Reviews with content warning for Car accident - The Prospects

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The Prospects by KT Hoffman

36 reviews

pantslint's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

4.0

What a sweet (and spicy!) love story. I can really tell just how much the author loves baseball—the dialogue feels so real and sounds just like the things the baseball-loving people in my life would say (e.g. getting beaned by a pitch).
It's a feel-good, optimistic vision of sports, queer identities, and male friendship/brotherhood. Thank goodness they communicate. I loved it.

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suzecluez's review

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emotional inspiring fast-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

Only the second romance I've read with a trans main character. Super sweet, I loved the love interest and the trans/queer joy. There's some steam and a lot of sweetness.

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btwnprintedpgs's review

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funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

3.5

The Prospects has so much heart to it, as well as a lot of trans and queer joy!

I'll start off saying that baseball is not my sport. There's a lot of story that goes into that and I was not there for it, but I did learn a thing or two. I loved Gene and Luis's love for the sport though. Seeing them sync up their playing with each other and slowly open up to one another was endearing and heartwarming and I appreciated seeing that relationship grow.

There were a few things in the book that I wasn't a fan of. First off, Luis's magical ever allowed dog, Dodger, is literally everywhere with them including hotels, people's houses, planes, ubers, restaurants, etc. I'm all for accessibility, but there is no world in which an emotional support dog is so ubiquitously accepted. I don't know if this was a dream scenario type thing, but I was surprised to see that there were never any hoops that they needed to jump through (or even permission asked) for this dog to come in. I also didn't love that we never really found out why they didn't like each other to start. Like what made they so abrasive at the beginning?? That never really felt resolved for me.

Otherwise, this book is pure joy and love and acceptance of self, I adored the characters and the stories and they chased their dreams, accepted their realities, and found success and happiness at the end of the day. This book is so important as there is so much self-love and acceptance in it that I feel like it can really help people understand that their body is okay, who they are is okay, and that was the real beauty of this story.

Rep: Trans gay MC with ADHD; gay MC with anxiety and mild paralysis; queer side characters

TW: transphobia, homophobia, bullying, panic attack, injury (sports related); mentions car accident

ARC gifted by Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.

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hedonsgaybookshelf's review

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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

Too much technical baseball stuff for me, but can’t fault it because that’s what it says on the tin. Pleasantly surprised with good mental health and trans rep; the intimacy and vanilla sex were lovely and hot and realistic (as a transmasc reader). Sometimes feels like a checklist of diverse rep across all the side characters, but maybe that’s just realistic and I overall don’t think I mind it. Loved Luis’ character especially. Overall, I thought it was cute and funny and fine, a queer romance that’s accessible for mainstream.

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

This was the book club’s pick of the month for June. We went with an LGBT book for the month with it being Pride month and I enjoyed this book but some of the baseball analogy confused me a bit.

This book is about Gene Lonescu and he is content to play in the minor leagues. He's seen teammates get their big breaks, but as a gay trans man in the world of competitive baseball, he’s unlikely to share the same destiny. When Gene’s long-time rival, Luis Estrada, is unexpectedly drafted onto Gene’s team, everything changes. Luis is standoffish, talented and inconveniently gorgeous, and – to add insult to injury – his arrival puts Gene’s role on the pitch in jeopardy. This means war. The two men can barely get through a game together and the whole team suffers. But when Luis surprises Gene with a softer side to his haughty demeanour, Gene offers an olive branch. Soon they discover that their chemistry on the pitch might lead them all the way to the playoffs. And their chemistry off the pitch . . . well, that could be enough to change the game forever.

I thought this book was so sweet. This was the first book I’d read that had trans man and a trans love story and I thought it was a different but interesting read and it was so adorable. I loved the tension between Gene and Luis and how they both managed to communicate their issues. I loved the mental health aspect of it and how sports players and athletics can have anxiety and mental health issues but still be able to play at a top grade level. I am a sports fan, I follow premier league football, darts, rugby league and boxing. But I struggled with the baseball details and all the positions and the games. But I loved the teammates romance and it is very common on a female football team so I would love it to become common on male teams.

The third-act conflict annoyed me like there was no need for it. I would have loved for this to be dual POV because of Luis’s mental health and his time in Portland, I would have LOVED to hear these thoughts and how he came to the decision to quit baseball. I would have loved to see more of the public reaction to the end chapter because there was some acceptance but was there interviews? Did Gene refuse the interviews? What happened to Baker? I have more questions than answers.

Overall, I enjoyed this read I think I was just expecting or hoping for more. I might read more of K.T. Hoffman’s work if it’s in a sport I understand like a hockey or a rugby romance.

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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4.5

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aingealwroth's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Author does a good job of ensuring that while Trans-ness is a strong aspect of the book, the whole plot of the book isn't based upon it. The characters are very human and relatable. Bonus points for all the rep that organically is included in this story.
(-0.25* because I don't actually like sports, this usually would be a -0.5* but the author also does a really good job of infusing the POV with the character's own love of it.)

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arlaubscher's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

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takarakeireads's review

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hopeful 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

4.5

trans MC
gay couple
panic attack/adhd rep
Portland area setting
college friends/teammates to rivals* to current teammates/friends to lovers

*keep in mind I say 'rivals' here for lack of a better term. The two MCs fall out of touch in college and upon coming back in contact years later Gene our MC is just a bit salty about how all that went down. He is kinda over hearing about Luis' semi successful career. Any 'rivalry' is totally one-sided is what I mean lol

I know for sure if I actually cared even a smidge about baseball this book would've completely knocked my socks off. Alas I am decidedly not a baseball fan - BUT this was still such a good read! On audio the baseball parts reminded me of listening to games on the radio as a child. I just kinda let the baseball parts wash over me lol [also note the audio narration is by a trans narrator!]

This book is also set in Portland area (where I live) in like an alternate reality where pdx has a MLB team and a minor league team. It was nice to read a reality in which a trans person is out and playing baseball (and there is not too much pushback about that). Gene and Luis are just two sweethearts and I love them so much. The representation in this book is just so well done. These are characters with so much depth and nuance, which made them feel supremely real. What a fantastic debut novel! I will def be looking for more from this author!

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notsobinaryart's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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