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. That 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...
Straight away I liked Whatever Life Throws At You, it's funny and just generally enjoyable.
Annie gets herself into some really awkward situations, for example interviewing a gorgeous and nearly-naked player in the dressing room. And there's so much sass in that interview. I loved her straight away.
The sass doesn't stop there, Annie becomes friends with Lenny, the number one player's daughter. She has her own family issues, and an idiot for a brother. Lenny takes Annie into her world and they quickly become best friends.
Annie starts to crush on Brody pretty quickly, he is hanging round her house practicing with her dad after all, so it's only natural! The two year age gap poses a threat though, she worries that he sees her as a little sister, worse than the friend zone for sure! I really liked that the age gap was so small and that they were both still teenagers, it made the whole crushing on each other a lot more believable.
That's right, I said crushing on each other! He likes her back. But he's a respectable guy, and he really likes her dad. Which means he doesn't want to jeopardise his relationship with him by dating his daughter. And I don't blame him, because Annie's did is incredible, well, apart from the whole wife thing. He's super protective and supportive of his little girl, who he raised basically all on his own.
I mentioned in the first impression review that I (thankfully) found Annie to be rather mature. After finishing the book I can happily say that that opinion stood true. Although there were moments of immaturity, these could be overlooked as they really did not predominate.
I really loved Whatever Life Throws At You, the fact that I barely understood the baseball terminology had no affect (don't judge, I'm English). I liked that Julie Cross made Annie athletic too, she wasn't a pathetic Jason Brody fangirl, or a shopaholic spending her daddy's money (I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those types of characters, it just really wouldn't have worked in this novel). Although Annie may beg to differ.
"No, I'm a Jason Brody groupie. That's even worse than mentally unstable."
Have you read Whatever Life Throws At You? Let me know what you thought in the comments!
'Whatever Life Throws At You' by Julie Cross
5 Stars
Labels: 2015, 2015 Contemporary Challenge, 5 Stars, Book, Julie Cross, Published 2014, Review, Whatever Life Throws At You, YA, Young Adult
