Book Review: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Blurb:

Once, she was a small-town celebrity. One of the most talented high school basketball players her hometown had ever seen. Bound for something far bigger beyond the city limits of Fair Grove, Missouri. But Chelsea’s world changed when an accident on the court ended her days as an athlete. She struggles with the idea of no longer being a star—and has no real idea what life might hold for her next.

Once, he was a small-town celebrity. One of the most talented hockey players his hometown had ever seen. Bound for something far bigger beyond the city limits of Baudette, Minnesota. When an unexpected tragedy took his head out of the game, Clint was forced to hang up his skates. He swore he’d never put himself in a position to be hurt again, building walls around his heart.

When their paths cross one summer at a Minnesota lake resort, Chelsea and Clint are immediately drawn to one another. But wounds of the heart cut the deepest, and take the longest to heal. Will an unexpected romance end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak? 

Review:

3.5/5 ⭐'s. 

Overall I enjoyed this book but I did have a few issues with it. The issues that I had were in relation to some of the characters and certain elements of the plot line. I have further discussed these below 👀👇

Plot: 

Ok, I am OBSESSED with pretty much any sports romance. This book however was very different from any sports romance that I have ever read. Firstly, the main characters were teenagers. This is not something I have read before however I found it to be quite a refreshing change. I also really liked the setting of the story. Having it set in a resort where there are a number of activities for guests to me opens up endless possibilities for romantic adventures. The problem that I had with this book was the aspect of cheating within a relationship. Chelsea was going on dates with Clint and eventually slept with him while she was still dating Gabe. Although I liked Clint a lot more than Gabe, I feel as though the story could have been just as good, if not better, if Chelsea had broken up with Gabe before leaving for the resort. I feel as though if Chelsea liked Clint as much as she seemed to, she should have ended things with Gabe earlier. The way that she was acting showed a complete disregard for Gabe's feelings. To further emphasise this, I have a HUGE issue with the way that she handled the whole virginity thing. She slept with Clint despite the general agreement that she would spend her first time with Gabe. This in itself I didn't necessarily have a huge problem with. What I found to be incredibly disrespectful was the fact that she 1: didn't tell Gabe about it and 2: was still going to spend the night in the hotel with Gabe. To me that is a huge betrayal of trust. I also don't think Clint should have pursued this relationship as much as he did given that he knew that Chelsea had a boyfriend. Whilst I generally liked Clint throughout the story, I think there was a couple of things that he should have done differently. 

The overall sports aspect of this romance was also more in the background of the story than any other sports romance that I have read. I actually really appreciated how by having this theme in the background the actual romance between the two characters was the absolute focus of the story. I also liked how both of the characters had been involved in sports, it was not just the male character. All of the sports romances that I have read have the male lead in the sports role and the female is never involved in the sports aspect of things in any way other than maybe an administration position or some kind of physical therapist. 

Characters:

I liked the majority of the characters in this book. There were however a distinct few that I had issues with. First was Chelsea's brother Brandon. Whilst I understand he was friends with Gabe and as such had a problem with Chelsea's relationship with Clint (much the same as me), I found the way he acted towards Chelsea to be really horrible. I think it was due to this that I found his character to be extremely annoying. Another character that I had a problem with was Gabe, although I don't condone cheating in any way, I almost understand why Chelsea would cheat on Gabe (I also think this was done on purpose by the author). I found his character to be smothering and overall very overbearing. He didn't challenge Chelsea in the ways that Clint did. Another character that I disliked was Kenzie. I found her character to be extremely annoying but she was also super disrespectful to the relationship between Chelsea and Clint. As for the main characters I have some mixed feelings. Clint was for the most part a good character for me. There weren't any parts of the book that stand out to me as being negative for Clint. This is different however for Chelsea. I understand that she was a bit lost after her basketball career was derailed however, I feel like the way she acted towards a number of the other characters in the book was incredibly rude and quite immature. I especially didn't like the way that she treated her parents.

Overall Thoughts: 

Overall this was a good book. There were some issues that I found with it but these all come down to my personal taste. This book did end on a cliffhanger which I HATE because now I have to wait for the next book to see if Chelsea and Clint end up together. Despite not liking how their relationship began, I do still hope that there is a happy ending in the future for them. 

Favourite Quote:

To be honest I found it very difficult to find a quote in this book that really spoke to me. I ended up going with this ice cream quote from the beginning of the book.  

"Homemade ice cream. Hand churned. With wild berries tugged straight off the vine. If that doesn't excite you, I worry about you. I'm absolutely serious about that."

Books Mentioned: 

Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52135797-playing-hurt

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review