Mundie Moms

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Book Review- Playing Hurt

Published by Flux
To Be Released on March 8th, 2011
Source- ARC borrowed from The Teen Scene Blog Tours
4 Stars- I Liked It

Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone's admiration back home. Then she took a horrible fall during senior year. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

That summer, Chelsea's dad hires Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player and "boot camp" trainer, to work with her at a northern Minnesota lake resort. As they grow close, Chelsea finds that Clint's haunted by his own tragedy. Will their romance end up hurting them all over again—or finally heal their heartbreak? (quoted from Goodreads)

Playing Hurt is a great read about over coming hurt, letting go and finding yourself again, mixed with a hot summer romance.

Playing Hurt wasn't at all what I was expecting, and I was surprised at how much I was able to relate to the characters on some level. Holly does a great job at introducing the reader to characters with depth, not just with Chelsea and Clint, but with both of their families as well. Outside of the characters and the romance, I loved the setting! I'm a total outdoor person and I really loved that most of the story is set at an outdoor resort/camp in Minnesota. The descriptions are so vivid that I could picture Chelsea and Clint hiking to the water fall, roaming the woods, kayaking on the river, swimming in the lake and even spending an evening or two at the resort's restaurant run by Clint's parents. I wanted to be there too (not at the restaurant), but at the lake enjoying a nice hike in the woods, kayaking on the lake and breathing in that awesome, crisp, clean, outdoor spell.

Chelsea is a beautiful, fantastic athlete and star of her basketball team, that is until a terrible injury forces her from a sport she grew up playing and one she was depending on to get her into the college of her dreams. I completely sympathized with her emotions of dealing with "what do I do now". I have no idea what it's like to be in her shoes personally, but Holly's writing allowed me to feel what Chelsea is going through. Her emotional pain is one that really reached out from the pages and grabbed onto me.

Then there's Clint, the hot, athlete guy who works at the resort, but doesn't let anyone in, and all of the sudden he finds himself as Chelsea's trainer. Here's what I like about Clint- you get what you see with him, he's down to earth, loyal and he too is someone who's dealing with some deep emotional scares. Holly writes his pain so realistically, that I completely sympathized with how broken he was and blaming himself for his girlfriends deadly car accident (long before Chelsea enters the picture). He won't forgive himself and in the process this one time ice hockey star hangs up his skates for good. I understood why he didn't want to let anyone in and why he was afraid to get close to anyone.

Chelsea on the other hand has a great boyfriend who stands by her, but since nothing in her life has gone as she planned, she realizes that Clint offers her something her current relationship doesn't. I admit, I felt bad for her boyfriend, as he seems like a great guy, but he couldn't compete with Clint and what Chelsea wanted or needed at that time. I really liked Chelsea and Clint's relationship as they slowly find they can't not fall for each other. Clint and Chelsea's good looks don't go to their heads, and both of them really see the potential the other person has, and they both push each other to move beyond their grief and pain. I won't lie, their relationship is sweet and steamy all at the same time. What I liked most about the two of them, is that while it's attraction at first site, neither of them gives in to opening up and letting the other in. It's not until they both can see the hurt the other one carries, are then able to help the other one heal and in turn they end up developing a close relationship.

My only problem with the book is Chelsea's moral. I felt that with Chelsea being so concerned with wanting to lose her virginity through out the whole book, that it took away a little from the story. To me, I think she should have been proud of her virginity and not so focused on being the only graduated senior who hadn't "done it" yet. I personally think it's empowering when girls feel good about themselves and aren't so focused on what everyone else is doing. That's just my personal thought. Over all, Playing Hurt is a good read and one I couldn't put down. I would recommend to older teens as there are sexual references and some mild scenes in the book.

Be sure to stop by and visit with us on March 11th, as we'll be hosting a giveaway for the Playing Hurt blog tour. You can find more information about the tour here.

6 comments:

  1. Wonderful review :-D convinced me to add this to my tbr list.

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  2. Great review. It sounds like an interesting read. Also I do enjoy a good book with great descriptions.

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  3. I felt the same way about this book. I really liked it, but the virginity thing really bothered me. I loved the story though. My review doesn't post for awoke but it's on goodreads. It's funny how similarly we thought about this!! Great minds and all! :)

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  4. LM- Thank you! I hope you enjoy it.

    Savannah- Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. The outdoor descriptions are fantastic.

    Andye- I feel so much better knowing you felt the same way with the virginity thing. That was the only thing that really annoyed me with the story. I agree, I really liked the story and YES, great minds think a like!! I can't wait to read your review.

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  5. I've read A Blue So Dark and will have to pick this one ASAP! I really like Holly's writing!

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  6. Darby- I'm going to have to pick up her other books! Thank you for the rec!

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