TITLE: Whatever Life Throws at You
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
RATING:
Life loves a good curveball…
Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher.
But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.
But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…
Review:
I don’t usually read books like Whatever Life Throws at You – it’s a mix of YA and NA, but I’m really glad I did anyway. I REALLY enjoyed reading. I spent the whole day reading it when I should have been cramming for the PSAT (an official standardized test in the US) that I had the next day. But, no matter how much I liked it, there were some things I didn’t like so much.
I felt like the book sometimes skimmed through the details. You get an idea of what happened, but not the specifics of how or why so it felt like there were some plot holes. Also, the book ended way too quickly. The pacing was fine but I wish the story was longer. Not to mention, while the epilogue was… satisfying, I felt it wasn’t enough. I WANT MORE, for crying out loud!! Julie Cross, I demand request a sequel or spin off!
But that’s about it, when it comes to things I didn’t like about Whatever Life Throws at You. I liked the fact that even though baseball plays a major role in the book, you only need a general knowledge of it in order to understand what’s happening. That being said, without the basic understanding, you probably will be feeling a bit clueless the whole novel. You don’t need to be a fan of baseball to love it, though. Personally, I don’t enjoy watching it (one game takes way too long), but Whatever Life Throws at You still made me interested in the sport.
I also really liked the characters and watching them grow in the novel. I really liked Annie’s personality and her morals. However, I think that sometimes she lacked a bit of… common sense. There were times where I face palmed myself and just wanted to grab and shake some sense into her… literally and figuratively. Not to mention the romance was so so good. Another thing I liked was whether it was complicated love (sigh -__-), parental and family issues, or even carving a new identity and taking a stand, the characters all went through some sort of struggle that a lot of other people could learn from. The humor in the novel was nice too, and it lightened some more serious and depressing parts of the book. It had me smiling and laughing which, of course, earned me some weird looks from some people, but it was all worth it.
In Conclusion…
Whatever Life Throws at You was a fantastic read that kept me turning page after page and hoping it would never end. You don’t really need to like or have a lot of knowledge of baseball to enjoy this book (thankfully). The characters, along with the romance and humor are what made the book so awesome for me. I really hope there’ll be a sequel or at least a spin off.
| Final Rating | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Pacing |  |
| Plot | |
| Romance | |
| Writing | |
| Overall: | 4.7 |
Leave a Reply