Throw Like A Girl by Sarah Henning

*Spoiler free*

When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she’ll have to convince their coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched… Every. Single. Day. Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: if Liv joins the football team as his temporary replacement, he’ll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the Spring. But it will take more than the perfect spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland’s halls, and behind that charming smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all.

When I saw that the title of this book was Throw Like A Girl, I was basically ready to drop everything and make it my mission to read this book as soon as I possibly could. I might not be the biggest fan of sports, but I’ll pretty much always want to read a book where a girl kicks butt at a sport. Especially a male dominated sport, on an all male team.

I recently read (and loved) Michigan Vs. The Boys which was a heavier sports YA book, so I was expecting this to be in the same lane as that. So, I was surprised, but pleasantly so, when this book turned out to be absolutely adorable. It wasn’t so much as overcoming external forces, but more of Liv overcoming her internal struggles and figuring out what to do that would be best for her.

I respect Liv so much. I honestly I have so much respect for any athlete. She loves what she does. She loves playing. She comes to love football and she adores playing softball. She has so much grit and determination, and I loved watching her work towards what she wanted. She wanted to put the work in and she wanted to do the best she could. She was a really great character and I liked her a lot.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to think about Grey. When he was introduced, I was wary about how his character would be and I didn’t know what secrets he was keeping, as mentioned in the synopsis. But he actually turned out alright. He’s a really solid dude and I loved how he was with Liv.

I loved, loved how supportive the people around Liv where. Her family might have taken a bit of convincing to get on board with her playing football, but they’re always looking out for her. Her teammates are wonderful and respect her. The coaches were absolutely fantastic and I loved how they treated Liv and how they were really looking our for her and the rest of their team. She also has amazing friends and an incredible best friend. It was so cool to see them support each other and be there for each other through everything. I feel like it’s common for characters to go through things by themselves, to figure things out without a lot of support, so I just really loved how loved Liv was and how many people she had rooting for her. I was just really nice to see. There’s bumps along the way, but everybody works to figure them out.

I felt like there were a few tiny plot threads that didn’t really go anywhere, and maybe there were some things that could have been expanded upon. But, I don’t think they really hurt the book that much. I would liked to delve deeper into Grey’s emotional development and I would have liked to see some minor characters more. Also, there seemed to be some instances that happened to cause drama, but were never really followed through.

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I actually kind of enjoyed the football aspect. This is coming from someone who hates football. I know, I’m sorry! I just kinda find it boring. (Chloe, so why did you want to read a football book so bad? I know, I know!) But I actually found it kind of interesting. I barely understood what was going on, but I honestly didn’t mind. I got the general gist and that was enough for me. I found the practices interesting and I was actually tense during the close games.

I thought the ending was really smart. I loved how it was lead into and I think it tied the book together in such a great way. Overall, this was a really solid book. It was so cute and I really, really enjoyed it.

Throw Like A Girl comes out January 7, 2020! You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order a copy in the meantime!

Thank you for reading!