What girl doesn’t want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn’t just surrounded by hot guys, though – she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that’s just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.
But everything she’s ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he’s also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan’s feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart’s on the line?
WARNING: This review does contain a spoiler! Check yourself before you wreck yourself...
I don’t think anyone realizes how excited I was to read this book. I love football. No; love doesn’t even describe it. I fucking LIVE for football season. My dad was a football player, my brother was a football player; I grew up going to my brother’s games every week, going to Chiefs games on Sundays, KU football games on Saturdays, and watching games/highlights on Sunday and Monday nights. I've been in a fantasy football league for the past five years. It’s in my blood. To me, there is nothing better than putting on your favorite player’s jersey, drinking beer, eating incredibly unhealthy food, and cheering on your team with your friends and thousands of other people. Now maybe you have an idea of how much I love football…and because of that, maybe I set my expectations for Catching Jordan too high. Way too high.
The short of it: Jordan is a girl and the starting QB for her high school team. She wants a college scholarship to play D-1 football. Ty Green shows up and gives her competition for her position, and makes her weak in the knees. That is, until she finds out her best friend and teammate, Sam Henry, has been keeping a pretty big secret from her.
I just didn’t really buy into any of this. Now, before you start throwing flaming bras at me and calling me an “anti-feminist”, let me explain. Can a girl play middle school and/or high school football? Sure. Can a girl play D-1 football? As a kicker, maybe; as a quarterback…I don’t believe so. I’m not saying there aren’t girls capable of being great quarterbacks, but the chances of a D-1 school taking a chance on a girl are slim to none. And a school like Alabama with a top 5 football program offering a girl a full-ride scholarship just wouldn’t happen. Sorry. It just wouldn’t. I know, I know, this book is fiction but I just couldn’t ignore the little voice in my head saying, “Are you kidding me?! How is anyone supposed to buy this??”
I also wasn’t a big fan of Jordan or Henry. Jordan was arrogant, rude, and too much of a dude for my liking. I have nothing against tomboys, not a damn thing. But tomboys are still girls. Jordan didn’t ever seem like a girl to me. She was also an extreme hypocrite. She constantly talked shit on the cheerleaders for being sluts, bimbos, whatever else…and then she goes and gives up her virginity to Ty almost immediately. Honey, I don’t think you should be looking down on anyone for their sexual escapades because you aren’t a nun yourself. Speaking of that, the stereotypes in this book grated on me. Cheerleaders are automatically sluts in Jordan’s eyes and when one of them actually knows about football, Jordan acts like Hell froze over. I was never a cheerleader, but I was on dance team in middle school and high school; just because I’d rather dance than play football doesn’t mean I’m a bimbo who knows nothing about anything other than opening my legs. The stereotyping just really bothered me.
I was never rooting for Henry. Not once. His actions pissed me off, and the fact that he was proud of being a “man-slut” didn’t help his cause. He just came off as selfish, and that made me prefer Ty over him, no doubt about it.
The saving graces in this book, IMO, were Marie, Carter, Carrie, and JJ. They are the sole reasons that kept me from giving Catching Jordan one star. I’ve seen a lot of really positive reviews, so I guess I’m in the minority with my feelings towards this book, but it just really wasn’t my cup of tea. I wanted to like it; I really, really wanted to like it. I just didn’t.
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