Reviews

The premise of Playing for Keeps excited me as a baseball fan. Sapphic authors have only just started tapping into the potential of sports romance so I was pumped to see a big name author like Jennifer diving into the genre. Unfortunately, this ended up being a total train wreck.

I honestly think that with some restructuring this could have been a sold contemporary novel. I really liked June and Ivy as individual characters and their struggles with their families/ dreams were the most interesting parts of this book. However, not even once did I buy into the romance. They were a toxic incompatible mess, completely underdeveloped and simply lackluster in execution. It felt like we skimmed over the actually falling in love moments in favor of all the fights. We were never given the chance to become invested in their romance to help weather the rough patches. Instead, I was actively begging them to break up and go their separate ways.

It was really annoying how Ivy’s storyline took the back burner to June’s, especially since June’s issues dominating their relationship was one of the major conflicts of the book. I love flawed messy characters, and if this was a contemporary novel then I would have loved delving more into June’s characterization. But because this is a romance novel her issues simply overshadowed the romance and Ivy. Super bummed by this one.

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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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

3.0

This is a cute teen sports romance, with an angle I don't think I've seen in a teen sports book before (one of the characters wants to be a professional game official). However, it is billed as rivals to lovers, but not a lot of time is spent on that aspect of the book. I do wish we had a bit more time with that rivalry before it jumped to their relationship.

Their relationship did feel realistic for teenagers though, and some of the side characters added to the overall story. I think just having a bit more time with the romance/relationship would have made it an overall stronger book.

Content Warnings

magnolia_reading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

It was more of an emotional, pull at your heartstrings YA romance. It was also a bit slower on the pace BUT I think it was appropriate for the emotional things the characters were going through. 4 ⭐️ 1🌶️

alidy's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

grosswitch's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

jfhobbit's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

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