A review by thespicyshybrarian
Scoring the Player by Kit Grey

emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

“When I dream of his face
My soul gasps awake”

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5

High-angst stories often fall into two categories for me: corny/predictable/meh or earth-shatteringly profound. I rarely encounter the latter. This week alone, I’ve read two, both by the incredibly talented Kit Grey.

To alter my brain chemistry, I need to see and feel the characters’ humanity, flaws and all. I want to dive so deep into their psyche it’s almost uncomfortable. Unreliable narrators? Required. Because angsty characters are always broken in some way, and that means they make terrible decisions sometimes. To be believable, they have to be layered, willing to grow, and true to themselves.

Kit Grey writes the most believable romance stories I’ve ever read. I could feel Arnaz’s tension and pain, his fragile hope. Reading from his POV in the difficult moments twisted me up inside just as much as the positivity lightened every part of me. He wasn’t easy to understand at first, but the more his layers were peeled away, the more I appreciated his multitudes.

“I’d sip battery acid before I admit to my quiet awe of watching Salem be a human.” 

And Salem? I don’t know that I’ve ever met a more swoon-worthy MC. A dog dad who loves to bake, cook, and ball, who dresses impeccably, is devoted to after care, and whose love language is acts of service? Yes. Please.

“He isn’t the type of man who sees the good and beauty in everything, but he’ll observe a life-worn thing and sense its goodness and beauty. There is a difference.”

It was a delight to see some of the characters from Loving the Legend. While Scoring the Player can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading LTL first. It will far enrich the experience. But STP is a different beast in some ways. Grey’s writing is clearly evolving, with more emotion, variations in pace, and additional POVs. It makes for an even richer, more impactful reading experience. Which is saying a lot, given what an incredible ride LTL was.

I don’t cry often when I read. It takes a level of connection with the characters that few authors are able to achieve, but Salem and Blue reduced me to tears near the end. In the best way.

(Oh! I almost forgot to mention the spice, which is wild because there’s no shortage of it here. No shortage of k!nk, either. These two fit together beautifully, as brutal and tender in turn as they are outside of the bedroom.)

This is a masterpiece. I loved LTL, but I loved this more. Blue and Salem carved out a little chunk out of my heart, where they’ll live for months (years?) to come.

Highly recommended for fans of Scarlett Drake, Jesse H. Reign, Emmy Sanders, and similar emotional / angsty contemporary MM romance authors.

📚Fast facts📚
✨ Pro basketball players
✨ Rivals to lovers
✨ Sports romance
✨ Dessert as a love language
✨ He has a dog!
✨ Hurt / comfort
✨ Mental health rep
✨ Healing childhood trauma
✨ Found family
✨ Very open door, k!nky
✨ Contemporary MM
✨ Standalone (second in a series)
✨ First person, dual POV, present tense

I am so grateful to the author to have received an advanced copy of this story! This is my honest and unbiased review.
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