Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

                                      Playing Hurt


"Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone's admiration back home. Then she took a horrible fall during senior year. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.
That summer, Chelsea's dad hires Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player and "boot camp" trainer, to work with her at a northern Minnesota lake resort. As they grow close, Chelsea finds that Clint's haunted by his own tragedy. Will their romance end up hurting them all over again—or finally heal their heartbreak?"

We were super-thrilled (as Halinor has already described to you!) when we received the book plus some cool swag from the author herself!!

I would like to first thank Holly Schindler for giving us this opportunity! Thank you so much!!! :)

And now for the review...
The book pulls you into the story right from the first page. Holly's writing is beautiful and her descriptions vivid. You can picture every scene, moment or thought unfolding right in front of you. Its as though she is painting a picture for you and there is no need for guesswork.Thats what i adore about her, ditto with her first novel!
The story was a simple one when you boil it down..girl has to choose between boyfriend or summer boyfriend!!There is no suspense as such, you can figure it all out once you've had your introduction with the characters. 
What distinguishes the book is the theme she chose- picking one boy from two your attached to!As in, most YA crisis have fairly obvious solution, whereas this theme is still a sore spot for most of us. When you "fall in love" with another boy even though you already have one by your side. Who will you choose? Its definitely not an easy task dealing with the whole mess...
One of the many things  i liked about the book was that the fact that the story was just an excerpt from Chelsea and Clint's life..not a happily-ever-after tale of their life. Just one incident in their life, so by the end of the book you can't quite judge them on their character to take a side because theirs is a reaction to the circumstance. Despite being in Chelsea and Clint's head you don't know them like pals, unlike other book wherein you have the protagonist all figured out. Here its just like meeting them briefly, like peeping into somebody's life.
The fact that the book has no ties- nothing is permanent in the story- makes it beautiful to me!
What nudges you to read on is the growing anxiety and tension in Chelsea and Clint's relationship. 
Nothing else, the rest of the story was okay to me. The healing from all the heart-break wasn't all that great to me! 
One character i did not like in the book was Gabe- Chelsea's boyfriend, he is so disturbingly mushy!!I didn't have any favorites, though i would have liked to meet Clint's ex!
Oh and i also have to mention, the cover is gorgeous. Its so summer-y and perfectly suited to the story! And the texture is really cool, i wonder if Holly wanted it that way or Flux published all their book like that, because even Blue So Dark has a similar texture!

Comments

  1. I fully agree about the cover! At times, I appreciate beautiful writing more than the plot itself , so I'm glad Playing Hurt has that. Wonderful review!

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  2. I too really enjoyed this book and of course said cover is beautiful. Loving your blog and I'm a new follower. Shari over at myneuroticbookaffair.blogspot.com

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