Title/Author: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
Publisher/Date published: Sourcebooks Fire, December 1st 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Goodreads summary: "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 on 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 now there's a new guy in town who threatens her starring position on the team... and has her suddenly wishing to be seen as more than just a teammate."
Do you ever read a book that's been so hyped up and everyone's been telling you you'll absolutely love it because it's awesome? And then you don't?
Yeah, that's basically what happened for me with Catching Jordan.
I'd been reading raving reviews about this novel and I love a cute contemporary romance, so I was really excited to read this one. But it didn't really work for me, and I knew it wasn't going to pretty much from the start. I only finished it because I thought it would get better, but for me it didn't.
In the first 12 pages or so Jordan's dad managed to really piss me off by being an obnoxious ass (sorry for the wording, but he really made me see red a bit) and just a really lousy father. And there didn't seem to be a good reason for this. I mean, it's explained eventually, but really, that is a douchebag reason for not supporting your kid. Seriously.
And I'm sorry to say Jordan as a main character didn't work for me either. I thought she and the whole story of her being a girl in a men's sports was just kind of bland and the whole time it had me thinking 'wait, this is the 21st century, not the 50s!'
Also, her guy friends from the football team were so stereotypical! I mean, really, all they talk about is screwing around. With cheerleaders. And I'm not a prude, but at my high school there wasn't that much actual sleeping together going around as there is in this novel and I felt like it was handled a bit too casually.
Also, the love interest Tyler felt wrong. He and Jordan didn't seem to have a connection and he was just too overbearing for my taste. But then there's Henry, Jordan's best friend, EVERYONE and their aunt he's in love with Jordan, except for Jordan herself. I just didn't believe it. I also thought he was a bit of a jerk and making things complicated for no good reason.
And then there was the medical mistake that annoyed me: you do not make an X-ray to see if there's damage done to the ligaments or meniscus of a knee. You can't see those on them, so when they said they didn't see any damage that was probably because they didn't see ANYTHING on that. Ok, rant over.
Anyway, probably by now needless to say I was very much disappointed by Catching Jordan, because I had expected a cute contemporary romance with a kickass heroine and it just wasn't the book for me.
My rating: 1 star
I hate it when that happens! Wishing you better luck on your next read (:
ReplyDeleteOh dear, and I was looking forward to this one as well! I guess I'll just have to see what I end up thinking of it after I've read it.
ReplyDeleteLike you I wanted to read it because I heard it was such a good contemporary YA. but I was pretty disapointed as well.
ReplyDeleteI found Jordan so frustrating, and I actually liked the characters around her more than I liked her - like the cheerleaders she's always bashing turned out to be pretty decent, well, some of them.
Ty I thought started out well but then he turned into such a needy wreck. And I'm sorry but I've made a point of being the most needy person in any relationship I'm in... even with my books. LOL
I liked Henry and the other guys (though the sleeping around thing drove me nuts, and it was cliched), but I felt like Jordan's dream was kind of... dumb. and that she couldn't see how seriously she could get hurt? and that she had managed to go so far in high school because her FRIENDS had her back. if they hadn't been her friends since childhood they would have probably opposed the idea too.
Now there were parts I did like, like when they had the baby, I found that cute. But I think this story had the potential for so much cuteness.
I really enjoyed this book :) It was a cool read!
ReplyDelete