Review: Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

Author: Julie Cross

Series: -

Pages: 320

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release date: 7^th October 2014

Amazon – TBD

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

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: 4 out of 5 stars

Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross first crossed my radar after I read Nick’s wonderful review and it came at the right time for me as I’ve been in the worst reading slump; it was sweet, light-hearted and without all the unnecessary angst and drama.

I was also a little hesitant about reading it because besides Catching Jordan I haven’t really read a sporting teen YA book that has appealed to me, I’m not a sporty person at all but this book was easy to follow and understand and I found it quite interesting.

Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas moved to Missouri after her father Jim has been offered a job in the major leagues baseball as the new pitching coach, it’s a chance for her to start afresh at a new school, focus on her track and hopefully see the end of her mother which she thinks would also benefit her father. Annie was a wonderful character, sweet, full of spirit and with a great competitive streak, she’d make a great best friend.

The love interest is Nineteen-year-old Jason Brody, a smexy boy with a past and the Kansas City Royals newest and youngest pitcher, he is adapting to this new life and doesn’t need any distractions; he was a great guy; loyal and kind. One thing I adored about this book was the romance, it is a believable relationship that isn’t without its flaws but it was a welcomed relief to find no insta-love involved, it felt convincing and was really sweet and I really enjoyed the banter between them; I didn’t agree on the sneaking around aspect of it but for teens it came across as believable and their reasons were valid.

The side characters were all written well! Savannah was great, I loved the relationship Annie had with her father; the respect and support they showed for one another was truly wonderful, the snippets we saw of grandma with Alzheimer’s and the care they also showed for her melted my heart, it couldn’t have been easy for them. I’d love to see Lenny get her own book, I felt sorry for her and her family life but she was a good friend.

Whatever Life Throws at You is written beautifully and gave us great blend of sports, familial bonds, loyal friendships and a swoon worthy romance, a highly recommended Contemporary YA.

About the author: I'm the author of the YA sci-fi trilogy, the Tempest series (St. Martin's Press). I'm also the author of the YA contemporary novel, Letters To Nowhere. 

But even more importantly than the above, I'm a fan of books and an avid reader/reviewer. Keep in mind, however, that a review is just one person's opinion, one perspective. My goal is to show as much bias in my reviews as possible because this makes it easier for you to decide if your perspective is similar to mine or different. Everyone's tastes are different. I like books with emotion and believability. I don't mind edgy and heavy themes. I also like humor and quirk. I like weird characters in odd situations. 

I have low tolerance for insta-love, flowery sex scenes, or mushy declarations of feelings. Not a fan of possessive/controlling male characters who get the girl in the end. When I recommend books, I always ask about favorite current reads and cater to each person's taste. 

I believe every book plays an important role whether I love it or hate, it's having an effect on society. It's changing, shaping, and molding the future of publishing. Regardless of my feelings about a book, I value the author's time and effort put into creating their work. I only rate books available for purchase (or soon-to-be available) and consider those books as published works and their creators as professionals in their field therefore I treat them as professionals, giving my honest opinion on the work itself and not the person producing it.

If I rate a book and don't provide any written review and you'd like to hear my thoughts, feel free to comment on the review and if I can, I'll explain my reasoning behind the rating. I don't mind authors commenting on any review I post - negative or positive. Also happy to email to discuss Juliecrossauthor (at) gmail (dot) com please alert me if I misled readers or given false information (accidentally of course) and I'll correct the situation as soon as possible. 

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