It's always fun to read a book that makes you think of the Olympic gymnasts. This was a fun read for that reason, but it actually read to quickly for me to really get a feel for it. However, this is a book that really drew me in because of the Olympic dreams and the reality that these girls give everything to be on that platform. ( )

Not quite as interesting as I thought it would be (it's for younger readers than I was expecting, I think), but still sort of gymnastics meets Mean Girls. ( )

A compelling look at the cutthroat world of competitive gymnastics. The characters are compelling, and I love how each of them struggled with identity and figuring out who they were in relation to gymnastics. The ending wrapped up a little too easily I felt -- in spite of everything that happened -- but that's a minor quibble. ( )

I quite enjoyed this look at USA elite gymnastics from the perspective of four girls competing at the Olympic trials - very wise of the author and the publisher to release this book now when the Rio Olympics are only 2 months away! You can tell that the author really did her research by the little things she did right: described a step on a dismount as a 3 tenth deduction etc. And I must admit that I had a blast matching up her characters with the personalities in the real gymnastics world!

The only parts I felt fell short were the lack of development in some of the minor characters. Grace (based loosely on Nastia Liukin) is coached by her father but he doesn't really get fleshed out and the changes he seems to undergo by the end of the book come out of nowhere. That is just one example. Since I am spending my free time watching old competitions on Youtube, I give this book a hearty 4 out of 5 stars and look forward to reading more by Carter in the future. ( )