Review: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler + International Giveaway

Book Description via Goodreads:

 Paperback, 312 pages

March 8, 2011, Flux

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?

Source: Holly Schindler via Philippine Playing Hurt Tour (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

Chelsea lost her luster after she got injured in her last game, losing her confidence and the brilliant future that she got ahead of her. With a hurt hip, a shattered heart and a ruined dream, she has nothing left but the sweetest boyfriend on earth – Gabe. He remained beside her through the hard times, proving himself worthy of her love. But when she went to Minnesota for a three week vacation and met Clint, she found something that she did not expect.

I liked Schindler’s writing. It was like poetry. She could show readers a different angle of reality, an artsy and sensitive side of life. I admired every word in this novel. But what I admired more was the way Schindler showed Chelsea’s complicated feelings toward Gabe, Clint and her life. The intensity of the emotions in this novel made it very realistic to me. I remember experiencing those emotions as a teenager.

Gabe and Chelsea’s relationship was what I would call sweet and smooth, as long as nothing happens. Before Chelsea’s accident, she was a girl of strength and confidence. But after her last game, she fell down, lost the girl she once was to a deep sadness and ache for the past. Gabe held her hand through it all and assumed the role as her knight in shining armor. Chelsea loved him for everything he did. Enter Clint. Clint was Chelsea’s trainer for her boot camp in Minnesota with a dark and melancholy past of his own. He and Chelsea were strongly attracted to one another. At first, they were unwilling to be with one another but as the days passed, they found out that they were drawn to one another and were already starting to develop feelings toward one another. Racked by guilt, they suffer because of their relationship but the guilt soon gave way to desire.

I guessed how this would play out but I was surprised at how some of the things turned out. I liked the other characters. They were amusing. Brandon, a passionate bassist, found himself in a band in Minnesota, rocking a restaurant. Todd and Greg were opposites. Todd was quite dense and clueless while Greg was the sensitive one. The ending was not as I expected it to be. I didn’t expect it to end like that but it was satisfying nonetheless.

Playing Hurt is an emotional roller coaster that is engaging, steamy and intense. I was instantly pulled in. I read this fast! Sex in YA is usually not detailed. Schindler did none of that. I like how the rawness of the desire, the lust, the longing was tamed by the loving tone of the narration. It has become an art, an image of passion. I recommend this to older teens, to readers of romance and those who like contemporary reads!

Rating:

Giveaway: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler 

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