so angry I almost threw my kindle!! He was like awe he’s probably not like that anymore and pretty much didn’t trust her because he said it was coming from her and he knows how she feels about him. To make matters worse, they were dating during this time so it’s not like he didn’t know her AT ALL!! It doesn’t’ matter though because you should never disregard someone when it comes to baring their soul about the abuse that happened in their life!!! The only reason this book got 2 stars instead of 1 star is because I loved the female friendships in this book.

Faith Lee

I just couldn’t care less about Avery and Ryan’s relationship. This book would’ve been ten times better if it was about Hallie, the competing gymnast.

Alicia Haws

4 STARS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A phenomenal read from Hannah Orenstein! 

Head Over Heels is the story of Avery, a former competitive gymnast who was injured during the Olympic trials and not only didn't get to go to the Olympics, but it also ended her gymnastics career. Avery's best friend Jasmine goes on to become an Olympic champion and then goes on to marry their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri. Having lost everything, including her best friend, Avery packs up and heads to LA to start over. Seven years later, after a rough breakup with her long-time boyfriend, Avery is headed back to her hometown in Massachusetts to start over yet again.

Once home, Avery gets a phone call from a former US Olympic gymnast from the mens team, (and her former crush) Ryan. He is now a coach at the same gym that Avery once trained in with Jasmine and Dimitri, and he is desperate for Avery's help with his young Olympic bound gymnast Hallie. Even though Avery worries what memories it may bring up for her being in her old training gym, Avery agrees to help Ryan. Once working together, Avery realizes that her and Ryan have serious chemistry, but navigating that and working together becomes tricky once Jasmine and Dimitri come back into Avery's life.

Characters
I really enjoyed Avery and Ryan's character building. They truly read like they were real people, and I was completely sucked into their story. I also really enjoyed the side characters of Jasmine and Hallie. Each character had their own interesting story and troubles and it was very refreshing to see real life problems and situations in the story.

Plot
I absolutely love Gymnastics (though I myself am not a gymnast--I only did gymnastics as a girl for about 4-ish years) and watching the gymnastics in the Olympics is one of my favorite things. So this book sucked me in from the very beginning. I think that if you aren't familiar with gymnastics, it may be slightly harder to understand certain things happening in the story, but overall would still be a fantastic read. The emotional/sexual abusive storyline of this book was really interesting to read about, and I definitely felt that I learned a lot from it. That being said, I do put this in here as a TW for those that can't do these types of storylines, though there was not much detail in the sexual abuse side of things.


  Content/triggers to note:
 Emotional/Verbal abuse, Sexual abuse (spoken of, but not detailed), One semi-detailed sex scene, and divorce.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this one. I felt that the one sex scene took me slightly out of the book, which is why I knocked off one star. I think that the detail didn't suit the story very well, and it came off a bit clunky. Other than that, I really loved it, and highly recommend to all contemporary romance fans. I also think that gymnast fans, even if romance isn't their genre, will really enjoy this as well. Orenstein gets a gold medal from me for this one. Much better than her last book "Love at First Like". 


  **Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Hannah Orenstein for the advanced eARC and paperback ARC in exchange only for my honest thoughts and review.**



  


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Chelsea White

This book was decent. Pretty predictable romance, and the ending with Hallie was also fairly predictable after all Avery had gone through.
The highlight was seeing Avery work to open up, and heal from the trauma of working with Dimitri.
The whole “heartbreak as catalyst for getting her shit together” thing would have worked better for me if I felt like she and Jason had actually been in love, rather than in convenience.
Ryan went from being a great character to me to someone who was... blah after he didn’t take Avery’s lived experience with Dimitri seriously. She’s your girlfriend and you’re kind of downplaying what she went through in a major way to work with him? And risk your other gymnasts? Fuck off dude. He only took her seriously after seeing a workout session where he does EXACTLY what Avery said he did? Ugh. I mean, at least he came around? But come on dude, the bar’s on the ground and you dug a hole to walk under it.

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           “... the kind of presence in your life where it doesn’t matter if you cry in your sweatpants or your voice cracks when you reveal the gnarled insecurities and fears that keep you up at night, because that person loves you for you and loves you for good, forever.”

I thought this was a really cute book- Avery’s relationship with Ryan is adorable and her mentorship over Hallie is heartwarming. However, I think the relationships I appreciated the most in Head Over Heels were the friendships between Avery and Jasmine and Sara. Usually when there’s a blossoming romance, there’s not much focus on the friendships, but Hannah Orenstein made sure to include moments showing how important those relationships are as well, like when Avery and Sara made dinner together or Avery helped Jasmine with a big life change.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Head Over Heels A Novel

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