Scan barcode
halynah's review against another edition
4.0
Awesome, touching, wonderful book!!! I liked protagonists and I LOVED secondary characters - they were perfect! The book has it all: great plot, nice humour, romantic tension, ideal brother-sister relationships, fabulous friendship(JJ, Carter), misunderstandings, father's issues, sport tension, inexperience, longing, jealousy,dedication, changes and resolving the problems. I enjoyed every page of this book and I highly recommend it! Great read!!!
abbyahart's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
iceangel32's review against another edition
5.0
This book was the best book I read in a long time. It is about a girl who grow up playing quarterback. She is an amazing player but her dad who is a professional player does not want her to play. It is her story f falling in love, growing up, dealing with family and balancing football with all of it. Just a great book can wait to read more of Hundred Oaks.
julie_reads15's review against another edition
5.0
Catching Jordan is such an easy to read book. I love Jordan's relationship with the guys on her football team and how they're supportive and protective of her. I really wish Miranda Kenneally would write a sequel.
kaeliesreads's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this but it was confusing in the start but once you get further in it gets better but it does slow down and then picks back up.
eghimire_'s review against another edition
3.0
Jordan Woods is the quarterback and captain of her football team at school. Being with the guys has made Jordan one of the guys, and that's not a problem until Ty comes along.
Catching Jordan started a little confusing in the beginning for me but soon the story got me hooked and I couldn't put it down. It does have football but its pretty understandable even for people who don't know much about football, other than there's a ball and people run around trying to make a touchdown. That's a short version of what footfall is to me but football for Jordan is life. It's somethings she's loved but something her father hates. No, her father doesn't hate football but he hates that she's playing football.
Jordan's dad, the 'great' Donovan Woods is an ass. Straight-up jackass who needs a slap. I get his reasons for not wanting Jordan in football because she could really hurt and he doesn't want that to happen or to ever see it happen, but he's rude about it to Jordan.
One thing that got me confused was Jordan's best friend, Sam. They call him Henry so I thought they were two different people but they're actually just one person. Sam Henry.
Ty did not float my boat and was really odd. His character was possessive and freaked out too much. Just, no. His character just made me feel cynical.
Jordan was a little too weak to be a strong MC. Not in physical strength but as in emotional strength. She isn't strong at defending herself and I thought she would, being a football player and being around guys all the time, I thought she'd be strong, not crying so often.
I can't remember what else made me rate this 3 stars but Catching Jordan is okay read.
Catching Jordan started a little confusing in the beginning for me but soon the story got me hooked and I couldn't put it down. It does have football but its pretty understandable even for people who don't know much about football, other than there's a ball and people run around trying to make a touchdown. That's a short version of what footfall is to me but football for Jordan is life. It's somethings she's loved but something her father hates. No, her father doesn't hate football but he hates that she's playing football.
Jordan's dad, the 'great' Donovan Woods is an ass. Straight-up jackass who needs a slap. I get his reasons for not wanting Jordan in football because she could really hurt and he doesn't want that to happen or to ever see it happen, but he's rude about it to Jordan.
One thing that got me confused was Jordan's best friend, Sam. They call him Henry so I thought they were two different people but they're actually just one person. Sam Henry.
Ty did not float my boat and was really odd. His character was possessive and freaked out too much. Just, no. His character just made me feel cynical.
Jordan was a little too weak to be a strong MC. Not in physical strength but as in emotional strength. She isn't strong at defending herself and I thought she would, being a football player and being around guys all the time, I thought she'd be strong, not crying so often.
I can't remember what else made me rate this 3 stars but Catching Jordan is okay read.
stephxsu's review against another edition
1.0
Honestly, is every book that claims it is the next Dairy Queen going to end up being a huge disappointment? D.J. Schwenk’s title as Best “Rural” Tomboy has still not been usurped—has hardly been challenged, I think. CHASING JORDAN takes place in a setting where football is big, yes, but I think that’s where the similarities end.
CHASING JORDAN was a typical YA “dramatic luv” story hiding under a sporty exterior. Sure, there was talk of Jordan being Tennessee’s best quarterback, but all real aspects of state-level varsity sport life soon fell by the wayside, overpowered by the drama of a typical teenage love triangle. Ty never fully developed into a believable character for me. Maybe that had something to do with the outcome of the book, but I don’t think that that is a valid reason for having one-dimensional characters: one can write believable, three-dimensional, and sympathetic characters without forcing them to pair up into happily-ever-afters (see: Donna Freitas). I wanted more sport, less “typical teen love drama”—but "teen luv" was exactly what I got.
But I think what bothered me the most—and perhaps this is just a “me” thing, but I’ve become incredibly sensitive to these things, and, come on, it’s 2012—was CATCHING JORDAN’s complete and utter dismissal of possible “alternative” lifestyles. I hesitate to even use that term “alternative,” since, like I said, it’s 2012, and gosh darnit, people can live whatever lifestyles they want! I understand, marginally, that CATCHING JORDAN is set in the American South, but I was so, so disappointed during that stupid Home Ec scene with the fake babies and the students needing to pair up to be “husbands and wives,” and everyone automatically turning to the only guy in the class, as if being paired up with a female classmate is the end of your social life. What is this, the 1960s? Add to that a story setting in which lots of guys are constantly together, and all they can think about are ditzy cheerleaders. Seriously. Ditzy cheerleaders. In a YA world where cheerleaders can be popular yet real people (again, see: Donna Freitas), this kind of cardboardism is so passé, it’s not even fun anymore. It’s just sad.
CHASING JORDAN’s main premise—of Jordan learning how to embrace her female desires and fall for a guy—was so bland that it allowed me to focus on all the little things about the setup of the story that bothered me and have now made their way into my review. If you’re picking this up because you want a simple love triangle story, that works; however, if you’re looking for a smart and fun book featuring the sports-related travails of a female athlete, you might do better to look elsewhere.
CHASING JORDAN was a typical YA “dramatic luv” story hiding under a sporty exterior. Sure, there was talk of Jordan being Tennessee’s best quarterback, but all real aspects of state-level varsity sport life soon fell by the wayside, overpowered by the drama of a typical teenage love triangle. Ty never fully developed into a believable character for me. Maybe that had something to do with the outcome of the book, but I don’t think that that is a valid reason for having one-dimensional characters: one can write believable, three-dimensional, and sympathetic characters without forcing them to pair up into happily-ever-afters (see: Donna Freitas). I wanted more sport, less “typical teen love drama”—but "teen luv" was exactly what I got.
But I think what bothered me the most—and perhaps this is just a “me” thing, but I’ve become incredibly sensitive to these things, and, come on, it’s 2012—was CATCHING JORDAN’s complete and utter dismissal of possible “alternative” lifestyles. I hesitate to even use that term “alternative,” since, like I said, it’s 2012, and gosh darnit, people can live whatever lifestyles they want! I understand, marginally, that CATCHING JORDAN is set in the American South, but I was so, so disappointed during that stupid Home Ec scene with the fake babies and the students needing to pair up to be “husbands and wives,” and everyone automatically turning to the only guy in the class, as if being paired up with a female classmate is the end of your social life. What is this, the 1960s? Add to that a story setting in which lots of guys are constantly together, and all they can think about are ditzy cheerleaders. Seriously. Ditzy cheerleaders. In a YA world where cheerleaders can be popular yet real people (again, see: Donna Freitas), this kind of cardboardism is so passé, it’s not even fun anymore. It’s just sad.
CHASING JORDAN’s main premise—of Jordan learning how to embrace her female desires and fall for a guy—was so bland that it allowed me to focus on all the little things about the setup of the story that bothered me and have now made their way into my review. If you’re picking this up because you want a simple love triangle story, that works; however, if you’re looking for a smart and fun book featuring the sports-related travails of a female athlete, you might do better to look elsewhere.
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
2.5
Miranda Kenneally has been on my TBR for so long that it's ridiculous. I've heard a lot about her books around the blogosphere, but somehow, I just kept pushing her novels for another time. Until a bundle of the first three Hundred Oaks books was on sale on Kindle. I'm warning you now: Kindle sales and forgotten TBR books are themes that are going to be repeated often on this blog.
Anyway, I was in the mood for something cutesy and fun, so off I went down the Catching Jordan lane. Did I get everything I had hoped for? No, I didn't.
Anyway, I was in the mood for something cutesy and fun, so off I went down the Catching Jordan lane. Did I get everything I had hoped for? No, I didn't.
Catching Jordan is highly readable. The writing is engaging, and you kind of get swept in, even if the poetry is really not my cup of tea. The friendship between Henry and Jordan (before the angst) was definitely the best part of the novel.
But at the same time, this novel got me so very, very, very, very, very pissed. As in... ALL CAPS RAGE.
Why, you ask? Well, mainly because of Ty and Jordan's relationship with Ty.
But he isn't.
Ty is one of the worst love interests I've read of in a while. He's not a major douche or anything like that, so how come I say this? Because of the way he treats girls, from Jordan to his sister. It was disconcerting.
They had known each other for about three days when he tried to invite himself to a game with Jordan and her family. There was no issue there. The issue was that when Jordan told him no, he got upset and blamed her "jealousy" of him for acting like this. Excuse me?
Then, a week later, he goes in for the kiss, and she rejects him. Because she's not quite ready yet, even though she's really attracted to him. What does he do? He glares at her. Like it's fucking wrong of her to deny him a kiss.
What is it with this guy? And he is so controlling. Yes, he's got a sad background. He "needs to know Jordan is okay." Blah blah. He demands she change her relationship with Henry. He's forceful about going with her to Henry. He doesn't let his sister go out with people out of the house.
And does any of Jordan's friends and family think this is wrong? Do any of them go to her and tell her, "Sweetie, you're not a bitch for any of these things, you're within your right to do all this, and he's a jerk for insinuating you're doing something wrong?" Does anyone try to slap her for calling herself a bitch for refusing Ty's kiss????? Big fat "no."
Instead, they sympathize with him. Even her best friend. WTF. The book pretty much tells young girls that you should give in to boys and that refusing them is being bitchy.
BITCH, GET OUT.
And then Kenneally had to complicate Henry and Jordan's relationship. Was I shipping them? Yes. Their relationship at the beginning of the book was incredible. It was like they were already together but without kissing or anything. But why did it have to go this way?
(And, wow, Jordan changes her mind quickly. One second, she's so into Ty, the next......)
Will I read more of Kenneally's books? Probably yes. Mostly because of the bundle I own, but also because I'd like to see if this line of behavior continues in the next books or if it's just a matter of these specific characters.
mary00's review against another edition
3.0
This is not a book I would want my teenager to be reading (bad language, promiscuity, underage drinking, etc.). However, I must admit that the story drew me in and I liked it in spite of my issues with it. I thought that the basic premise of a talented female high-school football player trying to gain notice of college programs was intriguing and well-executed. But the soap opera saga accompanying it was a little too overdone, in addition to being too mature for a YA book.