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A review by lindsaymck
First Down by Grace Reilly
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I am holding out hope for the rest of this series, but I was disappointed by this one. James, a silver-spoon NFL legacy who transfers to McKee? as a senior because of a scandal at LSU, always puts his relationship first to the detriment of all his other responsibilities and his future. A MMC who puts the FMC first should be a green-flag, but for James it is the deepest red. Also, why write a fake college but name-drop other real schools?
Beckett/Bex is a wishy-washy enabler who is too afraid to go after what she wants and set boundaries for her absentee mom and stalker ex-boyfriend. It sucks that the ex kept pursuing her and intruding on the happiness she was trying to find with calls/texts, wrist-grabbing, and an un-consenting kiss, but the fact that she chose to be alone with him to talk before the freakin championship game was the stupidest decision an FMC has ever made. She calls herself out for this stupidity to a friend afterwards and as the friend was comforting her, I was wishing the friend would tell it like it is and say “YUP! You were so dumb. That conversation could’ve happened literally any other time, but you had to make it before the biggest game of their lives. Way to make a day they’ve worked so hard for as a team all about you.”
I think I could love a football romance despite not loving football, but the climax of the book made me SO angry. Forget for a second how unrealistically it handled collegiate athletics, the decision James makes on the field in the championship game ruined the book for me. I understand that it’s fiction, but James’ priorities are so f**cked up and he has not learned a damn thing about how to keep the drama off the field. I hated the way he villainized his dad who was only trying to point out the tunnel-vision he always gets for the woman he’s dating, protect him from his own obsessive savior complex, and safeguard his future in the NFL.
James and Bex felt so one-dimensional and their fake dating actually accomplished nothing because everyone around them knew it was fake from the beginning, yet they seemed to jump from “let’s pretend” to “come home for Christmas with me, I love you.” Their co-dependency and immaturity gave me the ick.
Beckett/Bex is a wishy-washy enabler who is too afraid to go after what she wants and set boundaries for her absentee mom and stalker ex-boyfriend. It sucks that the ex kept pursuing her and intruding on the happiness she was trying to find with calls/texts, wrist-grabbing, and an un-consenting kiss, but the fact that she chose to be alone with him to talk before the freakin championship game was the stupidest decision an FMC has ever made. She calls herself out for this stupidity to a friend afterwards and as the friend was comforting her, I was wishing the friend would tell it like it is and say “YUP! You were so dumb. That conversation could’ve happened literally any other time, but you had to make it before the biggest game of their lives. Way to make a day they’ve worked so hard for as a team all about you.”
I think I could love a football romance despite not loving football, but the climax of the book made me SO angry. Forget for a second how unrealistically it handled collegiate athletics, the decision James makes on the field in the championship game ruined the book for me. I understand that it’s fiction, but James’ priorities are so f**cked up and he has not learned a damn thing about how to keep the drama off the field. I hated the way he villainized his dad who was only trying to point out the tunnel-vision he always gets for the woman he’s dating, protect him from his own obsessive savior complex, and safeguard his future in the NFL.
James and Bex felt so one-dimensional and their fake dating actually accomplished nothing because everyone around them knew it was fake from the beginning, yet they seemed to jump from “let’s pretend” to “come home for Christmas with me, I love you.” Their co-dependency and immaturity gave me the ick.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Stalking