Review: Balance

Balance by Lucia Franco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Adrianna is desperate to find a better gym to practice for gymnastics. Gymnastics is her one dream and she wants to advance. She doesn’t feel like she can advance in the gym she is in currently. Her father uses his connection with a renowned former Olympic gymnast to get her in his very prestigious gym. While training there, she winds up having to do intense extra training and a spark forms between her and Coach Kova.
I’m torn. I loved the story. I really did. But I wasn’t very comfortable with the romance between the coach and Adrianna. I don’t want to say too much into it to give it away too much. It just didn’t make me comfortable. I’ll leave it at that. I will say that it gave me a Vampire Academy feel. It was like Dimitri and Rose, but the age gap was wider. Maybe that’s why I was so uncomfortable. All in all, the story itself was great. I would have loved to see more into the training. It felt like that was in the background except for when she just wasn’t doing well.
The character development was good. I can’t say that I connected with any of the characters, though. I didn’t like Coach Kova right off the bat. Not because of his attitude. My gut just told me there was something sinister about him. I wasn’t wrong. There were quite a few characters I wish had a more prominent role in the story. They kind of faded into the background. They should have been highlighted more.
As I listened to this in audio, I only feel it fair I give my thoughts on the narrator. I hope I won’t be too biased. Sarah Puckett is one of my favorite narrators of all times. I adore her. She did a fantastic job in this one as she’s done all of the other audiobooks I’ve heard. It was a mix of her and the actual story (not the romance) that kept me reading. If it was just the romance, I’d of put this book down.
Overall, this was a great story. I can’t give it a five-star rating, but I can’t give it a one-star either. I will say that if you’re uneasy about major age gaps, I would shy away from this book. Buti f you’re okay with it, go for it. I love how open and honest they were about the hardships of being a gymnast. The realistic view of what girls put themselves through to be the best gymnast they can be. I do recommend this book.


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