Starting the Next Chapter: Review

by Miranda Kenneally
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Date of Publication: December 2011
Format: ARC
Pages: 281
Source: giveaway

From Goodreads:

ONE OF THE BOYS

What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Greeen moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?

After winning this ARC, I put it with other books I hadn't yet read and didn't think much of it. Then one day I decide to weed out some books I didn't want for one of my own giveaways and didn't know if I should keep it. I decided the best way to figure that out was to read a little bit of it and see how I felt. And...

I read the whole thing in one sitting. Yeah, you read that right. One sitting. One night. Something I haven't done in a very, very long time. And for the record, that paragraph summary up there doesn't do the book justice.

This being a contemporary novel, it is important the writing makes everything about the story feel real. Kenneally did this with ease. The words flowed naturally, including dialogue. There was some course language, but it wasn't overwhelming and it fit the characters (who were teenage football players for the most part) and the struggles Jordan was going through. I also loved how the words gave the book the proper atmosphere. Having played sports for a Tennessee high school, it all meshed with my memories of how things felt and sounded.

Speaking of Tennessee, I loved having my home state as the setting. It was fun because even though Kenneally didn't go into super-detail with the descriptions (fine by me), all of the locations formed easily in my mind. This story would be a perfect television show or movie because it was that easy to visualize.

I also was very happy that Kenneally included the disparity of status often seen in Tennessee. There are lots of rich people and poor people and in-between people, sometimes living on the same street. Even though that exists most places, I felt like this was something Kenneally didn't have to mention much in the story if she didn't want to, but I was glad that she did because it did paint a much more realistic picture. I have read stories where the main character lives comfortably but then gawks at a mansion or where a character is destitute, but having these details as part of the setting, not just facts on a character sheet, really stood out.

The characters in Catching Jordan also felt realistic. Jordan herself is a driven girl with big goals. I liked her attitude and her loyalty to her team. She is a strong leader and her friendships with her teammates were genuine. She wanted to be a good leader for them and they were all protective of her, not just because she was a girl, but because she was their captain and they respected her.

Jordan's personal growth in the novel made her even more likable. A lot of it had to do with her walking the line between being a football player and being a girl and realizing she could (and should) be both without compromising the other. Since Jordan's best friends were all guys (I loved JJ and Carter, by the way), it was also good to see Jordan learn that not all girls are backstabbers and gossips and she can have loyal friends that don't play football. And tt was nice that she not only recognized this, but acted on it.

Jordan's family was also great. I loved the family dynamics and how it was dysfunctional but close. It seemed like I could know this family and it worked so well in the story. Jordan wasn't like the typical YA protagonist that just obviously loves her family and says so, but Jordan's actions and choices reflected her feelings.

The love interests in this were good too. I felt bad for Ty because I could really understand his character. As a person struggling to get by and helping take care of family members due to medical issues, I know exactly how difficult life can be and how whacky it can make you. The kindness of Jordan's family toward him really made me happy because sometimes it is so hard to let others know what you are dealing with and when someone offers to help you, it can be life-changing.

As for Henry, I liked Henry right off the bat. He was expressive and quirky and funny and just so...Henry. He and Jordan had a really special bond you couldn't help but love. BUT, and this is a big but, when I think about his antics with girls throughout the entirety of the novel, it bothers me. Jordan didn't seem to care that he was sleeping around and often joked about it (except for one point where his late nights were upsetting her as a captain because she didn't want his lack of sleep to affect the team).

But in one scene, three girls that Henry has liked, has dated, or has fooled around with are talking in the same room together and not one of them seems weirded out that all three of them have somehow been involved with Henry. That was the only thing that seemed off in the entire story. Maybe if they hadn't been talking about Henry at the time, it wouldn't have bothered me but a couple of the girls were trying to help the other one with Henry, and I found that odd. I've actually experienced the same thing (knowing two girls who dated one of my boyfriends all while we were in high school together), but we never talked about him with each other because it was weird.

Anyway, when I think about Henry's good qualities and his faults together, he seems to me like a great guy that did everything wrong. He messes up a lot throughout the novel, from his antics to his mood swings to his outbursts. I think he figures all that out about himself by the end, so at least there's that. But his loyalty and feelings for Jordan were completely authentic and I loved their friendship and the silly things they did together. For Jordan to ignore his antics wasn't completely out of the question because they were best friends for ten years, so she saw a lot more to him than his faults, which I understand. So in the end, I still like Henry.

There were some other things in Catching Jordan that I enjoyed. First, the chapter subtitles. Not only did each chapter have a title pertaining to something that happened in the chapter, but most also had a subtitle. For about half of the book, they were countdowns to Jordan's college visit to her dream school. I liked this because as an aspiring author, I always read about high stakes for a character, and these subtitles reminded me about Jordan's goal and really helped me get in her head, making the stakes feel higher and more important.

Second, Jordan starts some creative writing during her story, and the novel is peppered with poetry relating to what is going on in her life. The poems are fun and I loved how it broke up the normal narrative. Again, this brought me more into Jordan's mind and I loved it.

Third, this novel being set in Tennessee and having to do with sports, it was fun to see the names of the teams Jordan was playing. Even if those high schools don't actually exist, I knew where the towns and counties were, so it was like reading a story about a real girl who lives in my state. It was just cool and gave the story another reason to feel real.

Overall, Catching Jordan is a realistic and fun novel about a girl fighting for her dreams and learning what is really important in life. Even if you don't care about football or sports in general, everyone can relate to Jordan's struggles and triumphs. This novel has lots of heart and will keep you turning the pages and rooting for Jordan all the way.