Tuesday, January 3

Head Games by Keri Mikulski

Head Games by Keri Mikulski
Release Date: January 6, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 272


Summary: Taylor is calm, cool, collected, and ferocious on the basketball court. A total all-star. Not so much in real life. She may be tall, gorgeous, and an incredible catch, but just try telling her that!

And lately, Taylor doesn't know which way to turn: The summer showcase game is almost here. Her BFF Hannah roped her into a fashion show (eek!). And she can't decide between Zach - the super-popular, super-tall, super-off-limits basketball dynamo - and Matt - the sweet boy from her math class (who may just be dating her BFF's older sister). It's enough to make any girl's head spin!

Can Taylor strike a pose, land the boy of her dreams, and win the game?

My Thoughts: Probably just my reading mood but this one just didn't live all the way up to my expectations. It's still a good book, but I wanted to fall in love with it and I only liked it.

We are introduced to Taylor who loves basketball. Basketball is her life. Demands are placed very highly on her. Her father expects a lot out of her. He runs plays with her, he runs miles with her, he wants her to succeed in all the ways he couldn't.

Taylor's life is basketball, basketball, basketball. Yes, she still has a personal life but that also pretty much includes basketball. In Head Games, there is a lot of team talk, there is a lot of relationship drama, there is a lot of spunk.

Not only is Taylor interested in basketball, she is also interested in boys. First, there is Zach. He's popular, hot, all the girls want him, and all of a sudden he has dumped his girlfriend Kylie (who happens to be a teammate of Taylor's) and takes an interest in Taylor.  Than there is Matt, who is dating Taylor's best friends sister. Matt is new to the school, and a lot of mystery surrounds him.

I always liked basketball growing up, so I understood her love for it. I understood all the pressure.

Now lets talk about the boys... I never felt a real connection to either of them. I never liked Zach and even Matt, I never really fell for him. If I had to choose, I'd choose Matt. I felt like neither of them were good enough for Taylor.

The one thing that did bug me was that Taylor was a doormat. She was too nice for her own good. She would brush things off that shouldn't have been brushed off.

Head games was a fun read but didn't wow me. I  liked it but I wanted to be blown away by it which I wasn’t.

Overall: I really liked it but it wasn't as great as I hoped. Hopefully Stealing Bases does wow me. We shall see. I liked the writing style and the book as a whole. I think the story just didn't live up to my hopes. I wanted this to be a 5 cupcake book for me.  More like a 3.5 book!

Cover: Like it. I like all the people in the background shooting hops. I also like how she is sitting on the basketball.

What I'd Give It:  

13 comments:

Vivien said...

It's hard to really like a book when you don't make a connection. That's what contemporary is all about for me. Characters. Hopefully the next one will be better!

Melissa said...

I think I have this book some where in this house..lol. I always thought plot movement was the most important to me, but I now realize if I don't care squat about the characters, plot doesn't matter. First and foremost I must love the characters or at least they must make me feel some emotion other than 'I can't stand them'.

Unknown said...

I so agree with your review. I was mostly tired with all the unnecessary drama.
Nice review :)

Kapri (Book Fanatics) said...

Too bad you didn't love this one. It looks cute. Although, I know it would really bother me if the main character is a doormat. But since I do like sports books, I may pick this up on a rainy day when I'm in the mood for a light read.

Unknown said...

I may check this one out..once I get through the next few that I HAVE to read. I think the one thing that makes me interested is the basketball part though. Otherwise, it sounds pretty average.

Alexa said...

I remember when you were asking me about this series way back when. I'm glad you started it but it seems it is not living up to your standards. Sorry you are not finding more enjoyment in this series.

Thanks for the review though :)

Sophia said...

Sorry it didn't reach your expectations. :( I'm not a big fan of basketball, so I think I'll pass on this one. Plus, I hate it when I can't connect with characters! Thanks for the review. :)

Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit said...

Thanks - I really appreciate your review. I've been thinking of picking up this series...looks like it'll be a library read for me. =)

ansindt said...

This sounds like a book that my daughter would like...I will have to tell her about it=)

Maji Bookshelf said...

i've actually been wanting to read this series for a long time! it looks like a cute breezy series. I especially love books with sports themes :D

great review!

- juhina

Unknown said...

Im not a big fan of contemporary fiction either.

Michelle @ Book Briefs said...

contemporary is love or hate for me. and lately it has not been love, so i'm looking for my contemporary inspiration to return. But I know what you mean when you want to love a book and you just dont. It's disappointing

Sandra Stiles said...

I've seen the hot and cold reviews. Guess I need to check it out for myself. Thanks for the review.

 

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