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what_leah_reads 's review for:
In the Penalty Box
by Kelly Anne Blount, Lynn Rush
It has been a long time since I’ve picked up a YA sports romance and the young teenager that lives deep inside was very excited about this one.
While much of the plot was predictable, I did like the flair that the authors were able to add to the story line. I loved how Willow never shied away from a challenge and always spoke her mind. It is nice to see a female lead in a YA book stand up for herself in front of a group of boys. I liked that the hockey/skating and romance aspects of this book had equal representation. I feel this will connect to a wider range of YA readers making this book more accessible. While largely a sports romance, I liked the fact that the primary and secondary characters all had different home lives, some more complex than others. This provides readers a larger opportunity to connect with characters on a deeper and more meaningful level.
While there were so many things this book did well, I did find that at times the dialogue wasn’t always the most believable, especially as someone who works with teenagers on a daily basis. I also wish more time had been devoted to Pax coming around to having Willow on the team. I think it's important for teens to see the growth in the antagonists, and I don’t know that we got that in this story.
Overall a great read that I think will appeal to many of my students and I plan to add it to our library collection!
Thank you to Entangled Teen for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.
While much of the plot was predictable, I did like the flair that the authors were able to add to the story line. I loved how Willow never shied away from a challenge and always spoke her mind. It is nice to see a female lead in a YA book stand up for herself in front of a group of boys. I liked that the hockey/skating and romance aspects of this book had equal representation. I feel this will connect to a wider range of YA readers making this book more accessible. While largely a sports romance, I liked the fact that the primary and secondary characters all had different home lives, some more complex than others. This provides readers a larger opportunity to connect with characters on a deeper and more meaningful level.
While there were so many things this book did well, I did find that at times the dialogue wasn’t always the most believable, especially as someone who works with teenagers on a daily basis. I also wish more time had been devoted to Pax coming around to having Willow on the team. I think it's important for teens to see the growth in the antagonists, and I don’t know that we got that in this story.
Overall a great read that I think will appeal to many of my students and I plan to add it to our library collection!
Thank you to Entangled Teen for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review.