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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-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
I was hoping for more attention on his family in South Sudan, but this was more of a sports novel. It’s really well written so if sports is your thing, you may enjoy it more than I did.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It's been a long time since I read my last Grisham. While he is comfortable demonstrating his flair and fluency in legal thrillers, he has a number of works outside the genre.
I decided to pick Sooley because I grew up loving basketball too. Heck if I know all the proper rules, but watching the games have always been something I look forward to.
Sooley sounded like a fictional character I could get behind. Even though he wasn't an actual figure, he was inspired by a South Sudanese basketball player and Grisham decided to base his protagonist based on his war-torn background.
I love the first half of the book. It could have easily been a 5 star read for me if Grisham continued in this vein. But he had to mention THAT ONEEEE apartheid regime, claiming it could be a good refuge for Sooley. Of all countries, why a 'country' that is currently ethnically cleansing the Palestinians? The mention was brief but enough to dampen my reading for the rest of the book.
As if that wasn't enough, the ending part wasn't too favorable for Sooley. Not sure why Grisham chose to end on that note, but I'm not a fan. Griefly disappointed. Had to bring down the rating despite my initial enjoyment in the first parts describing Sooley's background and basketball games.
"Nothing but net" was how Grisham described Sooley's shots. I wished I could describe the book this way but the story hit the rims, backboards and were full of imperfect shots. How unfortunate.
I decided to pick Sooley because I grew up loving basketball too. Heck if I know all the proper rules, but watching the games have always been something I look forward to.
Sooley sounded like a fictional character I could get behind. Even though he wasn't an actual figure, he was inspired by a South Sudanese basketball player and Grisham decided to base his protagonist based on his war-torn background.
I love the first half of the book. It could have easily been a 5 star read for me if Grisham continued in this vein. But he had to mention THAT ONEEEE apartheid regime, claiming it could be a good refuge for Sooley. Of all countries, why a 'country' that is currently ethnically cleansing the Palestinians? The mention was brief but enough to dampen my reading for the rest of the book.
As if that wasn't enough, the ending part wasn't too favorable for Sooley. Not sure why Grisham chose to end on that note, but I'm not a fan. Griefly disappointed. Had to bring down the rating despite my initial enjoyment in the first parts describing Sooley's background and basketball games.
"Nothing but net" was how Grisham described Sooley's shots. I wished I could describe the book this way but the story hit the rims, backboards and were full of imperfect shots. How unfortunate.
A basketball book by Grisham. Good story, a bit of a twist that I didn't see coming.
emotional
sad
fast-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
EVERYONE: We need more to hear more Black voices
JOHN GRISHAM: I got you fam!
Absolutely no one asked for John Grisham to write from the point of view as a Black male. No one. And yet, here we are, and here's the book no one asked for! It is exactly the kind of book you'd expect a monied, privileged, white cis-het male to write from the POV of a Black athlete rescued from war-torn, poverty in Africa (yup, all the necessary tropes are there!)
JOHN GRISHAM: I got you fam!
Absolutely no one asked for John Grisham to write from the point of view as a Black male. No one. And yet, here we are, and here's the book no one asked for! It is exactly the kind of book you'd expect a monied, privileged, white cis-het male to write from the POV of a Black athlete rescued from war-torn, poverty in Africa (yup, all the necessary tropes are there!)
The beginning of the story was captivating. It isn't often that I read a plot line that involves war-torn African countries and refugee camps. The hope of turning a budding talent into a better life for one's self and family is a draw.
I realize with a sport being the way out of poverty the book is going to have to cover some games, but good lord the blah-blah-blah describing the intimate details of a bunch of overtall men running back and forth in a rectangle after a round ball was excruciating. There was so much sportsball lingo that even when I tried to read those sections I couldn't tell what was going on. Is a "bomb" a good thing or a bad thing?
Back to the real plot. The twist at the end was sad and from there the book got stuck in the typical John Grisham rut: characters snap their fingers and things just happen that should get bogged down in logistics, brief descriptions of richness and power and fancy lunches and the world bending to the will of good. I realize that the elements of his writing that I can overlook or enjoy in a vintage book like The Firm don't age well here. In particular the casual misogyny of all or most of the characters being powerful men and women being relegated to inconsequential roles described only by their looks or sexually servicing men. The 18 year-old males of the sportsball team are "men" while the 20s females who hang on at the parties are "girls". It feels like he tries with the Miss Ida character but then falls back into unthinking 1950s gender roles as soon as the plot focuses on other things. It took me until this book to realize that I just can't overlook that anymore by telling myself the sucker was written 20 years ago.
I realize with a sport being the way out of poverty the book is going to have to cover some games, but good lord the blah-blah-blah describing the intimate details of a bunch of overtall men running back and forth in a rectangle after a round ball was excruciating. There was so much sportsball lingo that even when I tried to read those sections I couldn't tell what was going on. Is a "bomb" a good thing or a bad thing?
Back to the real plot. The twist at the end was sad and from there the book got stuck in the typical John Grisham rut: characters snap their fingers and things just happen that should get bogged down in logistics, brief descriptions of richness and power and fancy lunches and the world bending to the will of good. I realize that the elements of his writing that I can overlook or enjoy in a vintage book like The Firm don't age well here. In particular the casual misogyny of all or most of the characters being powerful men and women being relegated to inconsequential roles described only by their looks or sexually servicing men. The 18 year-old males of the sportsball team are "men" while the 20s females who hang on at the parties are "girls". It feels like he tries with the Miss Ida character but then falls back into unthinking 1950s gender roles as soon as the plot focuses on other things. It took me until this book to realize that I just can't overlook that anymore by telling myself the sucker was written 20 years ago.