Scan barcode
A review by chelcie
Unwritten Rules by KD Casey
Holy moly I loved it! I’m not a baseball fan. In fact, my spouse has banned me from going to games at Fenway because tickets are too damn expensive for me to get bored and pull out my Kindle.
Still, I loved this story. And I found the baseball setting compelling because it was more than mere backdrop. As I read, I went down many rabbit holes about what pitch framing is, how bullpen norms have changed over time, why catchers are likely to become coaches, and unionizing the minors. To be clear—you absolutely don’t have to have any idea what pitch framing is to appreciate the hotttttt teaching-tricky-professional-skill-as-reason-for-MCs-to-touch-each-other sequence. It’s just that these characters and setting are so vividly realized that my longtime aversion to watching baseball was reset. I became curious again.
What will stay with me the longest is the yearning tone, from the perspective of Zach, the main character, who feels deeply, but fundamentally doesn’t believe he can have love and intimacy while playing baseball. Whereas Eugenio continually offers a refrain of gentle affirmation: Yes, it’s okay to say we’re together because we are together. Yes, it’s okay to hope for more because I want more. At the same time, by a certain point Eugenio’s needs aren’t being met, so the arc of the second chance romance narrative is about Zach doing the work of moving toward being in right relationship. This is a book about what we owe our romantic and sexual partners, our family members, our friends, and our employers, and what they owe us — the webs of mutual obligation that shape our communities.
When I finished, I cried. I texted like 5 people to be like “read this now; I’ll wait.” I immediately turned back to the beginning and began reading over again. And I bought tickets to see our minor league affiliate play.
Still, I loved this story. And I found the baseball setting compelling because it was more than mere backdrop. As I read, I went down many rabbit holes about what pitch framing is, how bullpen norms have changed over time, why catchers are likely to become coaches, and unionizing the minors. To be clear—you absolutely don’t have to have any idea what pitch framing is to appreciate the hotttttt teaching-tricky-professional-skill-as-reason-for-MCs-to-touch-each-other sequence. It’s just that these characters and setting are so vividly realized that my longtime aversion to watching baseball was reset. I became curious again.
What will stay with me the longest is the yearning tone, from the perspective of Zach, the main character, who feels deeply, but fundamentally doesn’t believe he can have love and intimacy while playing baseball. Whereas Eugenio continually offers a refrain of gentle affirmation: Yes, it’s okay to say we’re together because we are together. Yes, it’s okay to hope for more because I want more. At the same time, by a certain point Eugenio’s needs aren’t being met, so the arc of the second chance romance narrative is about Zach doing the work of moving toward being in right relationship. This is a book about what we owe our romantic and sexual partners, our family members, our friends, and our employers, and what they owe us — the webs of mutual obligation that shape our communities.
When I finished, I cried. I texted like 5 people to be like “read this now; I’ll wait.” I immediately turned back to the beginning and began reading over again. And I bought tickets to see our minor league affiliate play.