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bigtiddygandalf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
polkadotgirl's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 stars:
Baseball is not my sport of choice and I really don't know much about it, so a lot of this story flew over my head because of that fact. However, the rest of the story was compelling and beautiful to read. I would definitely recommend this to people who love sport romances, even if they don't know much about baseball, but I especially encourage baseball fans to pick this up because the novel felt like a realistic love letter to the sport.
Baseball is not my sport of choice and I really don't know much about it, so a lot of this story flew over my head because of that fact. However, the rest of the story was compelling and beautiful to read. I would definitely recommend this to people who love sport romances, even if they don't know much about baseball, but I especially encourage baseball fans to pick this up because the novel felt like a realistic love letter to the sport.
ravenk28's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was a good read but do listen to the reviews when they say the best part of the story is the last 20%. As a lot of the book is switching between the present and 3 years ago.
Pros: This book for me was really interesting as I’ve never read a book about baseball before. The story follows Zach through his journey of being a baseball player throughout the majors and how he find love along the way.
Cons: Personally this book felt long at times and rushed toward the end. I was hoping there was a bit more sweetness but that just my personal opinion 😭.
Content Warnings: This story talks about big topic such as coming out, homophobia and the general challenges of being in sports as a disabled player.
Overall this book is a 4 stars.
Pros: This book for me was really interesting as I’ve never read a book about baseball before. The story follows Zach through his journey of being a baseball player throughout the majors and how he find love along the way.
Cons: Personally this book felt long at times and rushed toward the end. I was hoping there was a bit more sweetness but that just my personal opinion 😭.
Content Warnings: This story talks about big topic such as coming out, homophobia and the general challenges of being in sports as a disabled player.
Overall this book is a 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Ableism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, and Racism
dsauriol1991's review against another edition
4.0
I think this book tells Zach's journey extremely well, and I loved the added representation of him being hard of hearing in one ear. His relationship with Eugenio is playful, sweet, and filled with respect on both sides. I will say I thought the synopsis of this book does misrepresent it. Its billed as a second chance romance, which it is, but really it's a dual timeline of Zach &
Eugenio's first chance along with the second chance. Which I also felt could've had a little bit more of a focus. Like I said though this is still a wonderful book that I thoroughly enjoyed!
lezreadalot's review against another edition
4.0
There’s an entire ocean behind him, one Zach can’t see right now, Eugenio occupying his field of view, the world for once held at a distance.
3.5 stars. This was a pretty interesting sports romance; not written in quite the way that I expected, but I did end up really enjoying it. We follow the dual timeline of the relationship of two baseball players: three years in the past when they meet for the first time and start tentatively getting together, and in the present day, after they've broken up, and are taking steps towards a reconciliation. So it's a second chance romance, but one where we get to see the entirety of their first time together, rather than in flashbacks or conversation, like it regularly is in most second chance romances. It's also sort of a coming out romance, which I feel I have to mention because I know a lot of people don't really love that in their queer romances, but I do, and that was an aspect of the book that I really enjoyed; seeing Zach struggle with and eventually overcome his anxieties.
But yeah, team-mates romance, and also sorta rivals romance, depending on the timeline. I did enjoy that aspect, and the switching back-and-forth between the years didn't get too jarring, but it just also was not structured like my ideal romance. It was devoid of a lot of the usual annoying romance clichés, but most of the time it also felt like there were no stakes. And, I mean, I guess that's not true, because there was conflict in the form of Zach's reluctance to come out, his relationship with his family, his status around his job and teams over the years. But I just didn't feel like it had a gradual buildup, as much as I usually feel it in other romances. The dual timeline and the switching back-and-forth did leave room for a lot of interesting situations and reveals. Like, in the present timeline, the two guys would share a gesture that seems simple and meaningless, like squeezing each other on the arm. Then when we go back to the past, we are able to see how that gesture originated, and what it really means to them both, especially given the fact that it has continued into the future. So that was fun. And I do think that it was interesting for us to see both the first time and their second chance play out sort of simultaneously. Interesting, but ultimately just a liiiittle bit weird.
This is a sports romance where there isn't a lot of baseball, but there is a lot of talking about baseball, a fair amount of mechanical discussions about different techniques and stuff. Or it at least it seemed like a fair amount to me. And it aaaaaaaall went over my head, lol. Of all the sports, baseball is probably the one I understand the least, and while I do think the author did a great job of making this readable for anyone, I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was more invested in the sport, or if I understood it a little bit more. But it really didn't prove that big of a barrier to enjoyment. I've been listing a lot of nitpicks, but this was honestly really very sweet, heartfelt, and well-written. It's a romance where you were really able to get a sense of how they work as a couple, where we got to see a lot of little defining moments that made them good for one another. The characters are super well explored. I loved the scenes where Eugenio cooks for Zach, and we get to see them being kind of domestic and sweet together. I also loved the moments where Zach had to train Eugenio or other members of the team, and he showed his worth as a mentor. And I don't often see hard of hearing rep in books, so that was great, and pretty insightful, especially with regard to the way it affects and didn't affect Zach's ability to play baseball.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Lee Osorio and I really enjoyed it. I think this was my first book narrated by him, and he had such a soothing and enjoyable voice, a narration style that was easy to get into. After reading a short story from this author a couple years back, I'm glad that I finally read one of their novels. This was so good, if a little unorthodox in its style (as compared to my experience, at least). The rest of the series looks good as well, so hopefully I will check it out soon.
“Yeah, well,” Zach says, “some guys just got your number. That’s baseball.”
aldarakamey's review against another edition
5.0
This book was read thanks to NetGalley
I want to start this saying that I am big sports fan too, so when i read the plot from this book I knew that I had to read it.
And let me tell you that it didn't disappointed me, the author touched ever single detail that you would expect in a LGBT book with sports industry in it... and they did such a good job portraying it, it felt real, it felt respectful of the journey an LGBT people usually goes to accept themselves and how sometimes society makes it harder for them.
Highly recommended.
I want to start this saying that I am big sports fan too, so when i read the plot from this book I knew that I had to read it.
And let me tell you that it didn't disappointed me, the author touched ever single detail that you would expect in a LGBT book with sports industry in it... and they did such a good job portraying it, it felt real, it felt respectful of the journey an LGBT people usually goes to accept themselves and how sometimes society makes it harder for them.
Highly recommended.
send_snacks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
courtknee__vn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted and expected to enjoy this one way more than I did so it honestly just left me feeling disappointed. I didn’t fully start connecting with the story until the last few chapters. I don’t know if it was the way the story was written or what but I always just felt like I was outside of the book and could never fully immerse myself in it 🤷🏻♀️ I did really love Zach & Eugenio and I think that’s what made me stick with it because I just wanted them to be happy but it just really dragged and I’m glad I’m finally done with it 😅 I do think the Jewish rep and the hard of hearing rep was great and the last few chapters were worth sticking around!
lunabats13's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0