It's All or Nothing, Vale

I saw It's All of Nothing, Vale by Andrea Beatriz Arango on a list of new books and so got it from the library. I've read two other books by the author (Iveliz Explains It All and Something Like Home) and loved them both so thought this would be a good read as well. The book description says, "No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident. After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?"

I enjoyed this read. The author did a great job creating characters you really get to know and understand, and she really described well the journey Vale was facing. I did feel like the book was kind of heavy -- like lots Vale was dealing with internally and not talking to her parents and sorting through things like she needed to. I don't know if the author could have written it differently to give it more of a positive vibe, but I just felt like that made it hard for me to read for most of the book. I was almost going to rate it "it was okay," but things came together really nicely in the end and gave me a happier feel. This one is for ages 10-14, so it's one of those upper middle grade books--I tagged it as both children and young adult for that reason.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)