Book Review: It's All in How You Fall - Sarah Henning

"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...."

Read Date - May 2024

Length - 320 pages

Genre - Romance, Sports, Contemporary

Rating - 6/10

Notes - I think the lead up in caroline becoming injured and discovering everything about her injury was such a smart way to start a romance novel. It sets up the conflict from the start, while also showing us about her life and family members. i think the set of up the coaching-to-date-setup is such a cute idea and i really liked how it played out. Caroline is a 15 year old girl and i think she’s written accurately-- not too childish and not too mature. a perfect in-between zone for it to be believable. i love the set up between sunny and alex, and i love how it get solved over the course of a few chapters. It’s not too slow burn-y but it has enough plot to leave you on edge. It feels a little tame compared to other books i’ve read but its honestly not bad. I wouldn’t recommend it to people, but im not mad i read it! it’s a good addition to my library