Sarah Henning

After an injury forces fifteen-year-old gymnast Caroline to quit competing, her older brother's best friend Alex promises to help her find a new signature sport, and, in return, she offers to set him up on a date with her former teammate.

It's All in How You Fall

Natalie 

4.25⭐️ super cute and very bingeable YA contemporary romance! chronic pain rep!

Disclaimer: I received this physical arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, sports romance, gymnastics, tennis

Age Relevance: 13+ (romance, injuries, cursing)

Explanation of Above: There is romance in this book; it’s a sports romance/in love with the brother’s best friend trope. There are injuries mentioned throughout the book from spines to other body parts but nothing is gorily depicted. There is some slight cursing, but it’s very sparring.

Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis: Gymnast Caroline Kepler has three state balance beam titles, a new trick even most elites can’t do, and chronic, undeniable back pain. While she might never be an Olympian, she has dreams of leveling up to elite, making Nationals, and competing in college. But when one epic face-plant changes all that and Caroline’s back pain goes from chronic to career-ending, her dreams are shattered and her life is flipped upside down.

Enter Alex Zavala, a three-sport athlete who’s both incredibly cute and incredibly off-limits. He offers to give Caroline a crash course in all the sports she’s missed, and she has an offer for him in return: For every sport Alex teaches her, she’ll play matchmaker for him. Deal done, Caroline “dates” new sports with Alex for the rest of the summer, which is loads more fun than wallowing in despair. Just as Caroline starts to see herself as more than her past athletic successes, she picks up something she didn’t bargain for: a big fat crush on Alex. Turns out life was 

 easier when it was just layout-fulls and beam burns....

Review: This is a great palate cleanser read or a great read for anyone who is craving some sports romance. The book was well written and it immediately grabs your attention from the get-go. The book does great developing the romance and I didn’t feel like it was too rush. I loved the tropes and the book did well to play into them. The character development is amazing and the world building was well done as well.

The only issue I had with the book is that I wish there was a bit more in the book. I wanted to see more of Caroline’s journey after gymnastics, but I’ll just remain hopeful that we eventually get a side sequel with Sunny or Peregrine or Nat. I also wanted to see more of Caroline trying different sports and them going into how to play them.

Verdict: It was so good! I recommend for those looking for sports romance books!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this physical arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: It’s All In How You Fall

 

Author: Sarah Henning

 

Book Series: Standalone

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Diversity: MC has spinal stenosis

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, sports romance, gymnastics, tennis

 

Publication Date: May 31, 2022

 

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

 

Age Relevance: 13+ (romance, injuries, cursing)

 

Explanation of Above: There is romance in this book; it’s a sports romance/in love with the brother’s best friend trope. There are injuries mentioned throughout the book from spines to other body parts but nothing is gorily depicted. There is some slight cursing, but it’s very sparring.

 

Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown Books for Young Readers

 

Pages: 303

 

Synopsis: Gymnast Caroline Kepler has three state balance beam titles, a new trick even most elites can’t do, and chronic, undeniable back pain. While she might never be an Olympian, she has dreams of leveling up to elite, making Nationals, and competing in college. But when one epic face-plant changes all that and Caroline’s back pain goes from chronic to career-ending, her dreams are shattered and her life is flipped upside down.

Enter Alex Zavala, a three-sport athlete who’s both incredibly cute and incredibly off-limits. He offers to give Caroline a crash course in all the sports she’s missed, and she has an offer for him in return: For every sport Alex teaches her, she’ll play matchmaker for him. Deal done, Caroline “dates” new sports with Alex for the rest of the summer, which is loads more fun than wallowing in despair. Just as Caroline starts to see herself as more than her past athletic successes, she picks up something she didn’t bargain for: a big fat crush on Alex. Turns out life was way easier when it was just layout-fulls and beam burns....

 

Review: This is a great palate cleanser read or a great read for anyone who is craving some sports romance. The book was well written and it immediately grabs your attention from the get-go. The book does great developing the romance and I didn’t feel like it was too rush. I loved the tropes and the book did well to play into them. The character development is amazing and the world building was well done as well.

 

The only issue I had with the book is that I wish there was a bit more in the book. I wanted to see more of Caroline’s journey after gymnastics, but I’ll just remain hopeful that we eventually get a side sequel with Sunny or Peregrine or Nat. I also wanted to see more of Caroline trying different sports and them going into how to play them.

 

Verdict: It was so good! I recommend for those looking for sports romance books!

It's All in How You Fall

Reviews