Sarah (Escaping Through Books)

Playing Hurt

Playing Hurt - Holly Schindler I thought this was an enjoyable contemporary fiction book and I was sucked into the story quickly, but my major dislike for Chelsea, the main character, prevented me from loving this book. The story alternates between the perspectives of Chelsea, a star basketball player with an injury that kills her chance at playing at the college level, and Clint, who has stopped playing hockey because of a tragedy in his past, as they are brought together at a resort where her family is taking a summer vacation. It sounds like a very fluffy summer romance, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a light read. Both Chelsea and Clint have to overcome things in their pasts that have stunted their abilities to live freely, and they begin to heal together. I couldn't fully enjoy this book because of Chelsea's selfishness. She has a very sweet boyfriend named Gabe, and yet she feels attracted to Clint at the summer resort, which is fine.... but then she just flat out cheats on her boyfriend, which is not okay in my mind. I couldn't bring myself to like her or care that she was overcoming her fears and past because I thought she was a rotten person. I was DYING for one of the boys to just call her out on her selfishness already! It's not like the love triangles from most YA books in which the girl has two boys fighting over her and maybe she's kind of stringing along one, but she really is committed to one of the boys. No. Chelsea is a major cheater who doesn't think of how others feel and I just couldn't respect her at all. Despite my extreme dislike for Chelsea, I still did like the book and kept turning the pages quickly. I loved Clint, and since he narrated half the story, perhaps that's why I still consider it to be a good book. I'd recommend for you to pick it up if you are looking for a fast contemporary read that has depth to it. One side note: I must say that the cover for this book is one of the silliest, stupidest, covers I've ever seen and has absolutely no relevance to the story. Is that supposed to be Chelsea and Clint? The feet on the right don't even look masculine. I actually was reluctant to pick up this book because the cover is so fluffy. I'm pleased to say that the story inside is much deeper than what the cover would suggest. I realize that authors have no say in their book covers, so this part does not at all count against my rating of the book. I just felt like I had to vent about my cover hate here!