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Tuesday, June 26, 2018

#GIVEAWAY + Review: The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson @ShawnJohnson

The Flip Side 
Pages: 309
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: Contemporary
Source: Publisher
She may seem like your average high school sophomore—but she’s just really good at pretending.

Because outside of school Charlie spends all her waking hours training to become one of the best gymnasts in the world. And it’s not easy flying under the radar when you’re aiming for Olympic gold…especially when an irresistible guy comes along and threatens to throw your whole world off balance.
Quick Thoughts

Super quick read, very juvenile, and very basic writing style.

Review

I truly commend anyone that wants to take the deep dive into fiction writing, because it's hard. But Shawn Johnson had a co-author, A.L. Shonnichsen, so I was expecting something a little more polished than what The Flip Side offered. It wasn't horrible, but it was an incredibly basic book that didn't bring much to the table in terms of entertainment value or story line.

Essentially, this is the gymnastics version of Hannah Montana. Charlie keeps her gymnastics career a secret from everyone in school because she doesn't want to be treated differently. Gymnastics is Charlie's life, she has lofty goals of being part of the USA Olympic gymnastics team. That's an awesome concept, I love reading stories about girls working hard to make their dreams come true. So here for it!!

But the story really fell flat. It was a regular ol' high school book about regular ol' high school drama with the mean girl and the hot jock and all the other things that come to mind when you think of "high school setting." The characters felt bland and basic, and the stakes just never felt high enough for me to be interested.

One aspect of the book that did intrigue me quite a bit was the gymnastics and the description of all the training Charlie went through. As I read, I googled the moves that Charlie was describing so I could have some context as to what I was reading and could visualize it. I felt the gymnastics part of the book was totally cohesive, and really the crux of the plot.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't horrible and honestly it was a pretty quick read, so if you're a fan of Shawn Johnson I think you'll enjoy it. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Perhaps it's because I'm not the target audience, which I'll totally grant.


About the Author
My first book, Shawn Johnson, Olympic Champion-Stories Behind the Smile, was published in January 2009. In June of 2012, my second book Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far About Love, Faith and Living Your Dreams, was published and quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. I had a blast writing this and sharing some trials and tribulations with the amazing community that supports me.

In June of 2016 I was inspired to write a young adult fiction novel called "The Flipside" about a young woman who struggled with the same identity issues that I did as I tried to simultaneously pursue elite level athletics while also trying to be a normal kid.
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GIVEAWAY
I'm giving away my hardcover copy of The Flip Side to someone who will hopefully enjoy it and give it some love! Must be 18 or older. US only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


This review copy was provided for free in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed above are solely my own.

1 comment:

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