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A review by notedbynnenna
The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon
4.0
3.5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.
Growing up I loved watching gymnastics during the Olympics (and actually, I love the Olympics in general). I thought the gymnasts were so beautiful and powerful, a winning combination. But I didn’t think a lot about what happened between the Olympics, how they had to train and push and train some more. So when I read that this book was about a young girl who dreams of being an Olympic gymnast, I was really looking forward to reading it.
We follow our main character, Sera, over the course of about fifteen years as she chases her Olympic journey. The story is mainly told from her perspective, although there are a few chapters from her mom’s perspective throughout. I understand what the purpose of these chapters was, but I didn’t like her mom’s chapters nearly as much.
As soon as the famous gymnastics doctor appears on the scene, I felt some dread, as it’s clear that this character was modeled after Larry Nassar and the truths that came to light about him. Throughout the book, she has such a single-minded focus on her goal and we see how it affects the relationships with her family and her best friend, Lucy.
About 2/3rds of the way through, I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go because it felt like the main event had happened, so I do think the book was perhaps a bit too long and could have been tightened. I also encountered my first mention of Covid-19 in a book and I’m not sure how I feel about it!
There’s so much pain and struggle and sacrifice in Sera’s story and the main question is: is it all worth it? It really made me think about elite athletes and everything they put their bodies through in the name of sport. How do they determine if the rewards outweigh the sacrifices? I certainly will never be an elite athlete (just the thought of it makes me lol), but I did like being in the mind of one for a few hundred pages.
CW: sexual abuse, disordered eating
Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.
Growing up I loved watching gymnastics during the Olympics (and actually, I love the Olympics in general). I thought the gymnasts were so beautiful and powerful, a winning combination. But I didn’t think a lot about what happened between the Olympics, how they had to train and push and train some more. So when I read that this book was about a young girl who dreams of being an Olympic gymnast, I was really looking forward to reading it.
We follow our main character, Sera, over the course of about fifteen years as she chases her Olympic journey. The story is mainly told from her perspective, although there are a few chapters from her mom’s perspective throughout. I understand what the purpose of these chapters was, but I didn’t like her mom’s chapters nearly as much.
As soon as the famous gymnastics doctor appears on the scene, I felt some dread, as it’s clear that this character was modeled after Larry Nassar and the truths that came to light about him. Throughout the book, she has such a single-minded focus on her goal and we see how it affects the relationships with her family and her best friend, Lucy.
About 2/3rds of the way through, I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go because it felt like the main event had happened, so I do think the book was perhaps a bit too long and could have been tightened. I also encountered my first mention of Covid-19 in a book and I’m not sure how I feel about it!
There’s so much pain and struggle and sacrifice in Sera’s story and the main question is: is it all worth it? It really made me think about elite athletes and everything they put their bodies through in the name of sport. How do they determine if the rewards outweigh the sacrifices? I certainly will never be an elite athlete (just the thought of it makes me lol), but I did like being in the mind of one for a few hundred pages.
CW: sexual abuse, disordered eating