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A review by okeeffea
Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery
3.0
From a Formula 1 fans perspective, this book wasn’t awful. There were some situations and scenarios that were, or were pushing, unrealistic. The author seemed to have a sense of how race weeks work, the order of the races, and the involvement of the race teams. As well as differences in cars and all the behind the scenes work that goes into a race. While she clearly lacked knowledge about precursor series, constantly naming what one can presume Formula 2, as “the lower category”. This really irritated me throughout the book, but someone who isn’t reading for the sole aspect of it being about racing, probably wouldn’t mind.
I did enjoy how the drivers engineers, PR managers, and team principal and got to have characters. It definitely indulged the story into the sport. While we meet characters on other teams, Johannes, Yorris (which sounds suspiciously close to Norris), and the “Swedes”, there wasn’t much world building. There’s 5 other drivers and 3 other teams mentioned. We never even learn the Swedes surname, and while we can see Yorris is just a respectable guy, he’s really just there to show there’s a competition. Johannes is his own character and has more of a plot arc. It also mentions the existence of the teams Redbull, Ferrari, and McLaren, as well as the existence of Fernando Alonso, who was implied to still be in the sport. I would’ve been fine with Ferrari in the store, as they’ve been in F1 for its entirety but I would’ve liked to see some more originality for the other teams.
Even if I was reading it for the driving and cars I didn’t mind the romance. The character perspectives could feel long and boring, but I didn’t hate them. They even grew on my towards the end. I also found it entertaining, even if it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, or what I normally read, the book itself was enjoyable. There were sex scenes, but few and I skipped those and never found myself confused about what was happening.
I did enjoy how the drivers engineers, PR managers, and team principal and got to have characters. It definitely indulged the story into the sport. While we meet characters on other teams, Johannes, Yorris (which sounds suspiciously close to Norris), and the “Swedes”, there wasn’t much world building. There’s 5 other drivers and 3 other teams mentioned. We never even learn the Swedes surname, and while we can see Yorris is just a respectable guy, he’s really just there to show there’s a competition. Johannes is his own character and has more of a plot arc. It also mentions the existence of the teams Redbull, Ferrari, and McLaren, as well as the existence of Fernando Alonso, who was implied to still be in the sport. I would’ve been fine with Ferrari in the store, as they’ve been in F1 for its entirety but I would’ve liked to see some more originality for the other teams.
Even if I was reading it for the driving and cars I didn’t mind the romance. The character perspectives could feel long and boring, but I didn’t hate them. They even grew on my towards the end. I also found it entertaining, even if it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, or what I normally read, the book itself was enjoyable. There were sex scenes, but few and I skipped those and never found myself confused about what was happening.