Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

This review is also posted on Incandescent.

Jordan Woods is not your average girl and she wouldn't be even if she wasn't the captain and quarterback of one of the best high-school football teams in the state. She's six-feet tall and just happens to be the daughter of NFL Quarterback Donovan Woods. Jordan has always been one of the guys, but even though this is how she wants it, it does have certain drawbacks. Like the fact that she's a senior and hasn't been kissed yet. The arrival of Ty Green changes everything.

Suddenly Ty is challenging not only her position on the team, but her sanity, her friendships, and her self-control. She's never wanted anyone this bad and never knew a crush could cause so many problems. To top it all off, her football-star father won't take the time to attend her games or even support her love of his sport, her best friend Sam Henry is upset and won't tell her why, and Alabama State (her dream school) is offering her a scholarship that will probably mean she won't play a game her entire college career. Will Jordan be able to regain control of her life or will the changes that started with Ty ruin everything?

Despite not liking sports, I love sports movies. When I heard about this book, I thought it sounded like a perfect balance. The characters were likable and entertaining and the dialogue was realistic; several times the exchanges between the characters made me laugh. I especially liked Jordan's relationship with her father and how that progressed through the course of the book. It was believable and touching. I also fell in love with Sam Henry, Jordan's best friend. He made me wish I knew someone like him. Ty was hot and an emotional disaster area for very understandable reasons, but I never really liked him much. Maybe it was because I always felt as though he was hiding something and we didn't get to know him as well. The one thing that disturbed me a little was the flippant attitude toward cheating. I can see how this is probably a realistic perspective from inside the guy's locker room (in theory, not in actuality--Jordan uses the girls locker room), but it seemed like Jordan's friends on the team were never with the same girl. And all the girls seemed to be cheerleaders. Either that cheerleading team was huge, or those cheerleaders were very busy...

The book really focuses on three things: Jordan and football, Jordan and her dad, and Jordan and Sam Henry. It's possible one of the reasons I didn't like Ty much is because it was pretty obvious from the beginning that he was only there as a catalyst to set all the other events in motion. All of the main characters have decent development through the book and that's really what kept me reading. I loved their devotion to the team and to each other and Jordan's willingness to fight for what she wanted, even if she forgot what that was somewhere in the middle of the book. She's a strong female character in a male dominated story and sport, but I think she held her own well. I did, however, appreciate that she eventually found girl friends who made her have some connection with the other side of herself.

Light, enjoyable, and fun, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining, romantic read. Although understanding what a flea-flicker is probably won't hurt. :)

Sera's Rating: 8/10 stars

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