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fieldfarmer's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Eating disorder, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
Most of the -phobias are just descriptions but play a part in the plot of the book. Fatphobia is something the main character used to face and has internalized it, but he is working on it <3 Eating was a little disordered as a resultwardenred's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
Life is a summer storm of insecure thoughts. There’s an umbrella of precautions to prevent insecurity, but it doesn’t always keep the rain out of your face.
This was a really quick read for me—much quicker than I anticipated! In many ways, I would call this a rather typical YA contemporary book, with all the doubts, trials, and confusion you'd expect from a bunch of teenagers trying to figure themselves out the summer before their senior year. But the characters are incredibly compelling, the prose is warm and engrossing, and there's so much impact on found family. It was great to see a cast of character that was so diverse, so supportive of each other, and also, to see the adults in the kids' lives trying their best, like the coach and Bastian's Mom. Even though the book also deals with the ever-complicated issues of self-esteem, coming out, body issues, and more, it is ultimately super focused on acceptance and really, really heartwarming. A perfect read for a wintry day, all in all.
Oh, and also: childhood friends to enemies to lovers is probably my top favorite romance dynamic, and it was done so well here. Bastian and Emir's journey was believable and fulfilling and put a smile on my face more than once. It was messy at times, too, but aren't teenagers always?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Bullying
Minor: Islamophobia and Homophobia
whatifitsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
blupies's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think this book is kind of average. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for uplifting themes about coming of age and some fun sports goofiness but I do have some criticisms.
There were so many characters (I assume to make it seem like there’s actually a full team) but the issue with having so many characters is that I couldn’t keep track of who is who. A lot of them could have been merged into one character or been cut completely. The ones that I could keep track of had one or two ‘signature’ traits and that’s it.
The way the only female character is portrayed is very ‘not like other girls’ and the way she is treat by the guys reeks of misogyny, especially considering her signature trait is chasing after Mason, who treats her like shit throughout the entire book and it’s kind of just played off as a “Oh he’s mean because he likes you” thing at the end (YIKES!). He’s mean to everyone and it’s kind of just “Oh that’s just how Mason is, he’s just an asshole to everyone” as if that’s not a huge red flag. I mean the guy sees his ex girlfriend and Sebastian talking and being happy after their breakup and almost implodes on the spot.
The way mental health is treat in this book seems very shallow to me, as if it’s thrown in as an afterthought. Some ambiguity can be good but I don’t think it’s beneficial in this book. The hints are subtle and it ultimately builds up to Emir going “Don’t worry, everyone is imperfect” and suddenly Sebastian’s body image issues are cured because they’re never mentioned again after that.
We get a pretty sweet scene between Coach Patrick and Sebastian at the end (Why were there three coaches, very easily could have all been made into one character.) Overall I like it but we get some really random backstory that, had it been sprinkled in throughout the whole book, would have been fine but because it’s all half explained in a matter of pages I was left wondering if I’d missed something and questioning what had actually happened to Xander. It was also told as if whatever happened happened a few years ago, before Sebastian was on the team or before Coach Patrick was their coach but it seems like Xander is a similar age to Sebastian, if not younger. I don’t know it just felt weird and info dumpy
There were so many characters (I assume to make it seem like there’s actually a full team) but the issue with having so many characters is that I couldn’t keep track of who is who. A lot of them could have been merged into one character or been cut completely. The ones that I could keep track of had one or two ‘signature’ traits and that’s it.
The way the only female character is portrayed is very ‘not like other girls’ and the way she is treat by the guys reeks of misogyny, especially considering her signature trait is chasing after Mason, who treats her like shit throughout the entire book and it’s kind of just played off as a “Oh he’s mean because he likes you” thing at the end (YIKES!). He’s mean to everyone and it’s kind of just “Oh that’s just how Mason is, he’s just an asshole to everyone” as if that’s not a huge red flag. I mean the guy sees his ex girlfriend and Sebastian talking and being happy after their breakup and almost implodes on the spot.
The way mental health is treat in this book seems very shallow to me, as if it’s thrown in as an afterthought. Some ambiguity can be good but I don’t think it’s beneficial in this book. The hints are subtle and it ultimately builds up to Emir going “Don’t worry, everyone is imperfect” and suddenly Sebastian’s body image issues are cured because they’re never mentioned again after that.
We get a pretty sweet scene between Coach Patrick and Sebastian at the end (Why were there three coaches, very easily could have all been made into one character.) Overall I like it but we get some really random backstory that, had it been sprinkled in throughout the whole book, would have been fine but because it’s all half explained in a matter of pages I was left wondering if I’d missed something and questioning what had actually happened to Xander. It was also told as if whatever happened happened a few years ago, before Sebastian was on the team or before Coach Patrick was their coach but it seems like Xander is a similar age to Sebastian, if not younger. I don’t know it just felt weird and info dumpy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Homophobia
Moderate: Islamophobia and Sexual content
Minor: Mental illness, Cursing, and Racism
phoebebebbebe's review against another edition
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Homophobia
Moderate: Islamophobia and Fatphobia
tahsintries's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Islamophobia, Racism, Abandonment, and Homophobia
freckled_frog_boi's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book was - eh - alright.
It was a great book idea - with gay and bi rep, a Muslim Pakistani-British love interest, poc characters, and a few convos abt male body image - but overall, the writing reminds me of bad fanfic.
It was very character-driven, which was weird cuz the character development really sucked. The deep realizations were not new to the characters and were super basic.
Many side characters fit into stereotypes like poetic gay, mean asshole friend, meaner bully, rude teammates, The Hispanic Dude (literally 99% of his lines are just cursing in Spanish) - and the only girl is a pick-me. Please make the characters well-rounded if you were to write a book detailing the intricacies of a soccer team's inner relationships. It makes for a crappy story otherwise.
Many side characters fit into stereotypes like poetic gay, mean asshole friend, meaner bully, rude teammates, The Hispanic Dude (literally 99% of his lines are just cursing in Spanish) - and the only girl is a pick-me. Please make the characters well-rounded if you were to write a book detailing the intricacies of a soccer team's inner relationships. It makes for a crappy story otherwise.
A lot of the writing is disjointed (we never hear why he calls his mom by her first name, for one teeny tiny example - no spoilers). Nothing is truly explained - there's an argument at the end between two teams, and it's never explained why the fuck that happened, and nothing is impacted by that happening; it's just there. So I'll be honest, the humor feels like it’s slapped in and just isn’t funny. (~"someone should make a hashtag about how math sucks"~ ??)
The romance seems very sex-appeal-based, and the chemistry just doesn't seem to be there. Instead of being made to feel like they are definitely in love, we are just told that they are. I wasn’t rooting for them, really. I guess it felt more like a hook-up than a potential long-term relationship. I also think it's weird to have the MC focus on the fact that the love interest was so small and cute when he’s a grown dude. Felt a bit fetish-y to me, idk.
My best advice is if you want an amazing gay-sports book, read The Foxhole Court. (honestly this feels like a fanfic based off of it tbh, you won't miss anything) <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Islamophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit
Minor: Religious bigotry and Panic attacks/disorders
tieflingreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Homophobia
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Islamophobia and Acephobia/Arophobia
reading_isalifestyle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
This was a super easy binge-able read! I relate to many of the characters, they are also super realistic to teenagers in the modern day and age.
I can’t tell you how many times I belly laughed during this book. The slow burn AHHHH YESSS
I never knew how much I liked childhood friends to strangers to rivals to lovers till now.
However I didn’t like how Grey was one of those type of sports girls that reject any kind of femininity towards themselves (it’s obviously ok not to be feminine but I didn’t like how it was portrayed in this book).
But toward the end it died off and she was just Grey, none of that stuff.
So yeah that’s all lol, 4/5
I can’t tell you how many times I belly laughed during this book. The slow burn AHHHH YESSS
I never knew how much I liked childhood friends to strangers to rivals to lovers till now.
However I didn’t like how Grey was one of those type of sports girls that reject any kind of femininity towards themselves (it’s obviously ok not to be feminine but I didn’t like how it was portrayed in this book).
But toward the end it died off and she was just Grey, none of that stuff.
So yeah that’s all lol, 4/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Islamophobia
rimreads's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Racism