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I gave this three stars because it is quick read and I like Cleave's style. What kept it from being 4 stars was my ambivalence about the two main characters. Kate is a bit too much of a milquetoast to be a believable star athlete, too forgiving of the outrages that Zoe heaps on her, even after they're supposedly 'friends.' She worries too much, cries too much, and is far too insecure. Still, I found myself rooting for her because she was so unlike Zoe.
Zoe is thoroughly unlikeable. Even her backstory didn't serve to change my opinion. She was a little too much a female version of Lance Armstrong, without the performance-enhancing drugs. Zoe hurts people, literally, to get ahead. In particular, she hurts Kate. To be fair, so does Jack, Kate's husband, another driven, immature, self-involved cyclist. The difference between him and Zoe is that many of Jack's mistakes are just that - errors in judgement rather than calculated attempts to undermine someone.
The only really likable characters: the women's coach, Tom, a former Olympian who has his own less-than-stellar past and Sophie, Kate and Jack's daughter, who copes with her reoccurring leukemia by building her Star Wars fantasy world.
Zoe is thoroughly unlikeable. Even her backstory didn't serve to change my opinion. She was a little too much a female version of Lance Armstrong, without the performance-enhancing drugs. Zoe hurts people, literally, to get ahead. In particular, she hurts Kate. To be fair, so does Jack, Kate's husband, another driven, immature, self-involved cyclist. The difference between him and Zoe is that many of Jack's mistakes are just that - errors in judgement rather than calculated attempts to undermine someone.
The only really likable characters: the women's coach, Tom, a former Olympian who has his own less-than-stellar past and Sophie, Kate and Jack's daughter, who copes with her reoccurring leukemia by building her Star Wars fantasy world.