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kimball_hansen's review against another edition
2.0
Wow, this book got boring fast (kinda like women's sports) and it was not well written at all. Minus points for not narrating it yourself. What else are you going to do. You wrote the GD book, Carli! You can't find another 9 hours to read it yourself while clicking the record button? Tired of these memoirists that don't read their own crap, especially when within said crap they try to promote doing Hard Things. They're already showing their true colors by not doing so.
I like how she says that for young kids there is too much organization and not enough unconstructed free time.
No one cares that she is the first female athlete to design her own clients for the world cup
Why is she practically disowning her parents? And Hope got in trouble for speaking out? She likes to skip out on important details.
I will say that when people think that sports stars have it easy they don't realize how much the athletes are training all the time. If it was that easy then more people would do it. But most people are out of shape.
Is it bad that I never heard that the women's US soccer team won back to back Olympic gold medals?
There was a teammate that would always be too rough with her during practice. Then she bragged about being a national team player and her teammate isn't. After she showed that girl who was boss by knocking her down, she says they get along better than ever. Total lie. Anyone who can read this book can tell she's still bitter about it.
I like how she says that for young kids there is too much organization and not enough unconstructed free time.
No one cares that she is the first female athlete to design her own clients for the world cup
Why is she practically disowning her parents? And Hope got in trouble for speaking out? She likes to skip out on important details.
I will say that when people think that sports stars have it easy they don't realize how much the athletes are training all the time. If it was that easy then more people would do it. But most people are out of shape.
Is it bad that I never heard that the women's US soccer team won back to back Olympic gold medals?
There was a teammate that would always be too rough with her during practice. Then she bragged about being a national team player and her teammate isn't. After she showed that girl who was boss by knocking her down, she says they get along better than ever. Total lie. Anyone who can read this book can tell she's still bitter about it.
strawfly14's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, but having previously read Solo's, Wambatch's and even Morgan's, I haven't found it as interesting as the mentioned ones. It's like the story it's not that powerful. Don't get met wrong, I love Lloyd and I was really happy when she won the first FIFA World Player -because honestly I don't think she truly deserved the second one-, but it's like I don't really find a good story to tell. Anyway, It was good to read how she overcome her difficult start at the USWNT, and how she fought that hard behind the lights to get to be the best player in the world.
unicorn23's review against another edition
4.0
I definitely preferred this more than Abby Wambach's book because we got a lot more insight into Carli and how she is as a person and as a soccer player. I totally get her now and won't be hating on her because she is right in that she is just misunderstood. I admire that she doesn't give a shit what other people think of her and that she's a hard worker and would never give up.
I really liked how she broke down the important games of the USWNT and her involvement in all those games. It made me feel like I'm watching those games all over again and with a new perspective.
It's kinda sad, though, that she's not speaking to her parents and her siblings anymore. I really hope that they both set aside their pride and differences and reconcile. It must be so tough for both parties not to talk and have no communication with their blood relative.
I really liked how she broke down the important games of the USWNT and her involvement in all those games. It made me feel like I'm watching those games all over again and with a new perspective.
It's kinda sad, though, that she's not speaking to her parents and her siblings anymore. I really hope that they both set aside their pride and differences and reconcile. It must be so tough for both parties not to talk and have no communication with their blood relative.
sonia_picks's review against another edition
4.0
If ever you wonder what goes on inside a star athlete's head while on the field, this story lays it out for you. It's honest, inspiring, and passionate. Carli teaches you and motivates you to have a drive that's unbeatable.
liralen's review
3.0
Soccer was pretty much my first love, and I retain a vague interest in soccer memoirs, so I thought I'd give this a go. It's...not great. Impossible to know how much of the writing is down to Lloyd and how much down to Coffey (the ghostwriter), but it ends up feeling pretty bland. The present tense didn't work for me, and there's very little development of characters beyond Lloyd and James Galanis, her trainer.
What there is is a lot of soccer. Huge swathes of the book that are rundowns of tournament games—which is fine here and there, but tournaments by nature consist of numerous games, which means that there'll be a breakdown of a game against China (who scored, and how many minutes into the game, and who was fouled, and so on and so forth), followed by a breakdown of a game against France, and a game against Brazil... It's probably more interesting for people who followed those games closely or who like reading game recaps. Personally, I would have been much much much more interesting in seeing some discussion of the pay discrimination lawsuit—there's a photo from said period, but no mention otherwise. (Abby Wambach, who I'm not sure was actually involved in the suit, lays it out in much more detail in Forward.) I can only guess that somebody involved in the book's writing or publication decided that talking about women earning equal pay would be too controversial or too complicated or something for the target audience...? I hope it's not that, but it seems like a glaring omission.
I don't know. A lot of it feels like an extended elegy to a still-living Galanis. Otherwise...too much 'here are the people who done me wrong' (including calling out specific older-generation national team members for not being nice enough to newcomers) and not enough people-driven story.
What there is is a lot of soccer. Huge swathes of the book that are rundowns of tournament games—which is fine here and there, but tournaments by nature consist of numerous games, which means that there'll be a breakdown of a game against China (who scored, and how many minutes into the game, and who was fouled, and so on and so forth), followed by a breakdown of a game against France, and a game against Brazil... It's probably more interesting for people who followed those games closely or who like reading game recaps. Personally, I would have been much much much more interesting in seeing some discussion of the pay discrimination lawsuit—there's a photo from said period, but no mention otherwise. (Abby Wambach, who I'm not sure was actually involved in the suit, lays it out in much more detail in Forward.) I can only guess that somebody involved in the book's writing or publication decided that talking about women earning equal pay would be too controversial or too complicated or something for the target audience...? I hope it's not that, but it seems like a glaring omission.
I don't know. A lot of it feels like an extended elegy to a still-living Galanis. Otherwise...too much 'here are the people who done me wrong' (including calling out specific older-generation national team members for not being nice enough to newcomers) and not enough people-driven story.