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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
sarabearian's review against another edition
This charming teen novel has an authenticity to the story of a young girl trying to earn a spot on the Olympic gymnastics team. No wonder - the author is indeed a gold medal-winning gymnast herself! Charlie Ryland leads a double life, balancing the demands of training and competition while attending high school and keeping her sports dreams a secret from her friends at school. Add a cute boy and the prom into the mix and Charlie is in for one heck of a time!
-- Louisa A.
-- Louisa A.
bookish720's review against another edition
3.0
I have always enjoyed watching gymnastics but this is the first book I have read pertaining to it. It was a very cute read. It was easy to get through and very entertaining. I really felt for Charlie. I could feel what she was feeling at times. The ending was great. Overall, this was a solid read.
sparkleypenguin's review against another edition
2.0
I did like this book at points. It was addictive in that YA cliche sort of "will they or won't they?". But other than that, it was full of the same old tropes that we all are used to seeing in these sorts of novels. The main love interest made me uncomfortable too like I totally thought that he was going to turn out to be a jerk but weirdly enough he was redeemable for some reason? At one point in the novel, when he and Charlie are stargazing out in the field, he goes "Hey, can I give you a nickname because Charlotte is too long of a name for me to say for some reason" and she's like "no" and he persists with that whole bit and I'm thinking "What the heck dude? Why are you insisting on this one small thing? Why don't you just leave it alone and just call the girl what she wants to be called and just leave it at that?". Also, the writing style was really wonky. It had turns of phrase that were awkward and uncomfortable to read. Overall, I would give this 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Spoiler
Then, when he finds out that she's leading a double life, he goes "I knew you weren't a Charlotte or something along those lines which I find to be weird and uncomfortable.francescak's review against another edition
3.0
This was a light and cute read - somewhat outside of what I typically read in YA. This would have been something I'd likely enjoy more if I was still in middle school/high school. It felt a little too innocent and predictable for me, but not a bad read overall.
*Note: I received a free copy of this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
*Note: I received a free copy of this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
megankass's review against another edition
4.0
A sweet, simple book that makes me think about good times when dreams were still a thing. Not a lot of depth to this story, but that added a touch of innocence.
emma_gib's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty good! I didn't like the fact that she was talking about boys so much when she was 15, though. It's pretty cool that Shawn Johnson wrote this.
danikass's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I absolutely loved this book. It was cheesy and not particularly deep, but I experienced so much joy tearing through it. I cared about Charlie, and her career and Bobby and Josh and Zoe and Gwen, and I was really upset when it was over. I really expected less than nothing, so it was a wonderful surprise. I appreciated the gymnastics insights from someone who had truly experienced the sport at the most elite level. I was also relieved that religion stayed out of the book, which was a big concern for me going in, given how vocally religious Shawn is.
Quality wise, I know it's probably 3 stars, but I'm giving it 5 from the pure, innocent joy I feel.
Quality wise, I know it's probably 3 stars, but I'm giving it 5 from the pure, innocent joy I feel.
caitlinobauer's review against another edition
4.0
Received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley & Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
THE FLIP SIDE by Shawn Johnson is a charming, enjoyable read. The story follows a 15 year old gymnast named Charlie Ryan who is training for the Olympic trials and attempting to keep her athletic life a secret from her friends at public school.
The plot is relatively predictable, but it still manages to be a fun read. There were a few pieces of dialogue I found slightly distracting (a teenage boy would never use the phrase “I need to scoot”), but other than that I was impressed. The story flowed easily and the characterizations were adorable.
Perfect to get you in the mood for the upcoming Summer Olympics!
THE FLIP SIDE by Shawn Johnson is a charming, enjoyable read. The story follows a 15 year old gymnast named Charlie Ryan who is training for the Olympic trials and attempting to keep her athletic life a secret from her friends at public school.
The plot is relatively predictable, but it still manages to be a fun read. There were a few pieces of dialogue I found slightly distracting (a teenage boy would never use the phrase “I need to scoot”), but other than that I was impressed. The story flowed easily and the characterizations were adorable.
Perfect to get you in the mood for the upcoming Summer Olympics!
readingwitherin's review against another edition
2.0
"I don't stand for stalling, not in myself. Fear is one thing. Everyone's allowed to have fear. But stalling means I'm letting fear win."
See Reviews First On My Blog
When I first heard that Shawn Johnson was going to be writing a YA book I was really excited, back in 2008 she was my favorite gymnast on the Olympic team. Since then I have follow gymnastics more closely and continue to love gymnastics. But back to talking about the book. I did have my reservations, because I have read her biography as well, which was geared towards younger girls it seemed at times, so I was expecting that from this book as well, and it was.
Charlie Ryland is a 15 year old high schooler, who just so happens to also be a well-known Olympic gymnastics hopeful. She keeps her gymnastics life so separate from her school life though that she has to tell quite a few lies to her school best friend who she hardly sees outside of school and some Saturday nights. Her gymnastics career though is about to take off and that means that her two lives are about to collide, while she knows it’s going to happen, she doesn’t want it to and keeps telling the lies until it’s too late and everyone knows her secret.
"What my heart wants is easy. It wants an Olympic gold medal. It's my brain that confuses things."
Things really start to get confusing for Charlie though when a guy who is also an athlete starts getting close to her, making her not focus as much on gymnastics which ends up almost costing her everything.
This is when I started to get annoyed with Charlie though. Here’s this guy who is also an elite athlete who knows what it’s like to have to sacrifice things and she just keeps lying to him about who she really is as well. When he is quite possibly the only school friend she has that will understand why she kept it a secret and why she wanted to. The amount of times I just wanted her to tell him or at least give him hints about it were too many to count.
When Charlie ends up getting hurt and almost losing the thing she’s worked so hard for, I got even more annoyed with her because really her whole family had made sacrifices for her to have this Olympic dream and here she was weeks from trial possibly losing it all just because of some guy.
"My life is different from what it might have been, but you can't hold on to bad decisions. Let it all go, Charlie. Focus on the now. Not the past, not the future. Just the now."
Finally one of her coaches is able to get through to her to just focus on gymnastics again and then deal with a guy after the Olympics. She starts thinking straight again even though her whole school life has fallen apart.
While I did still enjoy this book, I could tell that it was meant for younger gymnasts who are Olympic hopefuls or just love gymnastic s. I was still able to enjoy the book, but at times I did get a little annoyed with the main character, but then I would just remind myself that this was geared towards the younger YA instead of the older YA like most books I read tend to be. Charlie is most likely a relatable character for young gymnasts she’s worked so hard for so long for a shot at a 5 person team where this is potentially the only chance she will ever have to make it. She is mentally tough and strong and wants to have some sort of normal life, while also still playing the sport she loves that demands almost all of her time in order to become elite at it. The main reason I didn’t like this book as much as I was hoping to was because it focuses more on her personal/school life then it does her gymnastics life.
Overall I would say this is a good book for young readers but if you’re hoping for a story about gymnastics this isn’t it. It’s more of a story about a girl who also just happens to be a gymnast.
See Reviews First On My Blog
When I first heard that Shawn Johnson was going to be writing a YA book I was really excited, back in 2008 she was my favorite gymnast on the Olympic team. Since then I have follow gymnastics more closely and continue to love gymnastics. But back to talking about the book. I did have my reservations, because I have read her biography as well, which was geared towards younger girls it seemed at times, so I was expecting that from this book as well, and it was.
Charlie Ryland is a 15 year old high schooler, who just so happens to also be a well-known Olympic gymnastics hopeful. She keeps her gymnastics life so separate from her school life though that she has to tell quite a few lies to her school best friend who she hardly sees outside of school and some Saturday nights. Her gymnastics career though is about to take off and that means that her two lives are about to collide, while she knows it’s going to happen, she doesn’t want it to and keeps telling the lies until it’s too late and everyone knows her secret.
"What my heart wants is easy. It wants an Olympic gold medal. It's my brain that confuses things."
Things really start to get confusing for Charlie though when a guy who is also an athlete starts getting close to her, making her not focus as much on gymnastics which ends up almost costing her everything.
This is when I started to get annoyed with Charlie though. Here’s this guy who is also an elite athlete who knows what it’s like to have to sacrifice things and she just keeps lying to him about who she really is as well. When he is quite possibly the only school friend she has that will understand why she kept it a secret and why she wanted to. The amount of times I just wanted her to tell him or at least give him hints about it were too many to count.
When Charlie ends up getting hurt and almost losing the thing she’s worked so hard for, I got even more annoyed with her because really her whole family had made sacrifices for her to have this Olympic dream and here she was weeks from trial possibly losing it all just because of some guy.
"My life is different from what it might have been, but you can't hold on to bad decisions. Let it all go, Charlie. Focus on the now. Not the past, not the future. Just the now."
Finally one of her coaches is able to get through to her to just focus on gymnastics again and then deal with a guy after the Olympics. She starts thinking straight again even though her whole school life has fallen apart.
While I did still enjoy this book, I could tell that it was meant for younger gymnasts who are Olympic hopefuls or just love gymnastic s. I was still able to enjoy the book, but at times I did get a little annoyed with the main character, but then I would just remind myself that this was geared towards the younger YA instead of the older YA like most books I read tend to be. Charlie is most likely a relatable character for young gymnasts she’s worked so hard for so long for a shot at a 5 person team where this is potentially the only chance she will ever have to make it. She is mentally tough and strong and wants to have some sort of normal life, while also still playing the sport she loves that demands almost all of her time in order to become elite at it. The main reason I didn’t like this book as much as I was hoping to was because it focuses more on her personal/school life then it does her gymnastics life.
Overall I would say this is a good book for young readers but if you’re hoping for a story about gymnastics this isn’t it. It’s more of a story about a girl who also just happens to be a gymnast.