Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross

Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross
Published on 7th Oct 2014
320 pages
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Life loves a good curveball…
Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher.
But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.
But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…

Eeeeekk I loved this one so much! Definitely worth those few dollars on iBooks :D
Let me just start off by fangirling over that gorgeous cover! IT'S SO CUTE I WANT TO HUG IT! *SCREAMS AND RUNS IN CIRCLES*
Okay, I'm good now.
No, waait, one more time. IT'S SO FRIGGING SWEET I'M MELTING!



Sorry, I had to do that. Now I'm good. Truly.

Whatever Life Throws at You was a cute heartfelt read that made me laugh or smile every couple of lines. In other words, it was soooo my kind of book.
There was certainly a cliché element to it with Brody and Annie falling for each other and creating a secret/taboo relationship spin to the book. Throw in the media and you have a potential whirlwind of problems that could scream cliché.
But what made the book unique was the depth of the emotional interaction of the characters. It wasn't a simple girl falls for boy and vice versa kind of story. I could feel real palpable emotion and relationships between Annie, Brody, and her dad. It wasn't solely about Annie and Brody and their romance. There was also Annie's relationship with her dad and how it was affected by her mum.
The book was longer than I thought it would be, and it dragged out somewhat, but there was also a lot more depth and feeling than I expected.

I adored Annie. She wasn't anywhere close to the stereotypical YA female who gets flustered by male attention and has a severe lack of self-confidence.
She had a good measure of maturity (I'd say resulting from having a mother like hers *cough* and looking after her family for so long), but she didn't develop a prissy stuck-up attitude. She wasn't afraid to be girly or flirtatious if she felt like it, and I liked that about her. Annie definitely still acted like a teenager and yes, she did have bouts of naivety, but that just made her human, and overall, she's the kind of girl I'd be content to be at 17.

I loved the interaction between Brody and Annie, and even in the beginning when they were constantly bickering they had a mutual sense of comradrie that connected them becuase of their shared interest in keeping Brody and Annie's dad securely in their respective jobs.

Brody wasn't the classic self-important bad-boy man-whore. Yes, he was sexy and witty, but he was also damaged and vulnerable with a serious lack of self-confidence. I loved how we slowly got to know who he truly was as the novel progressed. Brody was such an honest, sweet, gooey-centred romantic and he and Annie are just perfect for each other. And hot damn, do I love my hot foreign-speaking fictional boys!

I respected the sincerity of the story. I think the ending was well written, and also very realistic, for which I'm extremely grateful. If you know me, you'll know that while I can tolerate some unrealistic turn of events, too far is simply too far *cough*Ignite*cough*, and realistic and relatively happy endings are my favourite kind of endings.
Speaking of which, I'm glad the animosity targeted at Brody by his teammates wasn't an issue tackled in the course of the book and was left to simmer down over time. Not all issues can be miraculously settled and sometimes you can't change something overnight.

P.s. And the FB updates are da bomb! So hilarious.

5 stars

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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