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schnaucl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It took me a while to pin down why I wasn't enjoying the book despite the fact that it's well written. Nearly every character is miserable. Their bodies are failing them or they're getting old (nearly every adult woman is worried about aging and losing her looks, which of course, like the baseball players themselves means she's starting to be old in her 30s and 40s), or they have money problems. Many of the characters seem to only be able to think of other people as rivals (for a spot on the team or for attention or affection). There's almost no affection between any of the characters whether they're friends or lovers or teammates or spouses. Most of the spouses don't even seem to like each other all that much.
I read this book because I was trying to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for reading a book about a sport. I'm a lifelong baseball fan (I mostly follow my home team, the Seattle Mariners) and I picked up this book thinking I'd really want to go to Peoria and see Mariners Spring Training. I still do, but only because I wanted to before I started. If I didn't know anything about baseball this book would make the prospect seem bleak. Nothing about this book is going to make someone who wasn't already interested in baseball want to check it out. There's no joy here. Even the players who are in their first Spring Training in the major leagues are too worried about being cut to enjoy any of it. No one feels joy at hitting a home run or making a spectacular catch or pitching a scoreless inning or striking out a tough batter. No one seems at all excited about the opening of a new season. (It's a little hard to tell how good the Lions are supposed to be. They sort of strike me as about where the Mariners have been most of their existence. A middling team with one really good player). I get that for most the people in the novel it's a job, and who among us goes joyfully to work every day? But you can tell when the players are enjoying the game or at the very least have a sense of satisfaction.
I was hoping to feel even more excited about baseball and instead the whole thing seemed very depressing.
I wondered if the author was a fan of the Mariners since they seemed to turn up a little more than other teams, but I thought it was also possible that I just noticed it more when they were mentioned since they're my team, but the author's note does mention attending Mariner games.
Minor: Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Drug use
cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is not a novel. It's a string of character studies passed off as short stories in a novel trenchcoat. I can explain the plot in a sentence:
I love ensemble casts, I love a lot of sports fiction, and I enjoy baseball, which is why I picked this up. The writing is beautiful. The characters are real, tangible, stand off the page. But there is no... point to reading this book about them. The subtleties are expertly crafted and conveyed, but ultimately remain too subtle; each and every character in this book has a story to tell, but the narrative dances around them. There is only ever a hint of something interesting happening in the background, in the past, under the surface.
My greatest annoyance with this work was the lack of passion. Sports are a fertile breeding ground for passion - in the stands, on the field, in the locker room. And this narrative stole none of the passion for itself. You're reading about a gambling addiction, a strain for a place on the team, a desperate cling to a fading physicality, a baseball kink - and it all reads as dry as a grocery list.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Sexism
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Infidelity, Body shaming, Sexism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Sexual content
detailed depiction of discovering squatters after returning home from vacation and resulting falloutcaitlinjadams's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
One star because I did finish it, but I can’t recommend it.
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Sexism, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity and Sexual content
Child neglect, gambling, unhousedjazhandz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexism, and Addiction
Gambling problem/addiction The sexism/homophobia are recurring throughout the book. The colonization is a casual discussion of the history of native peoples in Arizona, entirely in the interstitial sections. Alcohol is most notably in Second (the Tami chapter) and addiction is entirely in Fifth (the Greg chapter).heyitsflipper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The book is separated into nine chapters - or innings - and each chapter has an introduction from the book's narrator, a sportscaster. Each inning focuses on a new character, but all the characters are part of the Los Angeles Lions outfielder Jason Goodyear's world. He's the character that ties every other character's story together and he shows up in some way throughout the book. The Cactus League is a book full of the secrets we try to hide - addictive feelings (gambling and drugs are mentioned), unworthiness in relationships, fear of failure, medical diagnoses we aren't quite sure how to deal with - you see the gambit throughout the different characters' stories. In end, I enjoyed this book because it's a reminder that professional athletes are human beings too and have personal struggles that we don't always see. And through the stories of the other characters, it was a reminder of you never know what someone else is going through and dealing with.
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
zworlund's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Fatphobia
Depictions of children in poverty which some may not be ready for.