• For readers of Lauren Groff and Katie Kitamura

Eating a gummy bear — today the arm, tomorrow a leg. What sounds like a joke is everyday reality for gymnast Amik. For her, every gram counts, every competition, every repetition. And every crossed line is just part of the deal. “The Routines” dissects a world everyone suspects is tough, yet no one wants to see—how exploitative a system can be when it’s covered in so much glitter and shine spray.

Munich. Montreal. Tokyo. When the Olympic Games come around, the whole world turns its gaze to one city, one team, one gymnast. The girls and women train their entire lives for this moment. Out of the collective we of the gymnasts—who in Olympic years live and breathe training, weigh-ins, and competitions—emerges an I: the gymnast Amik. She submits herself to the ruthless logic of her sport, and with every step closer to the winners’ podium, she moves further away from the girls who once comforted her.

With powerful precision, Son Lewandowski tells a story of sport and politics, of fragile relationships and the limits of one’s own aging body. The stories of famous gymnasts and the largest abuse scandal in sports history are woven into Amik’s narrative, making The Routines an utterly breathless reading experience.