Playing Hurt Review

Author: Holly Schindler
Release Date: March 8, 2011
Pages: 312 (ARC)
Publisher: Flux
Most Appropriate For Ages: 14+
Where I Got It: For review from Teen Book Scene

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?

Clint Morgan: worst personal trainer ever. But I love him anyways.

Holly Schindler is a seriously gorgeous writer. I mean, listen to THIS*:

I just stand there, absorbing it all: the midnight blue sky, the fringy black silhouettes of pine trees, the white full moon. The longer I stare, the more the trees look like a black lace formal, the moon like an opal pendant. When the breeze hits the pines, the black lace sways, as though the sky-woman's dancing to the musical yodel of the distant loons.

Pretty, right?

And the writing wasn't the only pretty thing about Playing Hurt, the storyline was as well. The whole healing process that the two lovable, broken characters go through is fantastic and oddly addictive. And yes, both the main characters are lovable, though I think I liked Clint more, because at times I didn't understand Chelsea's reactions to things.

Playing Hurt was a quick, good read that I'd recommend to older romance fans.

Book Report:

Plot: Simple yet grabbing.

Characters: Easy to fall for.

Writing: Awesome! I can't wait to read more of Schindler's work.

Ending: I wanted more closure.

Kid friendly? This is a novel that is definitely more sexually explicit than others I've read. Probably wise to keep this with the older teens.

Should I read it? Yeah.

Overall:

*Quotes from the ARC are subject to change