Reviews

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

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kthomps1281's review against another edition

4.0

Sera Wheeler is a young, elite gymnast whose dream is to make it to the Olympics. As she gets more involved in the world of gymnastics, she's faced with difficult situations and situations, including taking sides when her friend accuses the team doctor of sexual abuse and deciding how much pain (both physical and mental) she can live with to achieve her dream.

This novel was a fascinating mix of reality (with mentions of actual Olympic gymnast and a sex scandal ripped from the headlines). I enjoyed getting into the heads of both Sera and her mother Charlene. It's a story about the price of glory and the toxicity of keeping silent to curry favor. It was a relatively fast read, and I would recommend it.

hannarocs7's review against another edition

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1.0

Listen, I finished this book, but I feel icky about it. There's something so wrong using the real victim's names and experiences in a fictional setting. The writing also reads as stilted in some places, and the flashes to the mother's POV reads surface level when it should have been more of an in depth. I didn't really like these characters that much, and feel like there were other issues that could have been addressed rather than focusing on the very real abuse and court cases that happened to real people and using their names.

Originally an ARC provided by NetGalley (but I fell behind)

nyx_who's review

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2.0

I know nothing of the world of Gymnastics. In this book, the protagonist and her mother tell the story of Sera who has only ever wanted to medal at the Olympics. While we see Sera achieve her dreams, we also hear about the darker side of Gymnastics.

The one thing that left me unsure was the fictionalised re-telling of the very much real Larry Nassar scandal. This was not the author's story to tell. The real world still on-going story of so many victims when compared to this re-telling leaves this one lacking. It lacked authenticity for me.

I do not know if this a true to life depiction of the world of Gymnastics. While I did enjoy some parts of this book, by and large I don't think this is going to make it to the top of my read list for the year.

grafe_'s review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

atxshopgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Not only did I find this book gripping and interesting, but there was so much nuance in the characters and even through their flaws, each of them word their way into my heart so that by the end I was rooting for every single one of them. The pace was just right, and I got almost everything I wanted out of it (besides a slightly indulgent desire to see the outcome of a specific relationship). I think the author did a wonderful job of blending fiction and reality and I enjoyed every single page of the novel.

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barrowp's review

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

wrightdobiez'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

Content Warnings