Kate Marchant

My expectations were way, way too high. How boring and shallow. The ending was so cheesy. There were so many subplots. This was a YA novel masquerading as New Adult. The topics raised in here weren't treated as seriously as they needed to be.
"Laurel has never wanted the spotlight," the synopsis and book claim. You're a journalist, you stupid! You obviously want -some- attention if you want people to read your stuff. That's attention! You want to be taken seriously. That, too, is attention! Attention is not bad. There's a ton of drinking in this book, and Laurel tries to sound world-weary as she describes when she was a freshman just beginning to drink. She...sounds like she has a drinking problem, and at -no- point in this book did Laurel ever come across as a college student. She was probably trying to make herself seem grown up by describing herself "oh, I started drinking as a freshman in high school and am better at it now." That made her come across as even more immature. Normal college student drinking habit, my ass. If she sounded at -all- like she was eighteen, I'd let this slide.

Laurel cannot shut up about Brody and I DID NOT CARE. This was tagged as and suggested as a romance, but I foolishly thought there would be -some- stuff about Journalism 101 in here. No. Most of this book is Fireball, Football, and Hot Cheetos Because My Roommate Suggested It and I So Don't Think Brody is Hot. The rest of it deals with serious topics such as racism for a few pages, anti-immigrant sentiment sprinkled throughout, and uhhhh oh yeah, a smidge of stuff about a woman coming forward about being assaulted. She gets a few paragraphs at most.

The author could have Rachel the racist boss just have the hots for the coach. Or even have it as Rachel used to sleep with him, or even currently was. That's far more immediate and a connection fostered. Instead, it's "she's impressed by him." The ending was not earned in any way, shape or form. The buildup to it was terrible. He had google translate open and knew what she said? Dude, google translate has you -type it in-. It doesn't provide translations based off of a quick conversation at a food truck. Way to insult your audience, Marchant. Brody changes allegiances, I guess, pretty solidly by the end but I never felt why, beyond "this girl is hot." This book would have been -far- more interesting if it had been told in dual perspectives and alternating chapters between Laurel and Brody. Cut out a few of the subplots. Make them seem like adults, not teenagers barely out of high school.

Why was Human Sexuality as a class in this book? Why did they do presentations on sex toys? Why was Laurel and her group doing a project on drag? This was a bizarre subplot in context of the book. It amounted to a Big Lipped Alligator Moment: comes right the fuck out of nowhere, has little to no bearing on the plot (of a student journalist giving voice to a woman who was assaulted by a popular coach), and when it's over, no one speaks of it again. Except this was a regularly featured subplot. It was a bizarre choice and had nothing really to do with anything. Maybe it was just to bring levity to the book, but this book did not need levity! It needed a coherent plot; a character whose thoughts went beyond alcohol, sports and a boy; and for this character to -care about and be interested in- journalism, since that's what the story was supposed to be about!.… (meer)

What do you do when your desire to avoid rocking the boat, rubs up against something that you cannot ignore? This is the dilemma college junior Laurel Cates must deal with. She's a journalism major at a California university and likes the uneventfulness of her life. When she stumbles upon what may be a huge scandal involving the beloved coach of the football team, her initial instinct is to fluff it. However, the more she learns, and the closer she gets to Bodie St. James the quarterback for the team, the more difficult it is to ignore the story. It helps that Bodie is not only handsome, but a truly decent person who begins to believe she's onto something. I particularly like the way the author peeled back layer after layer of deception and deceit. This is a very well done story that's intelligent and feels real all the way through.… (meer)

Grabbing with the first page, this tale propels through the problems of standing up for what's right with natural finesse.

Laurel is a sophomore in college and shooting for career in journalism. When she stumbles across a story, which puts the college's head football coach in a very bad light, she's determined to stick to her journalistic ethics, but not everyone agrees with her. The coach means power and money, both which the college wants to protect. Plus, no one wants to badmouth their favorite football legend. Still, Laurel refuses to give up even when the costs are more than high.

This was as exciting to read as I'd hoped it be. Laurel is a character to get behind and root for as she refuses to step aside from what she knows she should do. Plus, she questions her research as well, not wanting to make a mistake and drag the coach down if she was wrong (which I appreciated). She has friends worth gold and a very supportive family, too. Even the romance offers a nice back and forth, which never even comes close to overtaking the main plot. This was well-balanced, well-paced, and flowed naturally.

I would not put this into the YA category and see it as a solid NA. Not only is this sure-footed in the college scene, but the 'sex class' she takes, while not graphic, weaves all sorts of innuendoes in (great for NA). Also, alcohol flows super freely and without pardon, everyone constantly drunk or getting plastered (and this isn't seen as negative but a part of everyday college life). There are also triggers surrounding rape (not graphic), vandalism, bullying and such.

This does a wonderful job at keeping things realistic until the end. Laurel faces backlash and problems, extreme but not over-the-top. Her relationship with others has ups and downs, and the reaction of those around her is understandable. Even the ending hits with a believable chime. The only thing I wondered about was St. James' side as I sometimes felt his stakes (and bravery) was a little underplayed. But this was a very good read, which had me flipping through from beginning to end in one sitting. I'm looking forward to see what comes from this author next.… (meer)