Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Happiest Girl in the World: A Novel

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Happiest Girl in the World: A Novel by Alena Dillon

7 reviews

jilljaracz's review against another edition

fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.75

As an Olympics geek, I was looking forward to a fictional story about an Olympic sport. This had very thinly veiled references to the Karolyis and Larry Nassar, which apparently was done so in the name of "authenticity," but if the author goes to the trouble of using real gymnasts' names, using fake names for some characters seems ridiculous (there are 49 other states and all kinds of words to describe a compound, but the big national camp is set at the "ranch" in Texas? And this is apparently ficticious?).

The fine line between depicting Midwesterners accurately and making them stereotypes got crossed a lot--a scene over a family dinner in Wisconsin? Of course they're eating bratwurst!

On the whole, this was fairly one note, with many unresolved details. It's a quick read though, which is why I finished it.

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daralexandria's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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marpaige's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Honestly, I would have liked this book a lot more if the author hadn’t insisted on using the names of real victims as part of her fictionalization. That part was so gross it made it difficult for me to enjoy the exploration of Sera’s experience

and the fallout of what happened to Lucy and the other victims

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bibliocinephile's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3.5!!!

It's very weird to put someone fictional into real events and to have them swirl around her. I went back and forth between liking and disliking that. Overall it's very well
paved and extremely captivating, as well as honest about elite sports. The one thing I hated was the adult style narration when she was supposed to be 11 years old

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danileah07's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Some books are really hard to rate. This was one of them. I ultimately decided on a 3.5, rounded down to a 3.

The Happiest Girl in the World is fiction, but in a way, it's not. It's a very realistic portrayal of the dark side of elite gymnastics. I've been a fan of the sport since the early 2000s, and despite never being a gymnast myself, I know a pretty good amount about the sport. I've watched documentaries and competitions, and have read several gymnast's memoirs and biographies over nearly two decades. Alena Dillon did a fantastic job at replicating the abusive environment that was normalized in the sport. She includes fictionalized versions of Bela & Marta Karolyi (Rudi & Vanda Balogh) and Larry Nassar (Eddie Levett) that may not be realized with regular readers, but the similarities are precise to fans of the sport... so much so that it felt chilling and haunting with the foreshadowing elements Dillon threw in.

The aspect of the book that I really disliked was that every few chapters, there would be a chapter from Sera's mom's point of view. They were jarring to the overall flow of the plot, and were largely unnecessary. I didn't feel like they added value to the storyline.

The story of the hundreds of survivors is an important one to hear. While I can tell that Dillon took great care to tell a fictionalized version, it still felt... off. It has only been a few years since Larry Nassar was sentenced to prison, so the book felt premature. There are multiple books that address the sexual abuse scandal within USA Gymnastics that I would recommend reading instead of this one, the best being What is a Girl Worth? by Rachael Denhollander.

The writing is good despite the strange placements of some flashback scenes. Dillon did a great job with portraying the world of abuse American gymnasts were subjected to, and I feel like she also did a great job with portraying the trauma responses different people in the sport went through as a result of the scandal. I just felt it was too soon for this book to have been written.

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onkenzisshelf's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

What I Liked:

Reading this during the Olympics was perfect timing, especially with Simone Biles dropping out to focus on her health - this felt like the background information we didn't know we needed.
I liked how this followed true events and real people - inspired by the events of Larry Nassar and the Karolyi Ranch were changed, but we got real names like Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, and Aly Raisman and how they dealt with abuse.
I loved how much I hated the characters - I loved them when I was supposed to love them and hated them when I was supposed to hate them, but the emotion behind all of that was so real and so raw.
I just love reading about this sport in general and all the hard, sometimes horrible work that goes into it.

What I Didn't Like/Wanted More Of:

The writing style felt rushed and a little juvenile.
I wanted more detail - this story felt very "tell" rather than "show"

You Should Read If You Like:

Watching the gymnasts on the Olympics!
Powerful femininity.

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jillterry22's review

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challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

From the beginning of the book, I became engrossed by Sera and the world of gymnastics. I live in Indianapolis, and the USA gymnastics scandal was a huge story. The behind the scenes look into what went into these incredible athlete's lives helped to give the scandal another dimension. Young women were preyed upon and taken advantage of by adults that used these athlete's accomplishments for their own gain.

My only complaint would be that the ending felt rushed. I feel like we didn't get a resolve in Sera's character development. The story ended with a nice bow and just ended. I wish the author would have given more a dynamic ending and more final character development to Sera.

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