Reviews

Power Plays & Straight A's by Eden Finley, Saxon James

theaaab's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

maryjayka's review against another edition

5.0

I started with Book 3 in this series and had to go back to the beginning to see the history on the characters.
I love how each character in this series really does have their own voice. I thought Cohen and Seth sometimes sounded the same, but still were quite unique as people. Foster and Zach are totally different in so many ways, and yet they really do work together and have a great connection. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship unfold. There was an interesting twist with the twin brother/best friend angle.

What I liked about all the books in this series (I had to read 1, 2, and 4 before leaving another review because I was so engrossed in what was happening), is that there isn't some huge dramatic event that pushes the characters apart, just an ongoing progression of exploring who they are and whom they belong with. So often college-age characters are written in a way that sounds older than what they are, but these characters are really age-appropriate in the way they are exploring their identities and how they relate to their families. At the same time, though they are really classically stereotypical jocks in some ways, they are also very likeable characters.

I also enjoyed some of the foreshadows of the other characters' stories in subsequent books. There is a cohesion between the books so that it doesn't look like each story was written sequentially, but that the series was arced out in some form before the individual books were written. Impressive

kady_cawley's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this. Compared to the other sport romances that I have read. I like the innocence of this, because the relationship had vulnerabilities but they were talked through and the main characters could move on with their life. There was no conflict where they broke up and had to get over themselves just to communicate again, which I enjoyed. I also think that it brought up some important relationship points, such as needed to communicate with your partner, especially when there are doubts. The way that Foster was able to shift his dream to include Zach was amazing to witness because all Foster wanted from hockey and when he realized that he could never be happy with just hockey it made their relationship stronger. I also liked the fact that while Zach is assumed to be the smart on in the relationship strictly because he graduated a year early, there are still some things that will never make sense unless the right person explains them to you and that was really powerful, because Foster helped Zach understand something that not only applied to what the class was learning, but to their own relationship.

brokenrecord's review against another edition

3.0

This was fine, but I think I got a little bored after Grant and Zach actually hooked up. There's not a ton of conflict after that point, mostly Zach just continuously jumping to conclusions about what Grant wants and Grant having to reassure him, and then Grant coming out to his parents, and it wasn't bad, and idk that I would've wanted MORE conflict, but it just felt a bit dragged out when not a ton was happening. I did love the coming out to the parents scene, especially

Spoiler

their dad turning to Seth to ask how he felt about Grant and Zach's relationship since both he and their mom had assumed Seth was gay and in love with Zach. Particularly since I already know Seth is one of the leads of the third book in this series and has a male love interest there, so his protestations about being 100% straight were amusing.

I did like Grant and Zach's dynamic in the first part of the book, although I guess I struggled a bit at times with Zach as a character. I'm just not generally into that kind of character archetype who seems to need constant protection and is easily flustered and all of that. I was unsure at first about Seth warning Grant off pursuing Zach, but I liked how that conflict was resolved, and that ultimately

Spoiler

Grant was just like, "Look, I like him and idk where this is going, but I want to give it a shot," and Seth not throwing a big fit or anything and just being like, "Ugh, fine."

Also, as a side note, as someone who has a BA in psychology, all the psych stuff in this felt very inaccurate to me (in terms of the general concepts but also just in terms of what college psychology classes actually teach). Anyways, this is review feels overly negative, but I did like this well enough to continue with the series (mostly I'm just interested in Seth's book, which sounds more my speed).

misfiire's review against another edition

5.0

loved it! great characters, cute dynamic.

canibefictionaltoo's review against another edition

2.5

I don't wanna be mean but why was this so basic 😭

(Oh it was their first book cowriting that's why, I'm glad for everything else that has come from this)

lexee9's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this one! It pulled me in from beginning to end and was a fun read. I loved getting to know Foster and Zach and watching them come together. This one was interesting with the play on the brother/twin's best friend. Foster and his twin are not identical and they go to different colleges. Foster is a great hockey player and it is his senior year. He is bi and has really not hidden it from his teammates or anyone at college but has not told his parents or made it this huge deal. Zach has transferred colleges for his master's and he can be socially awkward and Seth, Foster's brother, asks him to look out for Zach. Foster was always intrigued and interested in Zach since Zach and Seth become best friends freshman year of college but he was warned off by his brother. Now as they start spending time together and getting to know each other more that is definitely taking off for them both. I enjoyed the way that Foster and Zach worked on their relationship and communication. I loved how open Foster was for this becoming more with Zach. I thought he did a really good job with how he interacted and didn't pressure Zach. He was just cute and adorable and I loved them together. They had to figure out how to work together and what they wanted for their future and then how to achieve that. I really enjoyed getting to know the other characters on the team as well and am excited for the next books!
The narrators did a great job with the story!

anto23's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Me gustó mucho el libro. Me gustó cómo conectaron entre ellos. Zach es un nerd/friki mientras que Foster es un jugador de hockey, tienen gustos y personalidades diferentes, pero se llevan muy bien y se complementan.
Algo que aprecio es que tocaran lo importante de la comunicación, porque aunque a veces lidiaban con ello, no se hacía una pelota que podría haberse haberse evitado.
El libro es muy hot, tiene buenas escenas spicy. Además que todo fue muy respetuoso, siempre cuidando que haya consenso,

como que la otra persona no estuviera ebria

. Y dejando en claro todo el tiempo que no hay que hacer algo que a uno no le guste, ni pensando que es necesario porque supuestamente lo dice el rol. 

petra_reviews_mm's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ovv's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.0