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kbucheit's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
mehsi's review
4.0
A great book, though I didn't like the love triangle going on between Maya, Travis, Jake.
molly28's review against another edition
3.0
It's a little skin deep but I don't think you can expect more from a romance ghost written by a man. A little on the short side but it's an enjoyable book and I would re-read in the future.
eline_berk's review
3.0
Ken je van die boeken waarvan je van te voren weet dat het een 3 ster zal zijn, maar een 3 ster waar je intens van hebt genoten? Dat is dit boek.
Is het goed? Absoluut niet.
Zou ik het iedereen aanraden? Never in a million years.
Maar was dit exact wat ik nodig had? Wow je hebt echt geen idee.
Ik heb ook deel twee dus misschien ga ik die meteen hierna lezen. Dit is voor het eerst in een lange tijd dat ik weer zin heb in lezen, en het maakt me zo blij!
Is het goed? Absoluut niet.
Zou ik het iedereen aanraden? Never in a million years.
Maar was dit exact wat ik nodig had? Wow je hebt echt geen idee.
Ik heb ook deel twee dus misschien ga ik die meteen hierna lezen. Dit is voor het eerst in een lange tijd dat ik weer zin heb in lezen, en het maakt me zo blij!
sean67's review against another edition
3.0
Former tennis player Seles writes, or co-writes, or has her name on the cover of a book about future tennis star, who is attending a sports academy - book has way too much time on a love triangle and deceptive practices by nefarious peoples, and way little time on other more interesting matters.
It did have a good conclusion however, with Maya taking control and leading to what will be a second book in the series.
Average but with some promise, less boring teen romance junk and more about the inside story of athletics, and education would be better.
It did have a good conclusion however, with Maya taking control and leading to what will be a second book in the series.
Average but with some promise, less boring teen romance junk and more about the inside story of athletics, and education would be better.
hyms's review
2.0
I rarely read books about sports - I’m not big on sports so it’s not really my kind of books. Yet something made me want to read The Academy: Game on and I’ve got to be honest: It was the cover. Seriously, just look at it - it’s so pretty and it had this whole easy-summer-read to it which was just what I was looking for.
Maya started out like the greatest protagonist; she’s sweet, nervous and very determind. She makes friends easily and she’s easy to like eventhough she makes a fool of herself and makes mistakes - really, she’s the perfect teen protagonist and very easy to relate to (I should think - I’m not really a teen anymore). Unfortunately she turns out to be insanely naïve. Like REALLY!! She can figure out even the most obvious things and she trusts everyone she meets. Most of the time I just wanted to shake some sense into her.
Maya doesn’t really develop as a character - it’s more like she takes a step back and becomes an entirely different person and then, in the end, she turns back to being who she was in the beginning, only with a slightly different outlook on guys. It does, however, make a promise to make the next book more interesting regarding Maya.
The story has surprisingly little sports in it, considering it takes place at a sports academy and Maya shows very little interest in training through most of the story. During the second half of the book she shows some interest, but even then it’s for an entirely different reason than the love of tennis. It seems to me that Monica Seles wanted to write a young adult book and just chose the sports academy as her setting, because she knows a lot about tennis. She doesn’t really use it, which I think is a shame (and keep in mind that I don’t even like sports!).
The YA part of the book is quite good though. Seeking your identity, wanting true friendship and being in love for the first time - all of this is very important and even if the plot is weak and easily figured out, I still liked it. It’s cute and would work pretty well as a summer read for young teenage girls. I might continue the series to find out what happens to Maya, but it’s not a must-read at this point.
Maya started out like the greatest protagonist; she’s sweet, nervous and very determind. She makes friends easily and she’s easy to like eventhough she makes a fool of herself and makes mistakes - really, she’s the perfect teen protagonist and very easy to relate to (I should think - I’m not really a teen anymore). Unfortunately she turns out to be insanely naïve. Like REALLY!! She can figure out even the most obvious things and she trusts everyone she meets. Most of the time I just wanted to shake some sense into her.
Maya doesn’t really develop as a character - it’s more like she takes a step back and becomes an entirely different person and then, in the end, she turns back to being who she was in the beginning, only with a slightly different outlook on guys. It does, however, make a promise to make the next book more interesting regarding Maya.
The story has surprisingly little sports in it, considering it takes place at a sports academy and Maya shows very little interest in training through most of the story. During the second half of the book she shows some interest, but even then it’s for an entirely different reason than the love of tennis. It seems to me that Monica Seles wanted to write a young adult book and just chose the sports academy as her setting, because she knows a lot about tennis. She doesn’t really use it, which I think is a shame (and keep in mind that I don’t even like sports!).
The YA part of the book is quite good though. Seeking your identity, wanting true friendship and being in love for the first time - all of this is very important and even if the plot is weak and easily figured out, I still liked it. It’s cute and would work pretty well as a summer read for young teenage girls. I might continue the series to find out what happens to Maya, but it’s not a must-read at this point.
beththebookdragon's review against another edition
2.0
Reasonably well-written book about the stresses and drama of a working-class teenage tennis player attending a top-notch sports academy. Full of embarrassments, drama, cliques, poor-girl-with-rich kids and sexy romantic possibilities.
Good for mid-to-late teenagers into both sports and the "Gossip Girls" types of series. There's no actual sex or significant profanity that I could find, so it's comparatively "safe" for teens with hovering parents.
Note: I was "tasting" the first forty pages of this book for professional reasons, but I wouldn't have finished it regardless; it's a step above pure formula, but only a step.
Good for mid-to-late teenagers into both sports and the "Gossip Girls" types of series. There's no actual sex or significant profanity that I could find, so it's comparatively "safe" for teens with hovering parents.
Note: I was "tasting" the first forty pages of this book for professional reasons, but I wouldn't have finished it regardless; it's a step above pure formula, but only a step.
foreveryoungadult's review against another edition
Graded By: Mandy W.
Cover Story: I've Seen Worse
BFF Charm:Maybe Nay
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Mindless Beach Read
Bonus Factors: Tennis, Boarding School
Anti-Bonus Factors: Multi-Sport Boarding School, The Real World
Relationship Status: Rebound
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: I've Seen Worse
BFF Charm:
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Mindless Beach Read
Bonus Factors: Tennis, Boarding School
Anti-Bonus Factors: Multi-Sport Boarding School, The Real World
Relationship Status: Rebound
Read the full book report here.
michalice's review
4.0
I had not heard much about The Academy: Game On, and when I saw it on a goodreads giveaway I was interested to see what it was like, I entered and then forgot about it until I received an email saying I had won a copy. It has taken a while for me to actually get around to reading this book due to review book I had requested taking priority, but a trip to London gave me just the right amount of time to squeeze a few small books (small in page count and also small in size so that they would fit in my bag) in to read.
The Academy: Game On picks up with Maya, the protagonist, leaving home to make her way to the academy to train on a scholarship she tried lots of times to get. Maya is excited and nervous about this new endeavour, but is eager to start. This scholarship means the world to Maya, and in order to stay at the academy she needs to prove she is the best. Being a scholarship student, she is relegated to living in the not so fancy residences, and sharing a room with Cleo, a golf player. She is the comic relief in any situation and while I loved her instantly, she just gets better and better as the story progresses
Rene is one of the rich students at the academy, who has paid her way in, and while she initially isn't someone who I would like or feel like there was more to her than money, she soon changes me minds after befriending Maya over a lost contact lens. Soon enough Rene, Maya, and Cleo become firm friends that manage to survive the difference in 'class', and some bumpy roads.
I went into this The Academy: Game On not knowing what to expect and I found myself really enjoying it. So much so that I finished it on the way to London, and I am sure the person sitting opposite me thought I was straight off the crazy train with all the smiling and curse words muttered under my breath
Jake and Travis are brothers, Travis seemed to be sensible one and Jake is the wild child. As we get to know this duo more we discover what they hide beneath the surface, each one having their own issues to deal with. Whilst my first impression of Jake wasn't a good one I did feel sorry for him, Travis was someone who I never really liked, I felt like there was something about him, no-one can be that perfect. When some truths are revealed I felt sorry for Maya, she put her trust in people who she thought were friends and they betrayed it, and the friends she had outdo themselves in order to help her and save her from the truth, causing her to re-evaluate herself and her relationship.
The Academy: Game On was an amazing, surprising read that ends far too soon, and not to my liking. My only issue with The Academy: Game On is now I have to wait till 2014 for the next instalment
The Academy: Game On picks up with Maya, the protagonist, leaving home to make her way to the academy to train on a scholarship she tried lots of times to get. Maya is excited and nervous about this new endeavour, but is eager to start. This scholarship means the world to Maya, and in order to stay at the academy she needs to prove she is the best. Being a scholarship student, she is relegated to living in the not so fancy residences, and sharing a room with Cleo, a golf player. She is the comic relief in any situation and while I loved her instantly, she just gets better and better as the story progresses
"If I'm going to be a guy, I'm going to be the hairy-chested, knuckle-dragging gorilla kind," Cleo said. She mock-spit into her hand, wiped it clean on her jeans, and shook Rene's hand.
Rene is one of the rich students at the academy, who has paid her way in, and while she initially isn't someone who I would like or feel like there was more to her than money, she soon changes me minds after befriending Maya over a lost contact lens. Soon enough Rene, Maya, and Cleo become firm friends that manage to survive the difference in 'class', and some bumpy roads.
I went into this The Academy: Game On not knowing what to expect and I found myself really enjoying it. So much so that I finished it on the way to London, and I am sure the person sitting opposite me thought I was straight off the crazy train with all the smiling and curse words muttered under my breath
Spoiler
As the story progresses we don't get to see how Maya changes and becomes a different person, abandoning her friends and changing her style completely, and its not till she is confronted that you stop and realise you had been so drawn into her new life that you didn't realise she had changed so much and that everything she tried so hard not to be was someone she was becoming, she spends so much time with Nicole and Travis that she loses sight of herself and her roots.Jake and Travis are brothers, Travis seemed to be sensible one and Jake is the wild child. As we get to know this duo more we discover what they hide beneath the surface, each one having their own issues to deal with. Whilst my first impression of Jake wasn't a good one I did feel sorry for him, Travis was someone who I never really liked, I felt like there was something about him, no-one can be that perfect. When some truths are revealed I felt sorry for Maya, she put her trust in people who she thought were friends and they betrayed it, and the friends she had outdo themselves in order to help her and save her from the truth, causing her to re-evaluate herself and her relationship.
The Academy: Game On was an amazing, surprising read that ends far too soon, and not to my liking. My only issue with The Academy: Game On is now I have to wait till 2014 for the next instalment
nverjudgeabook's review against another edition
4.0
This was brilliant! Couldn't put it down... it was a cliche of Gallagher Girls but I loved that and I love tennis and it inspired me to do it more! The only thing that disappointed me was the awful Cliffhanger that I was faced with! I don't even know when the next one comes out!?
Full Review to come nearer release date! :)
Full Review to come nearer release date! :)