Throw Like a Girl
Author: Sarah Henning Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Release Date: January 7th 2020
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: 2/5
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Friday Night Lights meets Morgan Matson’s The Unexpected Everything in this contemporary debut where swoon-worthy romance meets underdog sports story.
When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she’ll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched… Every. Single. Day.
Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he’ll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the Spring. But it will take more than the perfect spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland’s halls, and behind that charming smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all.
With well-drawn characters and a charming quarterback love interest who’s got brains as well as brawn, Throw Like a Girl will have readers swooning from the very first page.
my review
I received a free copy for an honest review.
You know the book is bad when I had started regret reading this book one chapter in (to be honest it’s more like half a chapter, but I rounded it up just for the sake of accuracy).
I was starting to have a bad feeling since the very beginning, but I still forced myself to read at least 3 chapters to make sure that I am no longer physically able to tolerate it.
I’m not shy about my enjoyment of pleasure reads, so this book’s generic story-line is not the problem. There are mountains of books that have stereotypical story-lines but it is still fun to read. But here’s the thing – those books are still good – Really good actually. That’s because even those story-lines are generic, they are written in a non-cringy and awkward narrative, making it very entertaining and actually NOT painful to read (emphasize on painful).
Also, what is the deal with Liv? Last time I checked, she is in high school – (almost graduating if I remember correctly, she’s a senior or junior?). So can someone please explain to me why her narration sounds exactly like it’s straight out of a middle school novel? I came into this book never expecting it to even be the best book I’ve read this week, but it still managed to take my expectations and smack me across the face with it.
This book genuinely feels like a BADLY written fan-fiction. There are really good writers of fan-fiction (especially on Wattpad), so I hope this comparison can give you a sort of idea what it’s like reading this book.
Trying to get into the relationship is also like trying to force a square cube into a hole. It’s that physically awkward feeling when you are trying to force something in and it just doesn’t work.
I saw this book had less than four star-rating on Goodreads so I have my guards up, but holy crap it was so much worse than I thought. In a really twisted way, I’m almost impressed. I guess I am just going through too much shock right now.
about the author
Sarah Henning is a recovering journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star and Associated Press, among others. While in South Florida, Sarah lived and worked through five hurricanes, which gave her an extreme respect for the ocean. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids and hangs out with her husband Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Sarah lives in Lawrence, Kansas, which, despite being extremely far from the beach, happens to be pretty cool.