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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
i understand less about baseball now than i did before
Gene 'Nes' Ionescu is a minor league ball player, and he absolutely loves it. His dad was a pro baseball player, and it's all he's ever wanted to do. He's got his best friend, Vince, an older (lol, 38) player who is closeted but happily married to a rather charming man called Jack, and he's got baseball. Then Luis 'Nada' Estrada gets traded into the team. Luis and Gene used to play ball together for Stanford, but Luis got drafted and left Gene behind without a by your leave.
This is as much a story of growing up as it is of sport and falling in love. Throughout the book Gene slowly learns to accept that people moving on and growing doesn't mean they have to leave your life. It's a lesson I've really struggled with, that mandatory seeing a person every day because of work, etc, isn't the only reason you're friends with someone, and if they're important to you then you will still be in each other's lives as your lives continue to chug along.
The relationship between Nes and Nada goes from sorta-enemies, to friends, to lovers, and its really beautiful. It's not a perfect world, where no issues exist, but maybe it's a world that's a little better than ours.
This books was an absolutely delight to read, and I'd really recommend for, well, everyone. It's a brilliant debut from KT Hoffman and I can't wait to see what they write next!!!
This is as much a story of growing up as it is of sport and falling in love. Throughout the book Gene slowly learns to accept that people moving on and growing doesn't mean they have to leave your life. It's a lesson I've really struggled with, that mandatory seeing a person every day because of work, etc, isn't the only reason you're friends with someone, and if they're important to you then you will still be in each other's lives as your lives continue to chug along.
The relationship between Nes and Nada goes from sorta-enemies, to friends, to lovers, and its really beautiful. It's not a perfect world, where no issues exist, but maybe it's a world that's a little better than ours.
This books was an absolutely delight to read, and I'd really recommend for, well, everyone. It's a brilliant debut from KT Hoffman and I can't wait to see what they write next!!!
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
For many, many years, I did not understand the love for the sports romance novel, but I guess you just had to make it gay and baseball (rather than straight and hockey, duh), and I love every second of it.
The Prospects has high-tier fanfiction vibes (said in a loving, positive way), which is probably why I fell in love with it as much as I did. It pulled me in the same way I got pulled into any AO3 fic as a teenager (specifically kept being reminded of one of my favorite fanfics, Angels in Outfields by The_lazy_eye, because they're both about gay baseball players, so maybe I have a bit of a bias toward the book but like who cares you should read both). This story is full of baseball. I generally don't know much about baseball or any sport, but pleasantly, I found that it wasn't really necessary to love this book. I loved reading about these people who are so passionate about baseball, and yeah, I also loved reading baseball scenes. It was one of my main problems with Icebreaker that, despite being a hockey/figure skating romance, there was no hockey or figure skating in sight. There was so much tension in those games that heavily focused on Gene and Luis, so much love, so much passion.
Speaking of Gene and Luis, they are such good romance leads. They're open and honest and vulnerable and lovable, so much so that you only want good things for them from the jump. I was genuinely surprised by how well structured it was in a way that provided realistic relationship tension. The whole cast of characters is a delight. Between Vince and Ernie and Baker, everyone had their role in this sweet found family that also only wants the best for these two, even if it means they move on from them. I want to think that everyone collectively shed a tear when Gene and Luis made their dreams come true, even if it didn't look like what their dreams were at the beginning of the book.
Above all, I love that this is fantasy fulfillment. In the author's note, Hoffman admits that a story like Gene's probably won't happen in the foreseeable future, but how beautiful would it be to one day live in a world where there is an open trans man in major league sports? It's the world that Hoffman wants to see, so they wrote that, and I hope that one day Hoffman and I can see that fantasy no longer just be a fantasy, but our reality.
The Prospects has high-tier fanfiction vibes (said in a loving, positive way), which is probably why I fell in love with it as much as I did. It pulled me in the same way I got pulled into any AO3 fic as a teenager (specifically kept being reminded of one of my favorite fanfics, Angels in Outfields by The_lazy_eye, because they're both about gay baseball players, so maybe I have a bit of a bias toward the book but like who cares you should read both). This story is full of baseball. I generally don't know much about baseball or any sport, but pleasantly, I found that it wasn't really necessary to love this book. I loved reading about these people who are so passionate about baseball, and yeah, I also loved reading baseball scenes. It was one of my main problems with Icebreaker that, despite being a hockey/figure skating romance, there was no hockey or figure skating in sight. There was so much tension in those games that heavily focused on Gene and Luis, so much love, so much passion.
Speaking of Gene and Luis, they are such good romance leads. They're open and honest and vulnerable and lovable, so much so that you only want good things for them from the jump. I was genuinely surprised by how well structured it was in a way that provided realistic relationship tension. The whole cast of characters is a delight. Between Vince and Ernie and Baker, everyone had their role in this sweet found family that also only wants the best for these two, even if it means they move on from them. I want to think that everyone collectively shed a tear when Gene and Luis made their dreams come true, even if it didn't look like what their dreams were at the beginning of the book.
Above all, I love that this is fantasy fulfillment. In the author's note, Hoffman admits that a story like Gene's probably won't happen in the foreseeable future, but how beautiful would it be to one day live in a world where there is an open trans man in major league sports? It's the world that Hoffman wants to see, so they wrote that, and I hope that one day Hoffman and I can see that fantasy no longer just be a fantasy, but our reality.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As always thank you to @littleredwrites for another spectacular recommendation! Hoffman absolutely nails diversity inclusion throughout this book! Simple, quiet and relatable to the world. Although I must say as someone raised outside of a baseball playing country (to my knowledge - fellow Aussies is Baseball a thing here? π
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) I found the heavy use of baseball terminology slowed me at times. π
π
Gene and Luisβs love - OMG! If you have a book to read this Pride month - get amongst it! Both Gene and Luis were so relatable to me ππ The trans love and joy is just simply delicious and anyone who can recommend more delicious trans love and joy stories needs to give them all to me NOW!!! ππ
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated