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A review by rainbowobsidian
Unwritten Rules by KD Casey
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was a softball kid, growing up. Training 2-3 nights per week, 2-3 games each weekend. My brothers played too, and complaining about dragging my two kids to soccer on Saturday mornings is the closest I come to marvelling about how my mum did the things she did when we were growing up.
If there was a baseball or softball game on telly I’d watch it. I watched my best mate’s baseball team train. I played ball until an interstate move in 2009 lead to weird rostering, then children, then it being too hard to fit into the life I had created.
I love these sports. And yet. When it comes to sports romance I have avoided baseball like the plague. For five years I have read and reread fake sports (hello exy) and ice sports (hello Ilya) but I have had a block when it came to baseball, despite @kdcaseywrites being recommended over and over again.
Last week I had an audio credit burning a hole in my pocket and I finally took a chance on Unwritten Rules. This morning I finished it, with the biggest grin on my face and the best kind of squeeze in my heart.
This book is so full of yearning that it floored me, and I was grateful for the enforced breaks that come with mostly listening on commutes. I love the way Zach and Eugenio’s relationship grew, I love the blocks they faced and understood why they faced them. This book hurt and healed so hard because of how deeply it feels steeped in reality. There’s no oblivious idiots to lovers here, there’s culture (sports, religious, societal, demographic), there’s fear, there’s growing into your integrity and your identity. There’s recognition that “fighting for what’s right” isn’t easy, and can have very real consequences, and there’s finding ways to fight anyway. Also did I mention yearning??? There’s so much fucking yearning.
Loved the time hops, loved the narration, loved imagining Eugenio’s tattoos, loved the side characters, loved getting back on the diamond after so many years away from the dugout, and LOVE the fact that I have so many more KD Casey books yet to read.
Second read, 1 month later -
Did I mention 5*?
If there was a baseball or softball game on telly I’d watch it. I watched my best mate’s baseball team train. I played ball until an interstate move in 2009 lead to weird rostering, then children, then it being too hard to fit into the life I had created.
I love these sports. And yet. When it comes to sports romance I have avoided baseball like the plague. For five years I have read and reread fake sports (hello exy) and ice sports (hello Ilya) but I have had a block when it came to baseball, despite @kdcaseywrites being recommended over and over again.
Last week I had an audio credit burning a hole in my pocket and I finally took a chance on Unwritten Rules. This morning I finished it, with the biggest grin on my face and the best kind of squeeze in my heart.
This book is so full of yearning that it floored me, and I was grateful for the enforced breaks that come with mostly listening on commutes. I love the way Zach and Eugenio’s relationship grew, I love the blocks they faced and understood why they faced them. This book hurt and healed so hard because of how deeply it feels steeped in reality. There’s no oblivious idiots to lovers here, there’s culture (sports, religious, societal, demographic), there’s fear, there’s growing into your integrity and your identity. There’s recognition that “fighting for what’s right” isn’t easy, and can have very real consequences, and there’s finding ways to fight anyway. Also did I mention yearning??? There’s so much fucking yearning.
Loved the time hops, loved the narration, loved imagining Eugenio’s tattoos, loved the side characters, loved getting back on the diamond after so many years away from the dugout, and LOVE the fact that I have so many more KD Casey books yet to read.
Second read, 1 month later -
Did I mention 5*?