A review by amysideris
The Cactus League by Emily Nemens

3.0

Mixed feelings about this one. I liked the multiple-POV structure, each character took on life and expanded the world. The story managed to feel cohesive in spite of switching focus from character to character. What didn’t work for me were two things: (1) the story would grind to a halt at the opening to each chapter to slog through a rambling tortured metaphor of a prehistoric civilization as a baseball franchise in the voice of a discarded old-guard sportswriter and (2) the abrupt ending. If there’s any point to having this detached omniscient narrator it seems like it would be to wrap up the story into some kind of conclusion, but the book builds toward a climax and then just... stops.

It’s good but ultimately frustrating because I think it could’ve been so much better without the frills.