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A review by bookishmillennial
How You Get The Girl by Anita Kelly
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? No
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
I adored Julie and Elle’s sports romance with a bit of workplace romance (since they end up coaching together!) & “it’s-just-for-practice” — suuuuure Jan! 😊
It’s been eight years since Elle’s infamous departure from the WNBA, after being the shining star of UT (University of Tennessee), and she is now the foster parent of her niece Vanessa, while her cousin Karly takes care of a few things. Elle enrolls Vanessa into Julie’s East Nashville High Bobcats basketball program so she had an extra curricular activity to participate in after school, since Elle’s work in medical billing at Vanderbilt University kept her from picking Vanessa up at 3pm. The CPS employee advised Elle to keep a close eye on Vanessa, as she is deemed a flight risk during the beginning of this foster period. Elle has also been navigating migraines, and unfortunately, her meetcute with Julie ends with one🥺
I really appreciated the nuance with which Elle’s experience of being a foster parent is highlighted; Elle clearly rooted for Karly, yet still held space for grief when reckoning with the fact that Vanessa, a kid she deeply loves and cares for, will not always be living with her or under her care. The foster care system has a lot of work to do, but I felt that AK handled this topic in the book with much grace, care, and the nuance it deserves.
On the other hand, Julie has been grappling with her own purpose in life; she adores coaching this high school basketball team, but her day job of alumni relations at Vanderbilt seems to only suck joy and energy out of her. Julie has also watched her loved ones accomplish such exciting things, like London going on a food competition tv show & meeting Dahlia, or Ben hiking the Pacific Crest Trail & meeting Alexei, his long distance boyfriend. Julie is happy for them, but can’t help but notice she is no longer the first one either of them come to for any big news anymore.
Julie is wrestling with her own sexuality and feelings of incompetency and shame around her lack of experience with romance and sex. She desperately wants to *know* herself, but labels don’t fit quite right. I thought this journey of exploration was illustrated so lovingly and realistically! Goofy side note: when Julie describes only ever being attracted to Elle Cochrane and Manny Jacinto from The Good Place, I nearly lost it with delight and giddiness. That’s a perfectly valid sexuality babe! I GET IT 🤤
I find the plotline of “I’ll help you practice being romantic or sexual” to be absolutely hilarious! I eat it up every time because I am sitting here like giggling and kicking my feet into the air calling them “silly goofy babies” hahaha. You two have sizzling hot chemistry, are clearly deeply invested in the other’s welfare, and have so much fun together; but sure, it’s just to help and to practice 🫡 This was written perfectly and I loved these two stumbling their way towards the inevitable epiphanies that this was indeed not just practice, and instead, was the real spankin’ deal!
The lil epilogue was a beautiful way to tie things up for our three favorite couples and their happily for nows🥹 I really would love to see this group of characters featured on a sitcom! They’re so precious, relatable, and goofy. I love them your honor!
steam rating: 3/5
I adored Julie and Elle’s sports romance with a bit of workplace romance (since they end up coaching together!) & “it’s-just-for-practice” — suuuuure Jan! 😊
It’s been eight years since Elle’s infamous departure from the WNBA, after being the shining star of UT (University of Tennessee), and she is now the foster parent of her niece Vanessa, while her cousin Karly takes care of a few things. Elle enrolls Vanessa into Julie’s East Nashville High Bobcats basketball program so she had an extra curricular activity to participate in after school, since Elle’s work in medical billing at Vanderbilt University kept her from picking Vanessa up at 3pm. The CPS employee advised Elle to keep a close eye on Vanessa, as she is deemed a flight risk during the beginning of this foster period. Elle has also been navigating migraines, and unfortunately, her meetcute with Julie ends with one🥺
I really appreciated the nuance with which Elle’s experience of being a foster parent is highlighted; Elle clearly rooted for Karly, yet still held space for grief when reckoning with the fact that Vanessa, a kid she deeply loves and cares for, will not always be living with her or under her care. The foster care system has a lot of work to do, but I felt that AK handled this topic in the book with much grace, care, and the nuance it deserves.
On the other hand, Julie has been grappling with her own purpose in life; she adores coaching this high school basketball team, but her day job of alumni relations at Vanderbilt seems to only suck joy and energy out of her. Julie has also watched her loved ones accomplish such exciting things, like London going on a food competition tv show & meeting Dahlia, or Ben hiking the Pacific Crest Trail & meeting Alexei, his long distance boyfriend. Julie is happy for them, but can’t help but notice she is no longer the first one either of them come to for any big news anymore.
Julie is wrestling with her own sexuality and feelings of incompetency and shame around her lack of experience with romance and sex. She desperately wants to *know* herself, but labels don’t fit quite right. I thought this journey of exploration was illustrated so lovingly and realistically! Goofy side note: when Julie describes only ever being attracted to Elle Cochrane and Manny Jacinto from The Good Place, I nearly lost it with delight and giddiness. That’s a perfectly valid sexuality babe! I GET IT 🤤
I find the plotline of “I’ll help you practice being romantic or sexual” to be absolutely hilarious! I eat it up every time because I am sitting here like giggling and kicking my feet into the air calling them “silly goofy babies” hahaha. You two have sizzling hot chemistry, are clearly deeply invested in the other’s welfare, and have so much fun together; but sure, it’s just to help and to practice 🫡 This was written perfectly and I loved these two stumbling their way towards the inevitable epiphanies that this was indeed not just practice, and instead, was the real spankin’ deal!
The lil epilogue was a beautiful way to tie things up for our three favorite couples and their happily for nows🥹 I really would love to see this group of characters featured on a sitcom! They’re so precious, relatable, and goofy. I love them your honor!
steam rating: 3/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Addiction