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smlunden's review against another edition
4.0
excellent character growth, but i got anxiety over every bout, was a difficult read emotionally as a result. highly recommend to others but the dearth of competition was not my cup of tea.
samwlabb's review
4.0
I have had this book on my radar for a while. I love reading sports books, and especially when we are talking about elite level sports. What sweetened the deal was the sport involved - boxing. I find the sport so brutal, but reading about women trying to be taken seriously in this world was fascinating. But this wasn't just a girl-trying-to-make-it-in-a-man's-world story.
This was a story about a young women, who pushed herself to succeed despite multiple obstacles in her way. A girl, who had to fight the negativity of a thieving alcoholic mother and an absent father to believe in herself and her talent. A girl, who had to push through her workouts and school, while assuming parenting duties for her younger brother. Let's just say, it was easy to root for Gravity. My need for her to succeed was great, and I was proud of her.
There was drama and romance and heartbreak and lots of boxing! It was quite a world Deming brought me into, and I was glad to have taken this journey to the Olympics with Gravity.
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This was a story about a young women, who pushed herself to succeed despite multiple obstacles in her way. A girl, who had to fight the negativity of a thieving alcoholic mother and an absent father to believe in herself and her talent. A girl, who had to push through her workouts and school, while assuming parenting duties for her younger brother. Let's just say, it was easy to root for Gravity. My need for her to succeed was great, and I was proud of her.
There was drama and romance and heartbreak and lots of boxing! It was quite a world Deming brought me into, and I was glad to have taken this journey to the Olympics with Gravity.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
booksonhermind's review
I got almost halfway through. I want to ask this author why on Earth she added a love interest as the conflict. What a waste. I don't get why romance was even a thing here. Also, a graphic depiction of a dick pic for a teen book was uncomfortable. And it's obvious the mom is stealing her money. Gravity is a very naive and bland character. Disappointing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
junebug_kw's review
4.0
I know nothing about boxing, but that did not matter for this book. Deming writes the boxing sequences very well. I felt like I could understand the sport, even with no prior knowledge. The story is gripping, and I was left wanting more. This is a great book that will speak to young people who feel like they don't see themselves in contemporary literature.
tashrow's review
5.0
Once Gravity found her way to the Cops ‘n Kids gym, a place with no address, she couldn’t stop going. There was a smell the gym of boys and sweat, and it gave her a real reason to hit something and hit it hard. As Gravity got older, she got better at boxing, quickly becoming a young boxer to watch in the circuit. She headed undefeated into meets that could lead her to the Olympics, but her home life was a mess. Her mother was an abusive alcoholic who was best when she was ignoring Gravity and her little brother. Her father had left, returned and then disappeared again. Now Gravity had a way forward, a way to create a future for herself and her brother separate from her mother. All she had to do was win, and she worked hard and wanted it badly. But nothing comes easily, especially in boxing.
I must admit that I’m not usually a fan of sports novels, but Deming’s novel of Gravity and her battles to make it out of poverty and abuse caught me and held me in its sweaty arms. Deming herself has personal knowledge of boxing as a New York City Golden Gloves champion and boxing journalist. She takes that knowledge and allows readers to see beyond the physicality and violence of boxing into the art and skill of the sport. Her writing is fast paced and the bouts themselves are readable, understandable, and sometimes bloody.
Gravity is a fantastic heroine, someone who is resilient and strong both in her heart and her body. She is confident but not overly so, someone that readers will relate to and understand deeply as she is shown so clearly and vividly in this novel. Gravity is also someone who loves deeply, including family and her coach. This novel doesn’t shrink away from sex either, nicely never shaming the participants either.
A gripping, feminist sports novel that will grab readers and not let them go. Appropriate for ages 15-18.
I must admit that I’m not usually a fan of sports novels, but Deming’s novel of Gravity and her battles to make it out of poverty and abuse caught me and held me in its sweaty arms. Deming herself has personal knowledge of boxing as a New York City Golden Gloves champion and boxing journalist. She takes that knowledge and allows readers to see beyond the physicality and violence of boxing into the art and skill of the sport. Her writing is fast paced and the bouts themselves are readable, understandable, and sometimes bloody.
Gravity is a fantastic heroine, someone who is resilient and strong both in her heart and her body. She is confident but not overly so, someone that readers will relate to and understand deeply as she is shown so clearly and vividly in this novel. Gravity is also someone who loves deeply, including family and her coach. This novel doesn’t shrink away from sex either, nicely never shaming the participants either.
A gripping, feminist sports novel that will grab readers and not let them go. Appropriate for ages 15-18.
take_me_awayyy's review
3.0
Review to come.
**EDIT 05/30/20**
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog: Take Me Away...
I was so torn about this book. On the one hand it was cool to find out more about the world of boxing. On the other hand it would have been cool to hve more of a story instead of just constant matches and weird blog entries throughout the story.
Gravity Delgado is a fierce female boxer who trains with a large cast of diverse characters. Her life at home is nowhere near as great as her gym life, which makes her want to spend most of her time in the ring. This look into Gravity’s life shows her fight to get to the Olympics.
I picked this up because I have been really into sports romances lately. And I haven’t read a boxing one. And to make it better, it was YA?! This should have been everything to me, but in some ways it fell flat for me. For instance, I was not a fan of the way the author didn’t make this much of a story. It felt more like her stats and play by plays. I think that’s an important part of the story yes, but I thought there needed to be more. The little glimpses into her mom, her family, and her weird romance with certain people, was always too short. And the way the author threw in those blog posts was weird too. It just threw off the flow I guess.
I did like representation in the book tho. All different cultures were well represented and Gravity was Jewish which also gave some religious representation. I liked all of these things were well represented in different ways. And because it was a book where the Olympics was shown, there were different cultures there too. It was great to see all these different cultures in an environment that I don’t usually read.
As for the characters, I was a fan of Gravity and her brother, but not really anyone else. This is a very character driven story, so for the most part we only get to know Gravity. But I wish we had gotten to know many more of the characters. It was basically a telling of what they did and not a showing. And that got old about halfway through the story. Which is why it took me so long to listen to this. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to finish it or if I wanted to DNF it.
This book was weird for me. I liked it at some parts and at others I was thinking to myself, why am I still listening to this. But overall I was happy I read it. I learned some new things about boxing and I got my fill of sports romances at the same time. Basically, this book wasn’t a knockout for me, but it still lasted the full 12 rounds.
**EDIT 05/30/20**
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog: Take Me Away...
I was so torn about this book. On the one hand it was cool to find out more about the world of boxing. On the other hand it would have been cool to hve more of a story instead of just constant matches and weird blog entries throughout the story.
Gravity Delgado is a fierce female boxer who trains with a large cast of diverse characters. Her life at home is nowhere near as great as her gym life, which makes her want to spend most of her time in the ring. This look into Gravity’s life shows her fight to get to the Olympics.
I picked this up because I have been really into sports romances lately. And I haven’t read a boxing one. And to make it better, it was YA?! This should have been everything to me, but in some ways it fell flat for me. For instance, I was not a fan of the way the author didn’t make this much of a story. It felt more like her stats and play by plays. I think that’s an important part of the story yes, but I thought there needed to be more. The little glimpses into her mom, her family, and her weird romance with certain people, was always too short. And the way the author threw in those blog posts was weird too. It just threw off the flow I guess.
I did like representation in the book tho. All different cultures were well represented and Gravity was Jewish which also gave some religious representation. I liked all of these things were well represented in different ways. And because it was a book where the Olympics was shown, there were different cultures there too. It was great to see all these different cultures in an environment that I don’t usually read.
As for the characters, I was a fan of Gravity and her brother, but not really anyone else. This is a very character driven story, so for the most part we only get to know Gravity. But I wish we had gotten to know many more of the characters. It was basically a telling of what they did and not a showing. And that got old about halfway through the story. Which is why it took me so long to listen to this. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to finish it or if I wanted to DNF it.
This book was weird for me. I liked it at some parts and at others I was thinking to myself, why am I still listening to this. But overall I was happy I read it. I learned some new things about boxing and I got my fill of sports romances at the same time. Basically, this book wasn’t a knockout for me, but it still lasted the full 12 rounds.
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