Thursday, October 17, 2013

Review: Sidelined by Kendra C. Highley

Sidelined
Sidelined by Kendra C. Highley
After being pushed to excel her entire life, high school basketball star Genna Pierce is finally where she wants to be. University scouts are taking notice, her team is on its way to the state tourney, and Jake Butler, the hot boy she's daydreamed about since ninth grade, is showing somedefinite interest. When he asks her out and their relationship takes off, Genna believes things can't get better.
Then, it's over.
A freak accident ends her career before it's even begun. Her parents are fighting more than ever, her friends don't understand what she's going through, and she's not sure who she is without basketball. And while he tries to be there for her, Genna doesn't understand how Jake could ever want the broken version of the girl he fell for.
Her life in a tailspin, Genna turns to the only solace that eases her pain: Vicodin.

”add

Publishes in US: October 1st 2013 by Entangled: Teen
Genre: YA Contemp
Source: Entangled Teen via Netgalley
Series? No.

Buy it: Amazon / Barnes & Noble Kobo, iTunes

Author stalk away: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 
    Sidelined starts with a relatively adjusted Genna doing well at her passion, basketball. Although she gets pressure from her mom, because Genna is basically living out her childhood dream that she didn't have the talent like Genna does. I like this glimpse before we know things will go downhill fast. I see her doing what she loves, feeling the pressure, and the giddiness of a new relationship, her long time crush. 
   I say, and this is probably just an ARC issue, but it was like they searched the book for "fi" and "fl" and deleted it. It drove me absolutely insane, and I almost didn't finish, I mean   nish, because of it. 
    Anyways. Family was an important part of this story which I appreciated. Genna at first felt completely abandonded and ignored except for pressure and feeling like they were making decisions for her, or steering her life without her input. But as the story goes on, of course there are some rough times, but I loved watching these relationships bloom. I especially enjoyed the closeness and understanding between Genna and her dad. It is even more rare to have an involved parent, but for it to be the dad, that really was awesome to me. 
    Her best friend was awesome, involved and intuitive. She had such and understanding and nurturing personality and she made me happy to read about Rowan. Jake was the love interest in this one, and while their relationship starts at the beginning of the book, Genna had been friends but crushing on him for a while, so it is not seeing him and all the sudden in so deep. Jake really shows to me a changed personality because he was a player basically but then he decided that he wanted to be with Genna, but as a senior, his time was running out. So, I loved seeing his personality and how much he cared for her. Though the romance doesn't take a front seat to the story in this one, but it is sweet and I appreciated it being there. 
   Her descent into the pills was realistic and emotional. I think it shows pretty clearly that things we think will never happen to us can. It focused on the fear and the way that the pills helped with the pain physically, but she also found it was a way to deal with the emotions too, of losing basketball, her dreams, and the issues with her parents. 
    I also appreciated them showing a big focus on her recovery, being realistic about what she faced legally, emotionally and exploring the aspects of addiction, withdrawl and the consequences. 
   I think that Sidelined ended well, and was wrapped up and presented what I was looking for and needed after an emotional story like this. 

Bottom Line: Emotional and realistic contemporary.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Have you ever been tempted to take more meds than you should?
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22 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. I have never heard of this book but I know that nowadays parents put a lot of pressure on their kids. I like how realistic this sounds. Great review :)

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  4. I have seen this, but didn't really know what it was about. It does sounds like an emotional book. Great review.

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  5. Oh wow, even if it was an arc issue that can be really annoying! I've actually read a book like that but any word that that had a 'll', those letters just disappeared. Great review and I'm glad you liked it overall!

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

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  6. Oh that would've drove me nuts as well. At least you had the patience to finish it - and you ended up loving it despite of those errors.

    Great review, Brandi.

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  7. I keep seeing really good reviews for Sidelined, and it does seem like something I would enjoy.

    I'm lol'ing at "nish". I've had that in an ARC before, and it drove me crazy too.

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  8. I really like that the parents, and friends were a great aspect in this story for Genna. (Not always found in YA books) It really sounds like a realistic portrayal of what could happen when you (from losing something important ) face addiction, plus withdrawl and the consequences too. Sounds very emotional Brandi-glad the story in the end gave positive focus to Genna's recovery.

    Wonderful and thoughtful review! :)

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  9. I have never had a bad ARC like that

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  10. The Fs sometimes disappear from my ARCs too, it's the oddest thing. But overall, this sounds very lovely. I think I'll give it a chance.
    Great review.

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  11. I don't have a problem with disappearing F's it is usually L;s weird. This sounds like an important topic as so many people are crippled by addiction. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. I hate when there are glitches like that! Drives me nuts too! But I'm glad you still enjoyed the book! It does sound good, and I love contemporaries that are very realistic.

    Great review!!!

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  13. Oh no, I absolutely hate when ARCs have formatting issues like that, and it makes it hard to read. Kudos to you for powering through. This sounds like an emotional story, glad you enjoyed it.

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  14. Thanks for letting us know that the story is enjoyable even though you encountered unpleasant glitches with the ARC issue. It sounds like Genna has quite a rough time going through her ups and downs. I remembered I used to love 'stealing' fruity vitamin C chewables when mom wasn't looking. I guess that could be considered as giving in to my temptation, right? ;)

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  15. LOL I just read a book there TH was deleted so it was -at -is -ose etc. I'm not sure if they're going for the cockney accent at first but even the narrative was devoid of it. I know what you mean, at least you still managed to finish the book

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  16. LOL glitches can definitely be annoying. Glad you enjoyed the book though; great review! :)

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  17. Ooo arcs that glitch make me crazy! This sounds really well done, and I like that family was present and that the author kept things realistic.

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  18. Yes, those ARC's that are messed up like that are SO annoying! They really do mess with your enjoyment. Anyway, this one sounds great!

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  19. This one sounds really good. I like the idea of a story about someone facing addiction after starting to take medication. Plus I love a good family in YA, even if it's not there.

    Messed up ARCs are annoying. I read one recently where the first line of the second page of each chapter was missing due to some art not formatting correctly. It was annoying, but yours sounds even worse.

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  20. Okay I had the same issue with my ARC of this one. I talked to someone at Entangled Teen and they told me that the file had been corrupted.Which is why the formatting was NUTYY.I really enjoyed this book overall (despite the formatting disaster) I've been tempted to overdo it on pain meds. My patience was running out and I just wanted the pain to stop immediately.

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  21. I can understand the problem with the typos, but I'm glad you liked it though, because it sounds like a nice one.

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  22. After reading your review, I think I'd agree with your bottom line...sounds very emotional and realistic. I'm glad Sidelined has strong family bonds (especially dad), and Rowan and Jake seem like wonderful side characters. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention, Brandi.

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