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A review by shannonohannessian
Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan
3.0
2.5 stars rounded up to 3
Playing for Keeps is a YA romance following June, the only girl on her all boys baseball team, and Ivy, a former soccer player with dreams of becoming a professional referee. Ivy begins to ump for June's league and the two girls fall for each other, but rules prohibit them from dating due to a conflict of interest.
I adored that this was a YA queer romance without focus on coming out or sexuality as the main problem. Although for YA, it read more like middle grade to me. The pacing felt off as well. The girls were meant to start as enemies and it seemed like it was ramping up for an enemies to lovers story, but they got together incredibly quickly. A lot of the problems felt easily solvable
The book goes back and forth from the point of view of each of the girls but the perspectives sounded so similar it was difficult to distinguish who was meant to be telling the story. It was also hard for me to understand the motivations of the characters and the way their desires shifted quickly.
Overall, it still felt like a draft that needed to be fleshed out and developed more. It lacked a great deal of specificity. We never hear what state or city they are meant to live in. June's coach is referred to as just "Coach," never a name. It felt like still an idea of a story to me. However, this was an easy read that I'm sure would be more appreciated by its target YA audience.
Playing for Keeps comes out on April 30th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.
Playing for Keeps is a YA romance following June, the only girl on her all boys baseball team, and Ivy, a former soccer player with dreams of becoming a professional referee. Ivy begins to ump for June's league and the two girls fall for each other, but rules prohibit them from dating due to a conflict of interest.
I adored that this was a YA queer romance without focus on coming out or sexuality as the main problem. Although for YA, it read more like middle grade to me. The pacing felt off as well. The girls were meant to start as enemies and it seemed like it was ramping up for an enemies to lovers story, but they got together incredibly quickly. A lot of the problems felt easily solvable
The book goes back and forth from the point of view of each of the girls but the perspectives sounded so similar it was difficult to distinguish who was meant to be telling the story. It was also hard for me to understand the motivations of the characters and the way their desires shifted quickly.
Overall, it still felt like a draft that needed to be fleshed out and developed more. It lacked a great deal of specificity. We never hear what state or city they are meant to live in. June's coach is referred to as just "Coach," never a name. It felt like still an idea of a story to me. However, this was an easy read that I'm sure would be more appreciated by its target YA audience.
Playing for Keeps comes out on April 30th, 2024. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.