Title: Wild Cards
Author: Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 2013
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Series, Book One
Synopsis can be found here.
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
Derek gets kicked out of his boarding school while his father is deployed. That means he gets to move to Chicago with his new Stepmom, a woman only a few years older than himself. There he meets Ashtyn, his Stepmom’s younger sister. A girl who plays football. A girl who is self sufficient because everyone has left her. A girl that Derek can’t stop thinking about. Ashtyn has had everyone abandon her. One of her few loves is football but that too has challenges that she has to face being the only girl on the team. Can she be brave enough to face her feelings for Derek and be the leader her team needs?
Ok, I know that summary above sucked. Sorry. I was out late last night.
But when I got home, I immediately opened Wild Cards to finish this fun book. I mean, I loved Perfect Chemistry, so I was super excited to read this beginning to her new series.
Derek is a strong character. Smart, excelling at stuff with just enough bad boy to keep the reader interested. He’s also slightly damaged, giving up his favorite sport because of circumstances revolving around his dying mother. Ashtyn is physically strong, determined and rough. I liked her a lot because she is brave and goes against the grain. She knows that there are a lot of challenges facing her, being the only girl on the football team, but she loves it so much, she doesn’t care. She has to try. I loved her ambition and her stubbornness. But when you throw them both together, I’m not sure how much I believed them as a couple. I thought Derek fell for Ashtyn a little too quickly. There was a little bit of insta-like. And Ashtyn, when she finally did realize she had feelings for Derek, they were a bit intense. Yes, I know. Teenagers do that. Fall fast and fall hard. I don’t even know if I can put my finger on it, but I thought it was slightly forced.
The plot is predictable, including a road trip and some intimacy issues. But none of that bothered me because I enjoyed the ride. I like the tension, the back and forth, the fighting.
Ashtyn’s family are strong characters and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the next books perhaps. I really loved Derek’s grandmother. When she finally makes an appearance, she breathes such new life into the story! I had no problem picturing her in my mind, ordering everyone around.
Like anything by Simone Elkeles, this book is fun, steamy and keeps you reading into the night. I mean, I don’t even like football and I wanted to know what happened!
Rating 7 Good
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.