Wednesday, April 6, 2016

review: Sidelined by Kendra C. Highley




Sidelined by Kendra C. Highley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, what a powerful novel! This is my first time reading a YA contemporary sports novel and man was I blown away by how invested I became in this story. I've never been super into sports or ever really a part of something so competitive, but I think that Genna is still totally relatable. I think anyone who has ever had a plan for their life and how they think things would be and then have their plans completely shattered can totally sympathize with Genna. It was heartbreaking watching her struggles and I was definitely rooting for her to pull through this.

Although I knew going in that this book was going to be emotional with Genna's struggles from having her basketball dreams taken away from her I did not expect there to be a drug related problem. Being someone who has at one time in her life had to watch a love one struggle with addiction to prescription pain meds this really touched me deeply. I thought that it was very accurate with the character's denial of the addiction, although it was already becoming apparent to others. I also thought that the final realization of how far she would go and what she would be willing to give up for just another pill was rather heartbreaking. I was happy to have some wit, romance, and comradery included to give us some silver-lining through Genna's hard journey to recovery.

Overall a very enthralling YA novel about love, injury, addiction, and recovery, that really tugs at the heartstrings.


** I received a digital copy of this novel via Netgalley for review purposes **

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